Thank you. Thank you for the invitation, and, as we don’t have much time, let me go straight to some of the main points supporting this motion “Europe is failing its Muslims.” Let me start by saying that we are living in a difficult situation. If you listen to what is said in the European […]
Geography Archives: Asia
Countries in the continent of Asia
China, Global Imbalances and Global Restructurings
Cf. See, also, Andrew Fischer, “On China” (MRZine, 29 March 2010). Andrew Fischer is Senior Lecturer at the International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam. This PowerPoint file was presented at the IDEAs Conference on “Reforming the Financial System: Proposals, Constraints and New Directions,” Muttukadu, Chennai, India, 25-27 January 2010; it is reproduced […]
Situation in Bangkok Very Tense
Armed soldiers are again threatening to use lethal force against peaceful pro-democracy Red Shirts who are camped on the road at Rajprasong. They have surrounded the protest site. The nearby luxury hotels have been told to evacuate all guests. A small group of fascist royalists is also cooperating with the soldiers by trying to incite […]
Iran Unveils Iranian “S-300” on Army Day
During the military parade on Army Day in Iran, what looks very much like an Iranian variant of the Russian S-300 air defense system was on display. In 2007, Tehran announced that it signed a contract to buy S-300 from Russia, but Moscow, lobbied by Washington and Tel Aviv, has not delivered, citing “technical problems.” […]
The Left and Marxism in Eastern Europe
You now describe yourself as a Marxist, with plans for a Marxist theory group in Hungary in addition to your ongoing work as a writer and political commentator from the Left. Why Marx now? In Central and Eastern Europe after 1989, Marxist ideas and theories were hard-pressed to survive their connection to state socialism […]
The Independent People’s Tribunal Reveals the Underbelly of Indian “Development”
Organized by a collective of civil society groups, social movements, progressive academics, social activists, and concerned citizens, the recently concluded Independent People’s Tribunal (IPT) on Land Acquisition, Resource Grab, and Operation Green Hunt in New Delhi offers a unique perspective into contemporary Indian reality. While the national and international media talk profusely about the unprecedented […]
Green Scare: The Making of the New Muslim Enemy
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Confront Dow Chemical at the Dow/Live Earth Run for Water
CALL TO ACTION Organize Events in Your City! Confront Dow Chemical at the Dow/Live Earth Run for Water Tell Dow: You Can’t Run from Your Responsibilities! APRIL 18 2010, 8:00 am Dow Chemical was among the chief producers and profiteers of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. In addition to wartime exposure resulting in […]
Birth of a Nation
Martin Axmann. Back to the Future: The Khanate of Kalat and the Genesis of Baloch Nationalism 1915-1955. Oxford University Press, 2009. In a country where nationality is defined in terms of religion and religion alone, “the Baloch nation” can hardly find a legitimate space, even as a term of reference. There is no notion […]
“It’s All about Reconciliation”
I had the opportunity to sit for a conversation with the Swiss philosopher Tariq Ramadan at the end of the 2009 meeting of the American Academy of Religion in Montreal. Ramadan is a public intellectual who has been a figure of both much praise and much condemnation, occasioned by controversial statements and positions that […]
Asia-Pacific Socialists Show Solidarity with Thailand’s Red Shirts
Thailand: Resolve the Crisis through Democracy, Not Crackdown 10 April 2010 We are deeply concerned over the current situation in Thailand where military-backed Prime Minister Ahbisit Vejjajiva has declared a state of emergency and started a bloody crackdown amidst escalating protests calling for fresh election. The situation is worrying as the Thai government closes […]
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 […]
Civil Warfare in Central India
Maoist guerrilla attack kills 75 security personnel in Dantewada, in the indigenous homelands of Central India. Are security personnel cannon fodder in the ‘Maoist infested’ heartland of India? Should the state send in the Air Force? But what about collateral damage? These are some of the loud speculations in the never-fail-to-miss-the-point mainstream media, the […]
