On his first day as the presumptive Democratic candidate for president earlier this month, Barack Obama committed a serious foreign policy blunder. Reciting a litany of pro-Israeli positions at the annual meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), he avowed: “Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided.” In […]
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‘Dare Anyone Say a Word?’: The Canadian Labour Congress Convention of 2008
There is always something unsettling about people who say one thing and do another. There is for one thing the hypocrisy. Then, there is the uncertainty. It only takes a few disappointments to sow the seeds of doubt about whether you can ever trust their judgement again or whether you can ever expect them […]
Senate Finance Committee Approves “Iran Sanctions Act of 2008”
On June 18, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing to mark up an original bill, the “Iran Sanctions Act of 2008.” Despite opposition to provisions in the bill from members of the Committee and the Bush administration, the committee overwhelming approved the bill 19-2. On June 17, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wrote Senate […]
Class Struggle, Fossil Fuels, and Environmental Catastrophe
The excavation of fossil fuels was a one-time bonanza: it provided cheap energy that temporarily quadrupled the earth’s carrying capacity in terms of human population. Instead of an ever tightening immiseration of the working class and overthrow of the capitalist system, as expected by Marx, the one-time gift of fossil fuels led to a standoff […]
The Indian Judiciary, the Salwa Judum Criminal Vigilantes, and Political Prisoner Dr. Binayak Sen
Analytical Monthly Review, published in Kharagpur, West Bengal, India, is a sister edition of Monthly Review. Its June 2008 issue features the following editorial. — Ed. When the issue is class struggle, everyone knows that today’s judiciary in India exhibits no qualitative difference from that of the British colonial regime. When workers try to […]
From Marx to Morales: Indigenous Socialism and the Latin Americanization of Marxism
Over the past decade, a new rise of mass struggles in Latin America has sparked an encounter between revolutionists of that region and many of those based in the imperialist countries. In many of these struggles, as in Bolivia under the presidency of Evo Morales, Indigenous peoples are in the lead. Latin American revolutionists are […]
Naval Blockade against Iran?
The USA and the EU planning to escalate confrontation with Iran. A military blockade discussed. In the conflict over Iran’s civilian nuclear program, the United States and Europe are intensifying confrontation. At the top of the measures that are now being discussed is an international naval blockade by a “coalition of the willing.” As in […]
Call for Submissions to the 2008 Daniel Singer Millennium Prize
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Reading Marx’s Capital with David Harvey
David Harvey is a Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the City University of New York (CUNY) and author of various books. He has been teaching Karl Marx’s Capital, Volume I for nearly 40 years. Help keep this open course online: donate.
A Region in Chaos: An Interview with Dr. Mohssen Massarrat
Mohssen Massarrat, born in Tehran in 1942, is Professor of Political Economy and International Relations at Universität Osnabrück. Deutsche Militärzeitung: Professor Massarrat, William Fallon, US Commander responsible for the Middle East, unexpectedly resigned after just one year. A cause for his resignation is obviously the US policy toward Iran. Admiral Fallon criticized the US […]
The Irish “No”: Voting on Behalf of the Silenced Majority of the EU
Today the results were announced of the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, a revised version of the prior “free market” EU Constitution decisively defeated by the voters of France and the Netherlands in 2005. The masters of the European Union were careful this time not to permit the peoples of Europe a chance to […]
Che Guevara’s Final Verdict on the Soviet Economy
One of the most important developments in Cuban Marxism in recent years has been increased attention to the writings of Ernesto Che Guevara on the economics and politics of the transition to socialism. A milestone in this process was the publication in 2006 by Ocean Press and Cuba’s Centro de Estudios Che Guevara of Apuntes […]
Gap Between Latin America and Washington Still Growing
Washington’s foreign policy establishment — and much of the U.S. media — was taken by surprise this week when President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, stated that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) should lay down their arms and unconditionally release all of their hostages. The FARC is a guerrilla group that has been fighting […]
The End of a Despicable Prosecution
Buffalo, NY — Dr. Steven Kurtz, a Professor of Visual Studies at SUNY at Buffalo and cofounder of the award-winning art and theater group Critical Art Ensemble, has been cleared of all charges of mail and wire fraud. On April 21, Federal Judge Richard J. Arcara dismissed the government’s entire indictment against Dr. Kurtz […]
Big Stakes in Venezuela’s November Regional Elections
Coming out of the December 2 referendum defeat — the first for the Bolivarian movement since the election of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in 1998 — and facing discontent amongst popular sectors at the lack of advance in the Bolivarian process, the pro-revolution forces face a big challenge in securing an overwhelming victory in the […]
Three Days in Cairo: Egyptian Workers Impose a New Agenda
The road from the airport to the hotel shows the story: modern buildings partly conceal dilapidated, crowded structures that seem on the verge of collapse. Ancient jalopies chug along as if by inertia, while the latest luxury models zip past them. Huge billboards advertise multinational corporations. All this goes side by side with centuries-old […]
The Current Financial Crisis and the Future of Global Capitalism
Prophecies of Downfall The fact that Marx finally began with the composition of his long-planned economic work in the winter of 1857/1858 was directly occasioned by the economic crisis that broke out in the autumn of 1857 and the concomitant expectations of a deep trauma from which capitalism would no longer recover. “I am working […]
Can Sudan Survive?
Lecture to Royal African Society, 21 May 2008 The modern history of Sudan is riddled with bloodshed, destruction and squandered chances for peace and democracy. Consistently, the worst case scenario comes to pass and, just when it seems as though things could get no worse, they do precisely that. But occasionally, the Sudanese succeed in […]
Support Indian Guestworkers in Their Historic Hunger Strike
From the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice. Many of you know about this courageous group of workers, who have won incredible victories already for guestworkers and gained the support of labor, immigrant rights, and civil rights communities as well of a number of elected officials. Your contribution would go a long way in […]
We’re Gonna Win!If the Left Were More like the Red Wings1
I’ve come to the startling realization that few people outside of Detroit and Canada know or care about hockey.2 So I would understand if you didn’t know about Detroit’s recent return to glory as the National Hockey League champion. So let me fill you in for a moment on what it was like after we won. […]
