Suchergebnisse

Pablo Neruda has been described by some as the most widely read poet ever. His output was prodigious and diverse. He was also very much a man and a poet of his time, that of the first three-fourths of the 'short' twentieth century, a time very different from our own. That raises the question: Is it possible to split the poet from his politics? A standard recommendation of literary critics is to stick to Neruda's 'non-political' work and forget the rest. Yet, Neruda himself insisted that not only his poetry but also his personal life and his politics formed an indivisible whole. At a time when the rise of Asia and South America is changing the global landscape, it is especially important to come to terms with the central perspective that inspired Neruda's oeuvre: his identification with the common man and with the South; his anti-colonial spirit (honed during his Asian sojourn) and his extraordinary grasp of what José Martí referred as 'nuestra América'. This article explores how Neruda provides us with a vocabulary and a grammar that allows us to look at the emerging new world of the twenty-first century with fresh eyes.

The war between Russia and Georgia (RGW) from 8–12 August 2008 triggered different interpretations. Although initially Western discourse and media coverage took at face value Georgia's version of the unfolding of the war, subsequent evidence has disproved the latter. Russia only reacted to an unprovoked attack on South Ossetia in the middle of the night, which caused hundreds of civilian deaths as well as those of many Russian peacekeepers. Much of the initial argument about Russia embarking on a 'new Cold War' does not, therefore, stand up to scrutiny. By examining the war and the developments that led to it—as well as the behaviour of Russia, the United States, the European Union and NATO—this article argues that, far from opening a new Cold War, the RGW may have been a turning point, but in a very different direction. It indicates the end of the 'unipolar moment' and the beginning of a new era in the international system, in which the imperative for recognition and respect of newly emerging or resurgent powers has come into its own.