On 26 January, India’s Republic Day, thousands of farmers and agricultural workers will drive their tractors and walk into the heart of the capital, New Delhi, to bring their fight to the doors of the government.
Archive | January, 2021
Raising their banner high: Fascism, imperialism, and anti-communism at the Capitol Hill riots
This multicultural dimension of an overtly white supremacist demonstration is not a contradiction: rather, it reflects the convergence between imperialism abroad and fascism at home. Liberal commentators expressed self-righteous dismay at the vandalizing of “our” “iconic symbol of democracy,” worrying about what the events would do to the U.S.’ hallowed image as the shining “city […]
Media Elevate Eugenicists, sideline disabled voices in discussions of Covid rationing
In the sticky conversations around rationing life-saving treatments and vaccines during the Covid pandemic, corporate media have elevated some experts without disclosing their troubling views on disability, aging and the value of human life. Meanwhile, media outlets have largely sidelined the voices of disabled activists and others who could speak on behalf of those most […]
Biden’s ‘Secretary of State for regime change’ indicates no change in U.S. foreign policy
The new secretary of state served as a senior foreign policy official in the Obama administration–a period marked by increased global conflict and wars in the Middle East.
Casualties of the Old Cold War should inform opposition to U.S.’ New Cold War against China
The U.S. share of the global economy has shrunk dramatically since 1960. On the other hand, China is on pace to surpass the U.S. in GOP terms in 2030.
Bidenfreude: COVID-19 in post-Trump U.S.
A jokester once characterized Yale University as a hedge fund with a campus attached to it. One might say something similar of the country in which Yale is based.
Biden nominees call for tough stance on China during confirmation hearings
During Tuesday’s confirmation hearings before the Senate, nominees for positions in Joe Biden’s cabinet expressed their support for a tough stance on China.
China tech ban mirrors 1980s attempts to destroy Japanese competition
In the 1980s, the U.S. imposed a 100% tariff on virtually all Japanese electronics and forced Tokyo to sign a one-sided trade deal that reserved much of its domestic semiconductor sector for American companies.
The class composition of the Capitol rioters (First Cut)
The extensive commentary I have read on the Capitol Seizure of January 6 has not, to my knowledge, focused on two aspects of the event: The first is the class composition of the rioters. The second is the actual cost of the event.
![Capitalism as Civilisation: A History of International Law (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020).]](https://mronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/capitalism-as-civilisation-200x200.png "Capitalism and the Telos of the Neoliberal Civilizing Mission")
Capitalism and the Telos of the Neoliberal Civilizing Mission
In 1931 the British Colonial Office submitted a special report to the Council of the League of Nations on the “Progress of Iraq” in the previous decade. Since the First World War had ended with the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire and the confiscation of its territories, Iraq had been governed as a British mandate, […]
The patriots
Protesting farmers are reclaiming the idea of the nation.
U.S. makes aggressive opening move on Russian chessboard
A regime change project in Russia was launched on Sunday with the return of political activist Alexei Navalny to Moscow. It was a highly symbolic event—except that Navalny was traveling by an airplane from Germany and not in a sealed train.
In memory of Patrice Lumumba, assassinated on January 17, 1961
On 17 January 2021, we commemorate the 60th anniversary of the assassination of Patrice Lumumba (1925-1961).
Max Blumenthal: Breach of Capitol security was like a military operation
The Grayzone founder notes that “such a disproportionate percentage” of the Capitol building attackers were former military, former law enforcement, or current law enforcement that began rappelling up the sides of the Capitol with ropes.”
The Jewish supremacist state (A comment on B’Tselem’s ‘apartheid regime’ designation for Israel)
During the past two decades, many respected individuals and organizations designated the regime Israel has established in the occupied Palestinian territory—the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza—as a form of apartheid.
Citing famine, UN urges reversal of terrorist designation for Yemen’s Houthis; U.S. refuses
Mark Lowcock of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned that recent labeling of Houthis as a terrorist organization by the U.S. would likely trigger a “famine on a scale we have not seen in 40 years.
COVID-19: How the world fought in 2020
In December 2019, China’s Wuhan city witnessed an abnormal rise of what was initially thought to be cases of pneumonia, as identified by the Wuhan Municipality Health Commission. However, upon further investigation by Chinese officials, a novel coronavirus was identified. By then the city’s health system was already dealing with dozens of cases of coronavirus.
Illicit Financial Flows: Africa is the world’s main creditor
Contrary to the dominant discourse, it is actually the case that the 54 African states finance developed countries and not the other way round.
TNCs reviving TPP Frankenstein
The incoming Biden administration is under tremendous pressure to demonstrate better U.S. economic management. Trade negotiations normally take years to conclude, if at all. Unsurprisingly, lobbyists are already urging the next U.S. administration to quickly embrace and deliver a new version of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Burying Pinochet
The Chilean media were quick to label the October 2019 popular uprising an ‘estallido social’, a social explosion. As the cry of ‘Chile despertó!’– Chile woke up!–rang out in the streets, the refrain in television studios was that ‘no one saw this coming’.
