On April 18, Standard and Poor’s (S&P), one of three “rating companies” that control that industry, revised its outlook on the safety of long-term US debt from “stable” to “negative.” There are only two reasonable reactions to this announcement, although the usual business and political leaders are promoting their usual spins. We may dispense quickly […]
Geography Archives: Europe
Countries in the continent of Europe
After Yugoslavia: Alternative Balkanization from Below, against the Belgrade Consensus
Andrej Grubacic. Don’t Mourn, Balkanize! Essays after Yugoslavia. Introduction by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz. PM Press, 2010. This is not a typical book review and I am not a detached reader. The book’s author, Andrej Grubacic, is a friend and collaborator, a comrade in the truest sense of the word. And as he makes clear throughout […]
Gaza Honors Slain Italian Activist Vittorio Arrigoni
Cf. Egidia Beretta Arrigoni, “Vittorio non è mai stato così vivo come ora” (Il Manifesto, 17 April 2011); “The mother of pro-Palestinian activist Victorio Arrigoni reaffirmed that his body should not return via Israel. . . . Egidia Beretta replied that ‘Israel did not want him when he was alive and won’t have him […]
The Class Dynamics of Asian America: A Primer
The notion that Asian Americans are model minorities originated in the 1960s, mainly in reference to the socioeconomic gains of Japanese and Chinese Americans in particular. It did not take long, however, for that very idea to be applied to Asian Americans as a whole, especially as it continues to be perpetuated by the mainstream […]
It’s the (German) Banks, Stupid!
Or what’s behind Germany’s hesitant statements on Greek debt restructuring, Ireland’s move against subordinated bondholders, and the ECB’s stance on interest rates. . . . Europe is at it again, trying to pretend that it has stemmed the tide of insolvency through its program of lending huge amounts of money (at high interest rates) to […]
The Arab Spring and the Saudi Counter-Revolution
We return from a recent trip to the region persuaded that the main question engaging people with respect to the “Arab spring” is no longer “who’s next,” but rather “how far will Saudi Arabia go in pushing a counter-revolutionary agenda” across the Middle East? Whether Saudi Arabia is really capable of coping with the momentous […]
Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank Unite in Mourning of Slain Activist Vittorio Arrigoni
Palestinians across the Gaza Strip and the West Bank will join today in mourning slain activist Vittorio Arrigoni. People will gather both in the Al Manara square in Ramallah and at Al Jundi al Majhoul, the unknown soldier park, in Gaza City. Mourners will be received by the ISM and local popular committees and BDS […]
Mobilizing for September?
The reconvening of the UN in late September and the possible recognition of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders may be a crucial political moment in the struggle for Palestinian liberation — or not. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has characterized it as a looming “diplomatic tsunami” for Israel; Ali Abunimah, a prominent Palestinian-American […]
Stay Human: Freedom Flotilla Renames Voyage in Honor of Vittorio Arrigoni
The murder of human rights activist, Vittorio Arrigoni, is a tragedy for his family, for those of us who knew him, and for the Palestinians who loved and admired him. The Steering Committee of Freedom Flotilla 2 condemns this senseless murder and the people who are behind it. They took the life of one […]
Disinformation about Syria in Western Media
A number of news reports by AFP, the Guardian, and other news agencies and outlets are suggesting that Syrian security forces were responsible for shooting nine Syrian soldiers, who were killed in Banyas on Sunday. Some versions insist that they were shot for refusing orders to shoot at demonstrators. Considerable evidence suggests that this is […]
(Former) Communists for Liberal Democracy
Tuesday, April 12, 2011 Yassin Al-Hajj Saleh in the New York Times Of course, Saleh suffered from the brutality of the Syrian regime and I share many of his criticisms of the Syrian regime although I don’t share his decision to write about Syria in racist anti-Syrian (people) right-wing publications, like An-Nahar and Al-Hayat […]
ISM Activist Vittorio Arrigoni Kidnapped in Gaza
International Solidarity Movement activist Vittorio Arrigoni was kidnapped in Gaza today. News sources in the Gaza Strip say that the kidnappers are members of a Salafi group. In a YouTube video, the group threatens to kill Arrigoni in 30 hours, counting from 11 AM in Gaza (10 AM in Italy), if the Hamas government […]
The Scorecard on Development, 1960-2010: Closing the Gap?
Executive Summary: This paper is the third installment in a series (the first and second editions were in 2001 and 2005) that traces a long-term growth failure in most of the world’s countries. For the vast majority of the world’s low- and middle-income countries, there was a sharp slowdown in economic growth for the two […]
Palestinians Call for Release of Italian Activist Kidnapped in Gaza
Today, our friend and colleague, Vittorio Arrigoni, a journalist and human rights defender working in the Gaza Strip, was kidnapped by Salafists, members of a very small extremist group in Gaza. Vittorio has been active in the Palestine cause for almost 10 years. For the past two and a half years, he has been in […]
Congratulations to the People of Iceland!
10 April 2011 Congratulations to the people of Iceland! The Repudiate the Debt Campaign welcomes and applauds the decision of the people of Iceland to reject the bank bail-out that would subsidise the wealthy elite. They showed great courage in rejecting the terms and conditions and in resisting the pressure from the European Union […]
Socialist and/or Feminist?
This year, 8 March marked a century of the celebration of International Women’s Day. But aside from a few publications and websites of women’s movements, this event went largely unremarked in the mainstream press, and also in the public consciousness. The idea of International Women’s Day was born in the socialist movement in the first […]
On the Result of the Icesave Referendum
The Icelandic nation has now delivered its verdict and shouldered unequivocally the responsibility it is granted by the Constitution. The turnout was high by Western standards, and this, together with the extensive and thorough debate in the run-up to the referendum, shows clearly how important the issue was to the nation. The people have […]
Mid-East Upheaval: What the Empire Sees
The US left and progressives have been preoccupied about what we can do to impact events in the Mid-East, particularly obsessing about what we can do to counter US intervention. In general, it is good to want to act, not just talk or analyze, in a crisis situation. However, despite the valiant and necessary […]
British Peace Delegation Departs for Libya
Roshan Muhammed Salih: Angered by the NATO bombing of Libya, this delegation made up of British academics, lawyers, and journalists set off from London’s Heathrow Airport on a peace mission to Tripoli. Their intention is to emphasize that the Western intervention isn’t altruistic and has made the situation there worse. Dave Roberts: It’s really […]
Taking Over the West
Hi, my name is Sukant Chandan. I’m 32 years old. I was born in Chandigarh in North India, in Punjab, in April 1978. I always say, teasingly to my parents, they brought me here, in the winter of 1981 without my consent, at the age of three and a half. . . . I remember […]
