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Interview with Tariq Ali: “We Suffer from the Worst of Every World”
Tariq Ali, a co-editor of New Left Review, is the author of The Duel: Pakistan on the Flight Path of American Power as well as more than a dozen other books. Raza Naeem: Given that much of your recent writing has focused exclusively on Latin America and the Middle East, why this sudden motivation to […]
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Peace Movement Blues
Where is the U.S. peace movement when the White House is preparing to escalate the Afghanistan war for the second time since President Barack Obama took office over 10 months ago? The Bush era antiwar movement has ebbed and flowed a few times since it abruptly materialized just after 9/11 and then exploded into a […]
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Honduras’ Most Prominent Human Rights Expert Calls on Obama Administration to Denounce “Grave Human Rights Violations”
Too Late to Have Free Elections This Month, She Says from Washington Washington, D.C. — Bertha Oliva, the head of Honduras’ most well-known and respected human rights organization, called on the Obama administration to denounce the “grave human right violations” in Honduras. “How can it be that the United States government is silent while Hondurans […]
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Dividing the Waters
Cf. Amnesty International, “Thirsting for Justice: Palestinian Access to Water Restricted” (27 October 2009). Gervasio Umpiérrez is a cartoonist based in Montevideo, Uruguay. | | Print
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Constitutional Government of Honduras Declares That the Tegucigalpa Agreement Has Failed
The constitutional president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, said the Tegucigalpa/San José agreement failed, along with what was thought to be the attempt to end the political crisis in this Central American country. His declaration came after the unilateral formation of an alleged Government of Unity and Reconciliation by the de facto Honduran regime. Speaking to […]
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Statement of Keith Hall, Commissioner, Bureau of Labor Statistics, before the Joint Economic Committee, United States Congress
Madam Chair and Members of the Committee: Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the employment and unemployment data we released this morning. In October, the unemployment rate rose to 10.2 percent, the highest rate since April 1983, and nonfarm payroll employment declined by 190,000. Since the start of the recession, payroll employment has fallen […]
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The Democrats’ War in Afghanistan
Part 1: Eight Years and Counting The United States invasion and occupation of Afghanistan entered its ninth year in October, and the majority of Americans now tell opinion polls they want it to end. So far the war has failed to achieve U.S. objectives, and it is likely the Obama Administration’s expansion of the fighting […]
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In Arafat’s Shoes
Speaking to a delegation of American doctors visiting the Gaza Strip on October 29, Hamas Prime Minister Esmail Haniya acknowledged an “optimistic mood” in the region, thanks to the Obama Administration. He commended “Obama’s new language” and called for direct dialogue between Hamas and the US — words that sent shockwaves throughout the upper echelons […]
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President Obama’s Credibility on the Line in Honduras
Last Friday an agreement was reached between the de facto regime in Honduras, which took power in a military coup on 28 June, and the elected president Manuel Zelaya, for the restoration of democracy there. US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, in announcing what she called an historic agreement, said: “I cannot think of another […]
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Neoliberalism as Hegemonic Ideology in the Philippines
Paper delivered at the plenary session of the 2009 National Conference of the Philippine Sociological Society held at the PSSC Building on 16 October 2009 Why does the ideology of neoliberalism still exercise such influence in the Philippines despite the challenges it has faced from both the Asian and now global financial crisis? This paper […]
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The Lures and Perils of Gender Activism in Afghanistan
The Anthony Hyman Memorial Lecture, School of Oriental and African Studies University of London, 2009 I feel both honoured and gratified to be offering the 7th Anthony Hyman Memorial Lecture. This gives me the opportunity to acknowledge my debt of gratitude to Tony for his unwavering support and friendship over the years. When I […]
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‘The Dangers Are Great, the Possibilities Immense’1: The Ongoing Political Struggle in India
“What made Spence dangerous to the bourgeoisie was not that he was a proletarian nor that he had ideas opposed to private property but that he was both.” — Peter Linebaugh.2 ‘Poorest of the Poor’ and Politics It is always easy to criticize and dismiss an argument in its weakest formulation. Attacking the policies of […]
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No Partner for Peace: Our American Problem
It was as if some official, perhaps one of President Obama’s “czars,” like the Czar for Demolishing American Credibility, had orchestrated a systematic campaign to isolate the US from the rest of the world, make it a political laughingstock and, finally, render it a second-rate power capable of throwing around tremendous military weight but absolutely […]
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The Best Tribute to a Hero’s Mother
Yesterday, Carmen Nordelo Tejera passed away. She was the selfless mother of Gerardo Hernandez Nordelo, a Hero of the Republic of Cuba who is unjustly serving two life-sentences plus 15 years of imprisonment.
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The Armed Face of Neoliberalism
Jasmin Hristov. Blood and Capital: The Paramilitarization of Colombia. Ohio University Research in International Studies Series. Athens: Ohio University Press, 2009. xxiii + 263 pp. 28.00 (paper), ISBN 978-0-89680-267-4. Jasmin Hristov’s book is an exploration of the history and evolution of armed paramilitary forces in Colombia, focusing primarily on the past two decades. […]
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Honduras: A Victory for “Smart Power”
Henry Kissinger said that diplomacy is the “art of restraining power.” Obviously, the most influential ideologue on US foreign policy of the twenty-first century was referring to the necessity to “restrain the power” of other countries and governments in order to maintain the dominant world power of the United States. Presidents in the style of […]
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No Justice for Canadian Rendition Victim Maher Arar
Court Refuses to Hold U.S. Officials Accountable for Complicity in Torture Abroad November 2, 2009, New York — Today, a federal Court of Appeals dismissed Canadian citizen Maher Arar’s case against U.S. officials for their role in sending him to Syria to be tortured and interrogated for a year. Arar is represented by the Center […]
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What Is Maoism?
The Maoist movement in India is a direct consequence of the tragedy of India ruled by her big bourgeoisie and governed by parties co-opted by that class-fraction. The movement now threatens the accumulation of capital in its areas of influence, prompting the Indian state to intensify its barbaric counter-insurgency strategy to throttle it. In trying […]
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The Economic Crisis: How It Impacts African-Americans and Labor
Lecture delivered at the Economic and Black Labor Forum, the Philadelphia Community Institute for Africana Studies, 22 October 22 2009 The present Great Recession is the latest and largest crisis of capitalism since the Great Depression of the 1930s. During the Great Depression over half of all African-American men were unemployed. The present Great […]
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About the Results of Eduard Shevardnadze and Anatoly Dobrynin’s Visit to Afghanistan
Notes of Anatoly S. Chernyaev Shevardnadze: In the country and in the provinces they created authoritative organizations for reconciliation. They are working actively. There is a special committee for refugees. Many [rebel] bands — although they are not big — stopped armed struggle. Najib leaves a very good impression. However, not everybody supports him, […]