The Largest Prison Population, the Highest Incarceration Rate The United States incarcerates more people than any country in the world, including the far more populous nation of China. At the start of the new year, the American penal system held more than 2.3 million adults. China was second, with 1.5 million people behind bars, […]
Geography Archives: Americas
South America, Central America, United States & Canada
Aristide and the Endless Revolution
To buy a DVD of Aristide and the Endless Revolution (Dir. Nicolas Rossier, 2005), visit <www.aristidethefilm.com/>. | | Print
The U.S. Occupation of Iraq at the Pivot
Max Elbaum will be on two panels at Left Forum 2008: “The State of the Anti-War Movement” and “Looking Back, Looking Forward: The Legacy of ’68.” — Ed. WAR/PEACE AT THE PIVOT If the U.S. can be forced to withdraw completely from Iraq, many more positive changes become possible. But if the U.S. continues its […]
Cracks in the Edifice
Left Forum 2008 Each spring in New York City, Left Forum gathers intellectuals and activists from around the world to address the burning issues of our times. The theme for 2008 is “CRACKS IN THE EDIFICE.” We will examine the context of an empire in the throes of collapse and discuss the possibilities for social […]
Eliminate Two-Tier Workplaces
This statement/call was provided by the Center for Labor Renewal co-convenor Jerry Tucker, who will be the moderator of the CLR-organized “Reorganizing the Working Class” panel at Left Forum 2008. — Ed. Statement & Call for the Elimination of Two-Tier Workplaces On Saturday, January 26, 2008, over 80 U.S. and Canadian auto industry worker-activists met […]
National Agrarian Strike against U.S. Trade Deal in Peru
A two-day national agrarian strike against a pending Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States ended on Wednesday February 20th, leaving four farmers dead after President Alan Garcia declared a state of emergency and ordered a violent crackdown. Farmers are demanding financial support from the government in the face of a predicted increase in […]
Venezuela: Danger Signs for the Revolution
In recent weeks, external and internal pressures against Venezuela’s Bolivarian revolution have intensified dramatically. It is clear that US imperialism and the US-backed Venezuelan opposition see the defeat of Chavez’s proposed constitutional reforms on December 2 as a green light to push forward their plans to destabilize the government. In addition, growing internal problems, with […]
The Failure of Human Rights Watch in Venezuela and Haiti
The way Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported on Haiti and Venezuela in its 2008 World Report reveals an underlying assumption that the U.S. and its allies have the right to overthrow democratic governments.1 The Venezuela section of the report said nothing about ongoing attempts by the U.S. to overthrow the Chavez government. It is a […]
Why Another History of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict?
James L. Gelvin. The Israel-Palestine Conflict: One Hundred Years of War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. x + 294 pp. Illustrations, maps, notes, bibliographies, glossary, time line, biographical sketches, index. Those who have noted, but not read, James Gelvin‘s The Israel-Palestine Conflict: One Hundred Years of War may well ask themselves, “do we need another […]
Meeting Resistance: Iraqi Insurgents Speak for Themselves
Meeting Resistance: A film by Molly Bingham and Steve Connors. Now showing at various locations. For a schedule, go to: www.meetingresistance.com. Available soon on DVD. Meeting Resistance is that rarest of discourse in the contemporary world — the true voice of the victims of US imperialism — edited, of course, as any coherent documentary must […]
It’s the Empire, Stupid
The status of the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt remains unsettled. Egypt is under heavy pressure from both Israel and the United States to reestablish control and seal the border. In an uncharacteristically blunt criticism of the regime of President Husni Mubarak, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice testified before the House Foreign Affairs […]
Higher Inflation Makes the Fed’s Job Far More Difficult
CPI Rises 0.4 Percent in January, Core Edges Higher Higher inflation is the cost of the high dollar policy of the last decade. The overall consumer price index rose by 0.4 percent for the second straight month in January, pushed up by 0.7 percent increases in both food and energy prices. The January increase brings […]
Peter Hallward Untangles the Truth about Haiti from a Web of Lies
DAMMING THE FLOOD : Haiti, Aristide, and the Politics of Containment by Peter HallwardBUY THIS BOOK In Damming the Flood: Haiti, Aristide, and the Politics of Containment, Peter Hallward meticulously explains how, on February 29 of 2004, the U.S. managed to “topple one of the most popular governments in Latin America but it managed to […]
The US “War on Terror” Exported to Rwanda: A Threat to Peace in DRC
There is a common flaw in US foreign policy. In giving aid to foreign nations, the United States prioritizes its own foreign policy goals over any standards of good governance. Because this system of support ignores the realities on the ground, it ultimately backfires, undermining US long-term interests and fueling instability, conflict, and violations […]
Real Muslims, Real Lives: An Enchanted Modern by Lara Deeb
Lara Deeb. An Enchanted Modern: Gender and Public Piety in Shi’i Lebanon. Princeton Studies in Muslim Politics Series. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006. ix + 263 pp. Illustrations, footnotes, glossary, bibliography, index. An Enchanted Modern by Lara Deeb is an important book that illustrates and explores the lives of real, modern, Muslim women. Published […]
Walking Away: The Least Bad Option
Except for a hardy band of neo-con optimists and the official apologists of the Bush regime, almost everyone is agreed today that the United States has gotten itself into a nasty, self-wounding mess in Iraq where it is fighting a drawn-out guerrilla war it cannot win. At the same time, a very large number of […]
Race, Poverty, and the Neoliberal Agenda in the United States: Lessons from Katrina and Rita
Abstract The global economic system has come to be dominated de facto by institutions subscribing to and enforcing the neoliberal agenda. Since the end of World War II, these institutions have sought not only to regulate but, in a manner reminiscent of classical colonialism, to control global resources facilitated by the emergence of the neoliberal […]
The Cincinnati Public Schools: Military Recruitment in the Guise of College Prep?
The Cincinnati Public Schools appear to be promoting military recruitment in the guise of college preparation through a corporate program called “Making Your College Search Count.” Students at Walnut Hills High School spent fifty minutes this week in a required assembly listening to a talk about getting into college, and though the presenter never […]
ALBA: Creating a Regional Alternative to Neo-liberalism?
Latin America was the first place where the US imposed the most callous economic system ever seen: neo-liberal capitalism. Starting in Chile in 1973, the US used its power, along with its control over the IMF and the World Bank, to force governments across Latin America to adopt neo-liberal economic policies. This has seen Latin […]
Carl Oglesby’s Ravens in the Storm
Carl Oglesby was once the president of the original Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). Before that, he was working for a defense contractor. His last project with the company was to develop a method of delivering Agent Orange so that it would cover the Vietnamese jungle (and the humans therein) with the chemical as […]
