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1. ARTICLE OF THE MONTH: NEITHER NEW NOR A WAR
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"The new war" is a phrase used regularly in politics and the media in relation to terrorism and responses to it. But this simplified terminology serves purposes beyond the descriptive, argues Dierk Walter, military historian at the Hamburg Institute for Social Research. Unlike the symmetric conflict of the wars of the nineteenth century up to the Cold War, writes Walter, "new war" is asymmetric conflict carried out between a state and a non-state faction. However, to call this form of conflict "new" is inaccurate:

"Asymmetric warfare [...] is omnipresent in the context of world history, especially in the history of European empires overseas: colonial war is practically the archetype of this kind of conflict. [...] The targeted use of symbolic acts of violence has for centuries been part of the repertoire of asymmetric patterns of confrontation -- from the assassins of medieval times to the anti-colonial wars after 1945."

Extending his critique, Walter argues that for "the multi-ethnic empires of Europe and Asia which have collapsed since 1989, the end of the strong state has merely meant a return to the violent daily conflicts that were the norm long before the great empires of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries came into being". Such conflicts fail to qualify for the classical, western definition of "war" as representative force deployed in order to accomplish specific goals. It is meaningless, writes Walter, to call something a "war" that is "simple gang criminality, warlord infighting focused purely on material enrichment".

Islamist terrorism compounds the security threat perceived by western nations from conflicts in neighbouring states, encouraging the use of the label "war" to justify any policy governments deem fit. Walter's critique is far-reaching: "In domestic policy it makes it easier to erode the legal underpinning of the state -- in the cause of the alleged protection of democracy -- by means of the restriction of basic rights [...] In foreign policy, the 'war on terror' permits the invasion of foreign states on constructed pretexts which would have been hard to communicate as grounds for war even in the scarcely war-shy nineteenth century."

Dierk Walter
NEITHER NEW NOR A WAR: DON'T CALL THE FIGHT AGAINST TERROR A WAR
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-09-01-walter-sv.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-16-walter-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-16-walter-de.html

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2. JOURNALS CONFERENCE IN ISTANBUL: NEIGHBOURHOODS
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This year's European Meeting of Cultural Journals in Istanbul is organized by the European network of cultural journals, Eurozine, and its Turkish partners "Cogito" and "Varlik". More than 60 editors and intellectuals from Europe's leading cultural journals will participate in this event, and the programme includes seminars and debates as well as an exhibition displaying journals from more than 30 countries.

The conference will take place 4-7 November and will focus on the theme of "Neighbourhoods" in three panel sessions:

* Only Neighbours? -- Turkey and Europe
* "Love Thy Neighbour" -- Politics of Human Rights
* (Re)sounding Empires -- Old Neighbours, New Conflicts?

More details and a complete programme are available at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-30-newsitem-en.html

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3. NEW ARTICLES
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Boris Dubin, Lev Gudkov
THE OLIGARCH AS PUBLIC ENEMY: HOW THE KHODORKOVSKY CASE BENEFITS THE PUTIN REGIME
Cynicism, argue Gudkov and Dubin, is eroding the foundations of the Putin regime and destabilizing its system of controlled democracy.

This article is available in Russian and German at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-31-dubingudkov-ru.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-11-dubingudkov-de.html

Caroline Moorehead
NECESSARY LIES
Fabricated identities have become a valuable commodity for asylum seekers for whom credibility is the bottom line. Meanwhile, the media adds to the climate of disinformation.

This article is now available in Norwegian as well as English and Swedish at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-29-moorehead-no.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-05-18-moorehead-sv.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2004-05-03-moorehead-en.html

Eurozine News Item
THE YUKOS CASE
The Yukos case has been widely seen as another attempt by the Putin regime to intimidate its opponents; now the involvement of the European Court of Human Rights seems likely. Read articles dealing with the economic, legal, and societal implications of the case.

This article is available in English and German at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-29-newsitem-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-11-newsitem-de.html

Jörn Leonhard
VIOLENCE AND PARTICIPATION: CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE AGE OF BELLICOSITY
In nineteenth-century nation-states, social participation and organization was intimately linked to an aggressive war machinery. Any analysis of civil society must take account of this history of bellicosity.

This article is available in English and German at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-26-leonhard-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-26-leonhard-de.html

Esra Akcan
MELANCHOLY AND THE "OTHER"
Freud analyzed melancholia as the ego's internalization of the lost object, and thus the loss of ego itself. Can the architecture of the "geographic other" be read for the symptoms of melancholy?

This article is available in English and Turkish at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-25-akcan-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-25-akcan-tr.html

Denis Duclos
EVERYONE UNDER CONTROL: ON THE CULTIVATION OF FEAR
"Under the pretext of an unpredictable danger, a worldwide security armada has formed, whose rapid growth arouses the suspicion that a new form of capitalism is evolving: the capitalism of fear." On the rise of the biometrics industry.

This article is available in German at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-23-duclos-de.html

Tim Ochser
ONE OR TWO WORDS ON THE STICKY SUBJECT OF PORNOGRAPHY
Confronted with amateur pornography, Tim Ochser finds he has eyes only for the home furnishings. How life has become a "grotesque parody" of pornography.

This article is available in English and Latvian at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-23-ochser-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-23-ochser-lv.html

Jan Philipp Reemtsma
MUST ONE RESPECT RELIGIOUSNESS? ON QUESTIONS OF FAITH AND THE PRIDE OF A SECULAR SOCIETY
"He respects me as a potential bearer of the faith, I respect him as a fellow citizen. It's like oil and water." An anatomy of respect in secular society.

This article is available in German at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-22-reemtsma-de.html

Vita Matiss, Tzvetan Todorov
MEMORY OF EVIL, ENTICEMENT TO GOOD: AN INTERVIEW WITH TZVETAN TODOROV
In France, communism has positive associations with the Resistance movement. Not so for eastern Europeans, who must bring their own experiences to bear in the European discussion, says the Bulgarian philosopher.

This article is available in English and Latvian at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-19-todorov-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-19-todorov-lv.html

James Fishkin
PUTTING ALL OF EUROPE IN ONE ROOM
The creator of Deliberative Polling looks at the possibilities for bringing Europeans from all 25 member states together, informing them on issues of public importance, and encouraging them to discuss and question these issues.

This article is available in English and Italian at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-18-fishkin-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-18-fishkin-it.html

Meron Rapoport
WITHDRAWAL FROM GAZA: SHARON'S CALCULUS AND THE SETTLERS' PROTEST
If a refusenik movement spreads among national-religious elements in the Israeli army, it will become difficult for the government to deploy troops for the evacuation of further settlements. Time will tell if Israel is facing its own Algeria.

This article is available in German at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-17-rapoport-de.html

Thierry Chervel
EUROPE LOSES GROUND: CULTURAL MEDIA FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE INTERNET
European newspapers must finally pay attention to the power of the Internet.

This article is now available in Macedonian as well as Bulgarian, Italian, and English at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-12-chervel-mk.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2004-09-20-chervel-bg.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2004-09-07-chervel-it.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2004-06-22-chervel-en.html

Bernhard Peters
"ACH EUROPA": QUESTIONS ABOUT A EUROPEAN PUBLIC SPACE AND AMBIGUITIES OF THE EUROPEAN PROJECT
How likely is the emergence of a European public sphere?

This article is now available in Macedonian as well as Italian, Croatian, and English at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-12-peters-mk.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2004-09-07-peters-it.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2004-09-07-peters-hr.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2004-06-21-peters-en.html

Carl Henrik Fredriksson
ENERGIZING THE EUROPEAN PUBLIC SPACE
There is only one path open to meeting the challenge posed by a heterogeneous collective of nationally oriented viewers, listeners, and readers: a European public space spearheaded by already established national media.

This article is now available in Macedonian as well as Turkish, German, Italian, English, and Swedish at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-12-fredriksson-mk.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-01-19-fredriksson-tr.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2004-12-16-fredriksson-de.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2004-06-16-fredriksson-it.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2004-05-13-fredriksson-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2004-05-13-fredriksson-sv.html

Otto Luchterhandt
LEGAL NIHILISM IN ACTION: THE YUKOS-KHODORKOVSKY TRIAL IN MOSCOW
A step-by-step account of the legal "farce" that led up to the conviction of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, in which all principles of a fair trial were violated.

This article is available in German at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-11-luchterhandt-de.html

Mauro Buonocore
WOW! THERE ARE OTHER MODELS: BRINGING PUBLIC SERVICE TELEVISION PRINCIPLES TO ITALY
A look at examples of public service television abroad that can serve as models for the way Italian television should be -- informative, motivating, and unbiased.

This article is available in English and Italian at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-10-buonocore-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-10-buonocore-it.html

Reinhold Vetter
WHO ARE THE TRUE EUROPEANS? CENTRAL-EASTERN EUROPE AND THE EU CRISIS
The current crisis of the EU is a challenge for its new member states. Central-eastern Europe can be expected to act as a new centre for reforms that will define the future form of the European Union.

This article is available in German at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-08-vetter-de.html

Tim Ochser
THE SAD STORY OF HOW "K" BECAME "C"
Plastic ferns, ABBA, and intoxicated Russians: on the seedy charms of the old-fashioned Latvian "kafejnica".

This article is available in English and Latvian at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-05-ochser-en.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-05-ochser-lv.html

George Blecher
DOCTOR! DOCTOR! MY PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE POLICY IS DRIVING ME CRAZY!
A warning to Europe from across the Atlantic: are you sure you want a privatized healthcare system?

This article is available in English at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-04-blecher-en.html

Darko Dukovski
GLOBALIZATION: FEAR AND HOPE OF SMALL EUROPEAN PEOPLES. A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
As processes of unification envelop Europe, Darko Dukovski looks at communication and national identities among peoples of a globalizing world: language(s) as one defining factor in European identities and developments.

This article is now available in Macedonian as well as Croatian and English at:
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-03-dukovski-mk.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2005-08-03-dukovski-hr.html
>>http://www.eurozine.com/article/2001-11-09-dukovski-en.html