The events of September 11 laid the basis for the emergence of a vicious form of Islamophobia that facilitated the U.S. goals of empire building in the 21st century. This form of Islamophobia focused on the enemy “out there” against which the U.S. supposedly had to go to war to protect itself, from Afghanistan to […]
Geography Archives: Americas
South America, Central America, United States & Canada
On the Goldstone Phenomenon, Etc.
Norman G. Finkelstein: Israel would not be so up in arms about the Goldstone Report, would not be so upset by it, were it not for the fact that, yes, they are very vulnerable to the public opinion, and they know very well the limits beyond which it may not express itself against them, […]
China Will Do Whatever It Wants to Do . . . about Its Currency and Iran
The United States and China seem to have reached an agreement with regard to the exchange rate between their two currencies. The agreement is that the U.S. government will stop yelling about it, and China will do whatever it wants to do, which will probably include some modest rise in the renminbi some time in […]
Cuban Prisoners, Here and There
For more than half a century Western political leaders and their corporate media have waged a disinformation war against socialist Cuba. Nor is there any sign that they are easing up. A recent example is the case of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, an inmate who died in a Cuban prison in February 2010 after an 82-day […]
Iran: Sanctions Will Fail — Then What?
Listen to the Interview: Flynt Leverett: I think that the Nuclear Posture Review that came out earlier this week needs to be seen as a very imperfect and, in some important respects, very badly flawed product of an effort which originally had, I think, a very positive intention, namely, an intention on the part […]
China Is Not on Board for Serious Sanctions against Iran
In the midst of its Nuclear Security Summit and in the wake of President Obama’s bilateral meeting with China’s President Hu yesterday, the Obama Administration is vigorously spinning the U.S. and Western media that it has won Chinese support for new sanctions against the Islamic Republic over its nuclear activities. To say the least, this […]
Here Comes the Neighborhood: The Housing Movement Goes Global in East Harlem
Here, amid the glittering ruins of globalized gentrification’s gilded age, a kind of glocal tenants’ movement is taking shape, at once locally rooted and globally connected. On April 6, 2008, a gathering of global dimensions was afoot on the steps of New York’s City Hall. You may have missed it at the time. You may […]
Lula: “We Cannot Allow Some Countries to Be Armed to the Teeth While Others Are Disarmed”
The president of Brazil brings a firm message to the summit on nuclear security. “I’m going to ask President Obama: what is the significance of your recent accord with Medvedev on the deactivation of nuclear warheads [of the United States and Russia]? Deactivation of what? If we are talking about deactivating the warheads that […]
Agriculture and the India-U.S. ‘Strategic Alliance’: The Deadly Danger of Monsanto, Archer Daniels Midland and Wal-Mart
Analytical Monthly Review, published in Kharagpur, West Bengal, India, is a sister edition of Monthly Review. Its April 2010 issue features the following editorial. — Ed. There are points when long-term trends emerge openly in the present, and a process normally visible only from a distance becomes an unmistakable part of daily life. The […]
Ethnic Cleansing by Any Other Name
Background The West Bank has been occupied by Israel since 1967. Israel maintains authoritative jurisdiction over the happenings in the West Bank via its military apparatus. Decisions governing the simplest aspects of Palestinian life, from traveling from one area to another to building a home, ultimately lie under the jurisdiction of the Israeli Military’s High […]
Fund Public Education through Corporate Taxation
The Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) is facing a $30 million shortfall for the 2010-11 budget. To add to the bad news, an assessment prepared by Durrant Engineering indicates that the district faces approximately $86 million in “pressing maintenance needs.”1 According to the budget summary, Since 1993, the Madison School District has created efficiencies […]
Iran Reacts to Becoming a U.S. Nuclear Target
As we noted last week, the Obama Administration’s Nuclear Posture Review, issued last Monday, included a provision asserting a U.S. prerogative to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapons states that Washington deems not be in compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Following the release of the Nuclear Posture Review last week, both President Obama and […]
Israel’s Shock Doctrine
Shlomo Swirski, Economist, Adva Center: The government cut its yearly budget for four consecutive years. The cuts were very severe. They hit the school system, universities, the health system, and, more than anything else, the social security system. So, within two years the level of the poverty rate for families jumped from 17 to […]
How Far Would the Western Media Go for Their Love of Cuban Criminals?
Journalist: “What is the name of your husband who you say is a political prisoner?” Lady in White: “Jack the Ripper.” Tomás Rafael Rodríguez Zayas (Tomy) is a Cuban cartoonist. This cartoon was published by Cambios en Cuba on 25 March 2010. Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi (@yoshiefuruhashi | yoshie.furuhashi [at] gmail.com). | | Print
Comrade Jarrar: Palestinian Political Strategy Must Support Our People’s Resistance
Comrade Khalida Jarrar, member of the Political Bureau of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, called for the development of a united Palestinian strategy that strengthens Palestinian resistance and rejects the failed and dangerous path of negotiations with the occupation. In an interview on April 8, 2010 with Jerusalem News Net, Comrade Jarrar […]
Why Are American Jewish Groups So Intent on Defending Illegal Israeli Settlements and Other Human Rights Violations?
A coalition of nearly 20 Jewish groups, ranging from the right-wing David Project and the Jewish National Fund to the liberal J Street, is distributing a misleading statement condemning a Student Senate bill at UC Berkeley. The ground-breaking bill calls for divestment from companies that profit from the perpetuation of the Israeli military occupation […]
U.S. Covering Up Reality in Honduras
Jesse Freeston, Producer, The Real News Network: Since the inauguration of Pepe Lobo as the president of Honduras on January 27, the US State Department has been the new government’s most vocal supporter, urging the region to follow the US lead in restoring relations with the Honduran government, relations that were largely cut after the […]
Bolivia: Bittersweet Victory Highlights Obstacles for Process of Change
Although final figures will not be known until April 24, the results of Bolivia’s April 4 regional elections have ratified the continued advance of the “democratic and cultural revolution” led by the country’s first indigenous President Evo Morales. However, it also highlights some of the shortcomings and obstacles the process of change faces. Initial results […]
Tony Judt and the Limits of Social Democracy
Tony Judt. Ill Fares the Land. The Penguin Press, 2010. 237 pp. $25.95. In December, the New York Review of Books transcribed an October 2009 speech delivered by the eminent historian Tony Judt at New York University under the title “What Is Living and What Is Dead in Social Democracy?” A major address by Judt […]
U.S. Fighting Losing Battles Against National Self-Determination
Of all the misunderstandings that guide U.S. foreign policy — including foreign commercial policy — perhaps the most important and long-lasting is the failure to recognize or understand what national self-determination means to most people in the world. Or why it might be important to them. Our leaders seem to have learned very little since […]
