- This monthly magazine is not to be mistaken for the daily Le Monde.
The monthly publication Le Monde diplomatique (nicknamed "Le Diplo" by its French readers) offers well-documented analysis and opinion on politics, culture, and current affairs. In particular, it takes a critical view on the effects of Neoliberalism on the world and its population, and is generally seen as decidedly left-wing. Through the last fifty years during the cold war, it had also a neutralist viewpoint, often critical of US foreign policy.
The original French edition has a circulation of about 350,000; sixteen editions in other languages bring the total to about 1.4 million readers worldwide. Le Monde diplomatique's readers own 49% of the company through L'association des Amis du Monde diplomatique; the remaining 51% is owned by the French daily newspaper Le Monde. The newspaper maintains its independence by limiting its dependence advertising and through its reader-owned capital - "minorité de blocage" (control stock).
One editorial written in 1997 by Ignacio Ramonet, its editor-in-chief, led to the creation of the ATTAC NGO, which is working towards implementing the Tobin tax.
Like the French weekly Télérama, Le Diplo is criticized for the quantity and nature of the published advertisements. In November and December 2003 2-page advertisements by IBM and a car manufacturer were placed. The issues of February and March 2004 contained advertisements by Microsoft in a 'social' atmosphere with a picture of children, which led to irritation with Free software activists.
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