The following are summaries of the articles
by Stanley Meisler published in The Nation magazine from 1956 to 1980. Each
article title links to the original article in The Nation's archive. The
articles are available for free to The Nation subscribers or each
article is available to non-subscribers for purchase on The Nation
website.
Separatism - The Forgotten Issue March 22, 1980
Focuses on separatism in Canada. Threat of Quebec separatism;
Political strategy of Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
Taking Quebec Seriously April 28, 1979
Focuses on general elections scheduled to be held in Canada in
May 1979 while discussing chief executive officer of Quebec René
Lévesque's promise to his province for a referendum on
separation after the elections. Confusion among Canadians
regarding Lévesque's promise; Possibility of victory of Lévesque
in the elections; Discussion on a sovereignty-association
proposed by Lévesque.
A Mime Troupe Tests the Regime June 17, 1978
Discusses the case of Els Joglars, a Catalan mime troupe
convicted of insulting the Spanish Army. Embarrassment to the
self-proclaimed Spanish democracy of King Juan Carlos and
Premier Adolfo Suarez; Flaws in Spain's attempt at transition
from the dictatorship of the late Francisco Franco to a
parliamentary government.
Reacting to Big-Stick Diplomacy February 7, 1976
Examines key aspects of political and economic relations between
Mexico and the U.S. Emphasis on Mexican dependence on American
support; Ways by which American culture, organization and
products set the standards for Mexicans; Factors contributing to
conflicts of interest between the two countries; Extent of
Mexican dependence to the U.S.; Comparison of the political and
economic conditions; Difficulties involved in relations between
a powerful country and its weak neighbor.
Still Loyal to the Loyalists November 15, 1975
Reports on Mexican President Luis Echeverria Alvarez's reaction
to Spain's Generalisimo Francisco Franco's execution of five
revolutionaries in Spain in September 1975. Echeverria's
description of the Spanish dictatorship; Call to the United
Nations Security Council to expel Spain from the U.N.;
Destruction of Echeverria's campaign to succeed Kurt Waldheim as
Secretary General in 1976.
Return to a Disaster October 12, 1974
Focuses on relations between the U.S. and Haiti as of October
1974. Reasons for the stoppage of foreign aid to Haiti by the
U.S. Agency for International Development in 1963; Factors that
contributed to industrial establishments by U.S. businessmen in
Haiti; State of agricultural production in the country in the
1970s.
The Blacks of Panama June 22, 1974
Focuses on the conflict between the U.S. and Panama over the
issue of control over Panama canal. Assessment of negotiations
between them for a treaty to solve the dispute; Overview of the
problem of Black population in the canal zone controlled by the
U.S.; Information on the construction of the canal; Appraisal of
steps taken by the U.S. government to improve relations between
the two countries.
Jehovah's Witnesses in Africa July 16, 1973
Focuses on Jehovah's Witnesses, a social movement against Nazis,
as of July 16, 1973. Number of members of Jehovah's Witnesses in
Africa; Founder of Jehovah's Witnesses; Factors that led to the
establishment of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Ten Years of Fratricide December 6, 1971
The article discusses the genocide in Sudan. For more than a
decade, an obscure civil war has ravaged Sudan. Largely ignored
by the rest of the world, it is Africa's longest war, paralyzing
the Sudan's three southern provinces intermittently from 1955
and continuously from 1963. The war has led to perhaps a
half-million deaths and has forced 200,000 southerners to flee
for refuge in neighboring countries. All the terror and turmoil
have come from cultural hatred. The Sudan is the largest country
in Africa, about a third the size of the United States, with a
north of scrublands and sandy, arid hills, and a south of
forests and grasslands. Swamps separate the two regions.
Kenya's Asian Outcasts September 1, 1969
This article discusses about the Asians settled in Nairobi,
Kenya. Most of the shops of downtown Nairobi are in the hands of
Indians and Pakistanis. Living in a land run by African blacks,
are the most visible evidence of the gravest minority problem in
East Africa today. There are 350,000 Asians, as the Indians and
Pakistanis are called here, among East Africa's 29 million
people. About half of them live in Kenya, a quarter in Tanzania,
a quarter in Uganda. They are the shopkeepers, clerks, artisans
and foreman of East Africa. The Asians fill just those jobs and
places that Africans believe they now have enough experience and
training to take. Although they are called Asians, many either
were born in East Africa or have spent most of their lives
there. They consider East Africa as their home.
After Tom Mboya August 11, 1969
The aftermath of the murder of Kenyan political leader Tom Mboya
has mocked what he stood for. Mboya, who seemed to represent all
that was modern in Africa to the rest of the world, always
shunned the appeals to tribal allegiance that have crumbled
political stability elsewhere in Africa. His constituents were
mainly the urban workers groping for a modern way of life. Yet
his assassination on the first Saturday in July, 1969 unleashed
intense tribal hatreds. Kenya faces a long and dangerous period
of instability unless the government can somehow placate his
grieving Lao people.
Biafra: War of Images March 10, 1969
Images play as important a role as guns in the Nigerian civil
war. The Biafran secessionists, among Africa's most
sophisticated peoples, have known from the beginning that their
chances for success depended as much, on evoking world sympathy
as on holding back the federal army. Now, after twenty months of
war, it is clear that the Biafrans have been far more adept at
propaganda than soldiering. If they survive in some sovereign
form, they will owe it to their skill with images. Part of the
Biafran success in public relations stems from the federal
Nigerian Government's failure at it.
New Mission to Africa January 13, 1969
The article discusses various aspects of the U.S. foreign policy
in Africa. For years, the American Federation of Labor &
Congress of Industrial Organization (AFL-CIO) has pursued its
own foreign policy in Latin America and now it is turning to
Africa. In January 1968 Vice President H. Humphrey visited Kenya
with a large party that included executive director Irving
Brown. Despite unpopularity Brown's African American Labor
Center was set up in 1965 in Kenya. The Center often gives
office equipment and cars to African unions or creates
vocational training schools. But the Center also tries to
fulfill the traditional AFL-CIO role of helping non-Communist
unions fight alleged Communist union.
Breakup in Nigeria October 9, 1967
The article presents information on the civil war in Nigeria.
Two simple posters explain the civil war in Nigeria. The first,
a thin strip, was glued to the walls and windows of most public
buildings in Enugu, the capital of Eastern Nigeria, a few weeks
before the region seceded to become the Republic of Biafra. The
first poster reflects the intense tribal feeling of the Ibos of
Eastern Nigeria. They are enraged and bitter over the massacre
of thousands of Ibos in Northern Nigeria last year. They believe
the other tribes of Nigeria would wipe them out if they could.
For this reason, the Ibos feel they are fighting for theft
survival. The second poster, a little larger and more colorful,
was slapped all over Lagos, the federal capital of Nigeria, a
few weeks before federal troops invaded Biafra, the beginning of
the civil war.
Our Stake in Apartheid August 16, 1965
In 1963, during a Security Council debate on apartheid,
politician Adlai Stevenson announced dramatically that the U.S.
had banned all sale of arms to the Republic of South Africa. The
step had been taken, he said, to show U.S. government's deep
concern that South Africa refused to abandon its racist
policies. In March 1963, a reactor went critical at a research
center near Pretoria, and South Africa joined the nuclear age.
The feat was made possible by the firm that designed and built
the equipment: Allis-Chalmers of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The Impact of Medicare May 3, 1965
This article focuses on the Medicare bill that has been proposed
in the U.S. Congress. Medicare - as passed by the House-would
discourage hospitals from making arrangements that would draw
specialists into a comprehensive medical center. Every hospital
under Medicare would have to follow the lead of the most
progressive hospitals, and appoint a committee to review cases
periodically, to see that no doctor was keeping his patient in
the hospital too long. Another provision on the bill allows
federal pressure on medical practices.
Trial by Gadget September 28, 1964
The article presents information on lie detectors. The first lie
detector, employed centuries ago, was a handful of rice dropped
into the mouth of a suspect. If the rice stayed dry while he
answered questions, he clearly was a liar- exposed under the
questionable theory that a liar's salivary glands would dry up
when gripped by fear. The lie detector used most commonly today
is far more sophisticated. Developed by the psychologist and
criminologist Leonard Keeler almost forty years ago, it
comprises a pneumatic tube that fits across a subject's chest to
measure breathing, an inflatable rubber cuff that wraps around
the arm to measure blood pressure and a pair of electrodes that
touch the fingers and by the flow of current, measure-the
dampness of the palm.
Get Your Gun From the Army June 8, 1964
This article focuses on the possibility that the assassination
of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy might harm the U.S.
Army's civilian marksmanship program due to public revulsion to
the weapon which was used in the murder. The Army oversees
civilian marksmanship through its National Board for the
Promotion of Rifle Practice, which is headed by Colonel John K.
Lee. The board sets up instruction programs, organizes the
annual National Rifle and Pistol Matches, and markets used guns
to the public. It does all this through the National Rifle
Association (NRA). The Army sells rifles at cost to civilians
only if they are members of the NRA, and it gives instruction to
gun clubs only if they are affiliated with the NRA.
The Dodge City Syndrome May 4, 1964
A peculiar disease has been isolated by medical scientists in
the United States. The disease was first discovered by physician
J.V. Brown in the "Western Journal of Surgery." Commerce houses
are now marketing products designed to cope with it. Statistics
on incidence and morbidity are scanty and the name of the
disease is hazy. Some doctors call it "the fast draw syndrome";
others, "the Dodge City syndrome." It is most prevalent, of
course, among the numerous special gun clubs that have sprouted
across the land in recent years. Members, taking a leaf out of
days of yore and some scripts of today, draw guns from their
holster, quick as lightning and fire away. Unlike their
legendary heroes they don't shoot at one another but aim at
balloons. Sometimes though they miss the balloon and hit
themselves in the right foot. Brown observed sixteen cases of
the syndrome before writing his article "Gunshot Wounds of Lower
Extremity: Fast Draw Syndrome." The typical case of the fast
draw syndrome according to Browne is a young man in his late
teens or early twenties who presents with a small calibre
gunshot wound of the lower extremity, accidentally
self-inflicted, while practicing a fast 'draw.'
Meddling in Latin America February 10, 1964
According to the executive council of AFL-CIO, the so-called
trade unions of Soviet Union are nothing but agencies of
communist dictatorship. This implies that the unions in The U.S.
are anything but agencies of government and big business.
British Guiana is a good place to begin. The situation in
British Guiana is far more complicated than that and its
generous aid has involved the AFL-CIO in racial and political
strife. In addition, not all the aid given by the AFL-CIO has
come from the labor treasury. In British Guiana, as elsewhere in
Latin America, the AFL-CIO has operated with money supplied by
the United States Government and big business.
The Two Goldwaters October 26, 1963
The article presents information about U.S. politics. The
Republican candidate Barry Goldwater presented his precise views
on the problem of civil rights. First, he made it clear that he
considered States' rights the cornerstone of the republic. He
did not see any conflict between States' rights and civil
rights. On any particular issue, either one or the other
counted, never both. Voting, for example, was clearly a civil
right, and no state had the right to take this away from an
individual. Goldwater stayed with these views as late as the
University of Mississippi crisis last year.
Blowing Barry's Horn July 27, 1963
This article reports the National Draft Goldwater Independence
Day Rally, staged by the National Draft Goldwater Committee,
held on July 4, 1963, in Washington, D.C. This Republican
national convention was held for convincing every participants,
specially politicians and reporters, to nominate Republican
Barry Goldwater. The arranging Committee was headed by Texas
Republican Chairman Peter O'Donnell, Jr. The main focus during
the convention was on youths. The young people much preferred to
think of their so-called hero, Goldwater. The rally was much
dominated by youth and Dixie.
Selling Militarism to America (Part II) September 9, 1961
This article presents information on the public relations set-up
of U.S. armed forces. One of the most significant works
involving the public relations group of the U.S. armed forces is
to capture mass media's attention to military propaganda's. In
this context, the U.S. Dept. of Defense cooperates with various
Hollywood producers in their endeavor of producing movies or
television shows that shows U.S. armed forces in good light. The
audio-visual division of the department scrutinizes scripts
thoroughly before extending any sort of cooperation. A fixed set
of guidelines is present to this effect which needs to be
followed while approving scripts. The cooperation extended by
the department helps producers save a lot of money.
The Brass Trumpet September 2, 1961
This article discusses various issues related to the U.S.
military forces. Public relations is among the newest of U.S.
military weapons. Although military commanders and the War
Department issue battle reports that were printed or elaborated
by the press during the Civil War and the Spanish-American War,
the U.S. military service did not issue its first formal press
release until 1904. U.S. spends 59 per cent of its more than $80
billion budget on national security every year. However, the
U.S. President says that they should guard against unwarranted
influence by the military-industrial complex.
Super-Graft on Superhighways April 1, 1961
This article discusses about the plans of the U.S. government
regarding the biggest public works project. The federal
government has decided to spend billions of dollars for 41, 000
miles of superhighways criss-crossing the nation. Taxpayers are
supporting the program because it promises to satisfy their
hunger for cars and roads. A driver will be able to travel from
coast to coast at sixty to seventy miles an hour without
encountering a single stop sign, traffic light or railroad
crossing. In the main, these highways with entry only at
selected places, will have four lanes, swelling to six and eight
lanes near metropolitan areas.
The Governor and the Bishops December 3, 1960
Luis Muñoz Marín, Puerto Rico's first elected Governor,
remains in La Fortaleza, Puerto Rico. Despite his victory, a
threat lingers, perhaps not to his power, but to the political
stability of Puerto Rico. And, while the threat evolves
primarily from clericalism, part of the threat also stems from
Muñoz Marín himself. During the campaign, the flare-up over
the tactics of the bishops, who issued two pastoral letters
forbidding Catholics to vote for Muñoz Marín obscured some of
the political problems of Puerto Rico. The Governor's rout of
the new Christian Action Party, a creature of the bishops,
tended to fill his supporters, particularly abroad, with a heady
optimism, blinding them to the dangers still enveloping
democracy on the island.
Twilight for Trujillo November 12, 1960
This article focuses on possibilities of the future political
scenario after the fall of the regime of Generalissimo Rafael
Leonidas Trujillo Molina in Dominican Republic which is
tottering. The chaos and anger that will follow the fall, there
will be no embrace. The sudden anti-Trujillo policy of the U.S.
and the dramatic condemnation of the Dominican Republic by the
Organization of American States (OAS) at San Jose have come too
late to avert what State Department planners fear most an
anti-American, Fidel Castro-leaning successor to Trujillo. There
are degrees of bitterness and contempt, and the exact character
of tile post-Trujillo regime will depend on the forces used to
overthrow the Generalissimo.
The Politics of Sugar July 23, 1960
The article focuses on 1960 Sugar Act, a bill that proposes
cutting Cuba's sugar quota. Just a month earlier, it had not
seemed likely U.S. Congress would surrender this power. On June
1, the House Agriculture Committee, on a strict party vote of 23
to 12, reported a bill that would have merely extended the sugar
program for one more year without giving the President any
authority to change import quotas. The vote reflected the
influence of the committee chairman, Harold D. Cooley, who
opposed cutting Cuba's sugar quota.
Charade of Civil Defense June 11, 1960
This article discusses efforts of the U.S. Civil Defense to
prevent citizens during a war. In the first place, the goals of
the U.S. Civil Defense planners are hidden by confusion. The
average American is not quite sure whether he is expected to
hide in his basement or run from his house, and neither is the
U.S. Office of Civil Defense and Mobilization. The Civil Defense
officials have found themselves with an acclaimed shelter
theory, but no shelters, and a discredited evacuation theory,
but lots of evacuation facilities. But, even assuming that
shelters will perform a limited function, the plain fact remains
that almost no one is building them.
Letter from Washington May 21, 1960
On April 17, twenty-eight writers and artists from eleven
countries assembled for an annual congress sponsored by the
Institute of Contemporary Arts in Washington. The roster
included Italian Nobel-Prize poet Salvatore Quasimodo, poets
from the U.S. Richard Eberhart, Stanley Kunitz and Allen Tate,
and England's critic-poet Sir Herbert Read. Eberhart seemed to
speak for everyone when he suggested that artist in the U.S. may
be using up too much energy searching for status. And Tate
clinched the argument by noting that the status of the artist
cannot be too bad if foundations and the State Department
continually spend money shipping them about the world to talk to
one another.
Small-Arms Race April 16, 1960
On March 4, , the 4,309-ton French freighter La Coubre, carting
seventy-six tons of Belgian grenades and ammunition to the army
of Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, exploded in Havana
harbor, killing more than seventy-five seamen, dock workers and
firefighters. The series of deadly blasts triggered a series of
sensational questions that hit headlines in both the United
States and Cuba. Had an American agent or anti-Castro Cuban
slipped aboard and left a time bomb in the hold! Had a careless
dock worker dropped a match into the munitions! Other questions,
tinged with less excitement, were also evoked. La Coubre and its
grenades represent an often unnoticed phenomenon of the cold
war. While the great nations of the world terrorize each other
in a nuclear-arms race, the weaker, underdeveloped nations are
running madly through their own series of small-arms sprints.
Federal Narcotics Czar February 20, 1960
complete article (available for a limited time)
The article presents information on U.S. Commissioner of
Narcotics H.J. Anslinger. According to the commissioner, the
drug addict is an "immoral, vicious, social leper, who cannot
escape responsibility for his actions. Throughout his tenure,
Anslinger has proclaimed that "strong laws, good enforcement,
stiff sentences and a proper hospitalization program" are the
weapons needed to destroy narcotics addiction. This program
seemed intelligent and compassionate, it implied that sick men
must be treated and that evil men, who prey on the sick by
selling them drugs, must be punished.
Letter from Mexico December 19, 1959
The article author describes his experiences on visiting Mexico
City. Mexico City's Palace of Fine Arts assigns one of its
salons to modern art and another to Mexican art, but both, like
all the others, exhibit the same kind of paintings. In tiers of
galleries, this huge museum offers little but work by
twentieth-century Mexicans. A first look is far from a dull
experience. The author the concert at which Carlos Chavez
returned as guest conductor of the Orquestra Sinfónica Nacional.
After an absence of several years. He had founded the orchestra
in 1928 and directed it for twenty years, bringing Mexico a
balance of international and native music.
Hidden Censors October 10, 1959
It is fashionable in literary circles to snicker at Arthur K.
Summerfield, the former Chevrolet dealer who may have produced
one of the most publicized cases of poor judgment in the history
of criticism. But the Postmaster General merely carried the
logic of traditional Post Office procedures to their proper
conclusion. Vested with these traditional powers of censorship,
Summerfield, a man who admits to reading little fiction, decided
that D.H. Lawrence's "Lady Chatterley's Lover" taken as a whole,
is an obscene and filthy work", literary critics and at least
one federal judge decided otherwise. The Post Office got into
the business of checking non-first class mail for obscenity in
1873, when Congress passed the Comstock Law, which still is the
chief weapon in the postal war on pornography.
Theatre in Mexico September 19, 1959
The article presents information on the Mexican Theatre. It
focuses on two plays- Las cosas simples and Los signos del
zodiac. The first one is a play by a twenty-seven-year-old
Mexican, Hector Mendoza. Its translated version in English is
"The Simple Things." Furthermore, the latter one resembles Elmer
Rice's Street Scene, uncovers the interrelated lives of several
neighbors living in one of Mexico City's patio tenement houses.
But the atmosphere is all Tennessee Wilhams: a caidron of love,
youth, poverty, vulgarity, violence and symbolism.
Letter from Washington August 29, 1959
The article presents anecdotes from America. A potful of hot
water gurgled down on us as we waited, caught in a giggling,
shoving crowd, outside Washington's Coffee 'n Confusion Club, a
beatnik haven marking its first Saturday night of business in
the nation's capital. An irate neighbor in an upstairs apartment
had tossed out the hot but not boiling water. The sprinkles from
above alighting on the sprinkle of beards in the crowd
symbolized one of the oddest clashes in the history of this
clash-ridden federal town. For several months now, the prudery
of Washington has been at war with the rebellion of its youth.
The Lost Dreams of Howard Fast May 30, 1959
The article presents information on the American writer, Howard
Fast. His books kept the insight into the intellect of an
American Communist. Fast's novels had tremendous circulation in
the Communist world after World War II and, in face, enjoyed
much popularity in U.S. until the press advertised his link with
the Communist Party in the late 1940s. His Soviet popularity
ended when he left the party in 1957. Although his resignation
helped reopen doors to American publishers and movie producers,
most of the fiction of his Communist period has remained unread
in United States. His books include "Citizen Tom Paine" ,
"Freedom Road" and "The American."
Letter from New Orleans April 12, 1958
The first Inter-American Music Festival opens April 18, 1958 in
Washington. The festival originally had been scheduled for April
of 1957, and New Orleans, Louisiana, which aspires to be the
modern hub of the U.S., was the site chosen. The selection aimed
to blend the old musical tradition of the city with the more
recent Latin American hue that has covered the port
commercially. But several months before the scheduled opening,
with almost all commissioned music completed, officials
mysteriously called everything off.
Theatre September 1, 1956
No one seems to care if entertainer Ewing Poteet dulls or
excites taste for theatre. No one cares if he is foolish or
brilliant, if he upholds theatre or sneers at it, if he knows
how to write. The forty-four-year-old Poteet, in his seventh
year as Item critic, is more than just his newspaper's theatre
man. Most non-New York critics are the
drama-music-movie-radio-television-nightclub-book-phonograph-art
editors of their outfits. Fifty percent courts, 25 percent
music, 25 percent theatre make up the 100 percent Poteet.
," by David Hapgood and Meridan Bennett.
," by
David Hapgood.
," by
Leonard Mosley.
," by Melville J. Herskovits; "
," by
Hortense Powdermaker.
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"
" and "
."