For the last several months Turkey has been immersed in a major political crisis as various sections of the Turkish ruling classes openly feud. It has pitted the ruling, Islamic-influenced AKP government against sections of the Turkish military, political, and judicial elites. It is also dispute over the direction of Turkish economic restructuring as well […]
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Toward a Nuclear Weapon-free World: Nuclear Weapon States’ Responsibility and Japan’s Role
Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I want to thank also our friends in Hokkaido for the excellent preparation for this symposium. When we heard the news of the G8 Summit taking place in Toyako, we thought that we should urge the government of Japan, as the only country that has been bombed […]
Dual Crisis
“When we talk about a financial crisis, it’s really only a symptom. . . . Financial adventurism is essentially what we have been witnessing for the last thirty or forty years, exploding from time to time in the form of financial crisis. It’s really adventurist, speculative capital which has to find in some way […]
Making Excuses for Empire: A Reply to the Self-Appointed Defenders of the AEI
As much as we enjoy puns in titles, Stephen Zunes’ recent defense of Gene Sharp’s Albert Einstein Institution (AEI) in the article “Sharp Attack Unwarranted,” doesn’t have much else going for it. Zunes spends most of his time diverting attention from the real issues: the AEI’s role in imperial projects, a role which is politically […]
Truth and Consequences under the Israeli Occupation
I am a Palestinian journalist from Gaza. At the age of 17, I armed myself with a camera and a pen, committed to report accurately on events in Gaza. I have filed reports as Israeli fighter jets bombed Gaza City. I have interviewed mothers as they watched their children die in hospitals unequipped to serve […]
The Distribution of Bolivia’s Most Important Natural Resources and the Autonomy Conflicts
Over the last year, there has been an escalation in the political battles between the government of President Evo Morales and a conservative opposition, based primarily in the prefectures, or provinces. The opposition groups have rallied around various issues but have recently begun to focus on “autonomy.” Some of the details of this autonomy […]
New Books by Marta Harnecker and Michael A. Lebowitz for Debate on Socialism
3 August 2008 — The Fundación Centro Internacional Miranda (CIM), in contribution to the necessary debate on how to build the kind of socialism we want, announces the publication of two important contributions to this debate: El camino al desarrollo humano: ¿capitalismo o socialismo? (The Road to Human Development: Capitalism or Socialism?) by Michael A. […]
Why the World Isn’t Flat
Let me start my talk with a little story. In 1958, Japan tried to export this first passenger car to the US market. The company was Toyota, the car was called Toyopet. And, as you can guess from the name, it was a very cheap, small subcompact car, more of a four-wheels-and-an-ashtray kind of thing, […]
Want Lower Gas Prices? Lift AIPAC’s Sanctions on Iran
Senator McCain, President Bush, and some of their oil industry friends are urging Americans to support overturning a 26-year ban on offshore drilling as a way to bring down gas prices. Of course, it’s snake oil designed for what the Joe Lieberman campaign affectionately called “low information voters.” As Dean Baker and Nichole Szembrot of […]
If Socialism Fails: The Spectre of 21st Century Barbarism
From the first day it appeared online, Climate and Capitalism’s masthead has carried the slogan “Ecosocialism or Barbarism: there is no third way.” We’ve been quite clear that ecosocialism is not a new theory or brand of socialism — it is socialism with Marx’s important insights on ecology restored, socialism committed to the fight against […]
Reality Bites. Bush Blinks. Tough Road Ahead.
This month the Bush administration finally blinked. After years of bluster about “staying the course” and “not rewarding evildoers by talking to them,” a shift in White House declarations indicated that failure is forcing even this President to adjust. First, about Iraq: Three months ago Bush was promising an imminent “Status of Forces Agreement” that […]
Offshore Drilling and Energy Conservation:The Relative Impact on Gas Prices
Senator McCain recently proposed opening up environmentally sensitive offshore zones to oil drilling in response to the recent jump in oil and gas prices. He argues that increased offshore production will reduce dependence on foreign oil, in addition to lowering gas prices. However, the Energy Information Agency (EIA) projects that Senator McCain’s proposal would have […]
Afghanistan: Shoals Ahead for President Obama
Obama has founded his campaign and become attractive to the American voters in large part on the basis of his position on the Iraq war. He opposed it publicly since 2002. He has called it a “dumb” war. He voted against the “surge.” He has called for a withdrawal over 16 months of all combat […]
The Crowd in the Iranian Revolution of 1977-79
“The main actor of the Iranian Revolution was really the crowd. One American sociologist has described it as ‘the largest protest event in world history’ . . . in fact it had more mass participation than any other major political crisis or revolution. What is striking about the Iranian crowd is that it’s very, very […]
Moreno Ocampo’s Coup de Theatre
I have been delaying writing about the ICC Chief Prosecutor’s public application for an arrest warrant against President Bashir until that application is public. As it is still not available, let me comment on the press conference. In the absence of law and evidence, we have the theatrics. I sat in Luis Moreno Ocampo’s press […]
Nigeria’s Oil
Awash in oil, yet its people, for the most part, are destitute. Nigeria discovered “liquid gold” half a century ago and today is the world’s eighth largest oil exporter. But the country is plagued by corruption, inefficiency, underdevelopment, and an uprising in its Niger Delta — the area where most of its oil reserves […]
End the Occupation of Iraq — and Afghanistan
So far, Bush’s plan to maintain a permanent U.S. military presence in Iraq has been stymied by resistance from the Iraqi government. Barack Obama’s timetable for withdrawal of American troops has evidently been joined by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, Bush has mentioned a “time horizon,” and John McCain has waffled. Yet Obama favors leaving […]
Labor Board Becomes Government’s “Rip Van Winkle”
Returning to school after winter break, Austin Garrido found that Uloop, an online marketplace for college students, had cut his hourly pay. Elsewhere on the University of California-Polytechnic’s campus in Pomona, his co-worker Sarah Doolittle also discovered a light paycheck. Unhappy about $8 an hour and shrunken bonuses from the Craigslist-type outfit, the two posted […]
Iran Should Sue to Stop US Attack
Francis Boyle, Professor of International Law at the University of Illinois, proposes that Iran sue the U.S. in the World Court to enjoin it against threats to attack Iran. Part 1: The Libya Precedent “We filed papers with the International Court of Justice in the Hague, on behalf of Libya against the US and […]
Blood and Oil: The Middle East in World War I
Blood and Oil: The Middle East in World War I Part 1: Surprise Attack Part 2: Military Disaster Part 3: The Dardanelles Part 4: Suez Advance Part 5: Gallipoli Part 6: Iraq Expedition Part 7: Caucasus Front Part 8: Iraq Revisited Part 9: Desert War Part 10: Baghdad Taken Part 11: Gaza Battles Part […]
