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China in Latin America: the U.S. loses its “backyard”
China formally invited Latin America to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative in January 2018, during its meeting with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in Santiago, Chile, where the Chinese and Venezuelan chancellors shook hands. Since then, 16 countries in the region have expressed their intention to be part of this trade connection project and have signed agreements to do so.
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The uneasy U.S.-China relationship: what lies ahead?
The U.S. and China are the two dominant poles in the global economy, as illustrated in the figure below which traces the global trade in parts and components.
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China has an unemployment problem
Strikingly few discussions of China’s declining growth trajectory include mention of the country’s unemployment rate. Unfortunately, this official rate is worthless as an indicator of the China’s labor market conditions. In reality, China likely has a serious and growing unemployment problem.
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War with China?
Perhaps the greatest victim of this ongoing conflict will be planet Earth itself and all the creatures, humans included, who inhabit it. As the world’s top two emitters of climate-altering greenhouse gases, the U.S. and China must work together to halt global warming or all of us are doomed to a hellish future.
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New Cold War & looming threats
John Pilger, investigative journalist and documentary film-maker, talks about the U.S.’ aggression in the Asia-Pacific region and the decline of its global dominance and says that a “new Cold War beckons isolation for the U.S. and danger for the rest of us”.
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A critical look at China’s One Belt, One Road initiative
China’s growth rate remains impressive, even if on the decline. The country’s continuing economic gains owe much to the Chinese state’s (1) still considerable ability to direct the activity of critical economic enterprises and sectors such as finance, (2) commitment to policies of economic expansion, and (3) flexibility in economic strategy.
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Venezuela’s Maduro secures $5bn Chinese loan & joins Beijing’s new Silk Road initiative
Maduro’s trip concluded with 28 bilateral agreements, including plans to import vital medical supplies and begin work on Venezuela’s fourth satellite.
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Nicaragua’s success threatens U.S. stranglehold on Latin America
It’s imperative that President Ortega and Nicaragua be defended from covert imperialist aggression by the United States under its brand of fake ‘democracy,’ writes Lauren Smith.
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Boldness in the Marxist thinking of Samir Amín
The great social thinker, Samir Amin, has died. The social sciences have lost three unique figures in this year. First, the Brazilian Theotonio dos Santos, who inspired many to study the world system from a radical perspective. He was followed by the Peruvian Aníbal Quijano, who posed the concept of “cultural revolution” to give the peoples of Latin America their own identity.
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Maduro’s Beijing visit spooks a U.S. plotting Venezuela’s isolation
Given the humble goal of Caracas to free itself from the domineering whims of a U.S. imperialism keen on reviving the notorious Monroe Doctrine, it is obvious why the U.S. would see sinister motives in the fraternal reception Beijing has offered to the Venezuelan head of state.
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China offers African Nations $60 Billion in development with ‘no strings attached’
In response to accusations of encouraging “debt trap” diplomacy in Africa, Chinese President Xi Jinping said the announced aid package is not “a scheme to form an exclusive club or bloc against others. Rather it is about greater openness, sharing and mutual benefit.”
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Globalization checkmated? Political and geopolitical contradictions coming home to roost
The deepening of economic globalization appears to have ground to a halt and the process may even unravel a little. The sudden stop has surprised economists, whose belief in globalization has strong parallels with Fukuyama’s (1989) flawed end of history hypothesis.
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NYT sees ‘dystopia’ in Chinese surveillance—which looks a lot like U.S. surveillance
There’s a category of story we call “Them Not Us”—U.S. media reporting on problems abroad, and seemingly not noticing that they have the same problems at home.
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The Chinese economy: problems and prospects
The Chinese economy is big. In 2017, it was the world’s biggest based on purchasing power parity. Its output equaled $23.12 trillion, compared with $19.9 trillion for the EU and $19.3 trillion for the U.S.
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Meeting Marx: Chinese youth dig Marxism’s appeal
Meet Karl Marx. This is not only a wreath and a silent tribute before Marx’s grave in London’s Highgate cemetery.
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Brzezinski’s ghost shapes Washington Eurasia geopolitics
Contrary to a widely-held belief that U.S. President Trump acts only out of impulse or is being unpredictable, I believe that the opposite is the case.
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China’s determined march towards the ecological civilization
There is no time for long introductions. The world is, possibly heading for yet another catastrophe. This one, if we, human beings will not manage to prevent it, could become our final.
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There is a structural crisis of capitalism
In this in-depth interview conducted in Dakar, Samir Amin speaks on a wide range of topics: globalisation; generalised monopoly capital; the alarming growth of inequality; the role of the state in the neoliberal era; globalisation and delinking; capitalism and modernity; the return of fascism in the contemporary capitalist world, and more.
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China slams U.S. human rights record in devastating report
THE U.S. has been accused of human rights abuses, serious infringements of its citizens’ rights and “systematic racial discrimination” in a damning report released by China.
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Mao’s legacy defended, and famous swim decoded, for clueless academics
In late 1965 the rumblings of the Cultural Revolution had begun, due to grumblings over corruption, revisionism (“taking the capitalist road,” selling out socialism, etc.) and the snooty technocratism of urbanites. The party, led by Mao, saw these trends as threats to the common good, the revolution, and the Party’s “Heavenly Mandate” – the millennia-old concept that China’s rulers are chosen by Heaven to rule, and that they must actually display this divinity via perfectly moral conduct and leadership…or else revolt is justified.