Following close on the United Socialist Party of Venezuela’s (PSUV) electoral victory in the November 23 regional elections, Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez re-proposed a constitutional reform that would allow indefinite re-election. The first attempt, bundled with various constitutional amendments that would have accelerated economic restructuring, was defeated 51 to 49 percent in December 2007. Predictably, […]
Geography Archives: Europe
Countries in the continent of Europe
France: Thursday, 29 January — A Red Letter Day
The mobilization for the day of action on Thursday promises to be impressive, with the unions’ call for refusal to pay for the crisis. On Thursday, France will confront the crisis, perhaps with anxiety, no doubt with anger, but also with ideas. Ooh la la! It’s hard to row against the current. Budget Minister […]
Why They Hate Immigrant Workers, and Why We Love Them
On Tuesday, December 9, the anti-immigrant lobbyists at the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) held a press conference in downtown Washington, DC to promote their “Immigration Reform Agenda for the 111th Congress.” The press conference followed the new line that groups like FAIR have adopted since the financial crisis broke out last September. Undocumented […]
Iceland: The Fall of the Neoliberal Government
First, Prime Minister Geir Haarde. Then, Commerce Minister Bjorgvin Sigurdsson. Now, Jónas Fr. Jónsson, director of the Financial Supervisory Authority (FME), and the entire FME board. Ministers and officials are quitting one by one, unable to withstand the wrath of the people of Iceland demanding their immediate resignation. Haarde’s proposal that new elections be held […]
Letter to Israeli Ambassador: Thank You, But No Thank You
The Israeli Embassy in Greece, in the name of Ambassador Ali Yahya, sent three bottles of wine as a holiday gift to Theodoros Pangalos. Pangalos returned the gift, thanking the ambassador in the following letter. Dear Mr. Ambassador, Thank you for the three bottles of wine that you sent me as a holiday gift. […]
Italy’s Most Powerful Union: Prosecute Israeli War Crimes, Suspend EU-Israel Agreement
Federazione Impiegati Operai Metallurgici nazionale (FIOM), the largest metalworkers union in Italy, whose membership numbers 360,000, called for prosecution of Israeli officials for war crimes and suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement as well as of the military cooperation agreement between Italy and Israel. The following is FIOM’s 13 January 2009 statement on Gaza published […]
My Six-year-old Son Should Get a Job: What Is Wrong with the Present Global Economic Order?
I have a six-year-old son. His name is Jin-Gyu. He lives off me, yet he is quite capable of making a living. I pay for his lodging, food, education, and health care. But millions of children of his age already have jobs. Daniel Defoe figured out in the 18th century that children are able to […]
Iceland: Storming the Althingi
On 20 January 2009, parliament in Iceland resumed after the holidays. But no business as usual for the Icelandic politicians any more. People began to besiege the parliament building, demanding early elections and not taking “No” for an answer. Writing for the Guardian today, Eirikur Bergmann described the political atmosphere in Iceland thus: “While Barack […]
The Coronation of the New Emperor
Around the world hundreds of millions of people witnessed the inauguration of the 44th president of the United States (US), or rather the coronation of the new “emperor.” Even at the bottom tip of Africa, it was difficult to escape the scenes of imperial grandeur that beamed across television sets. As was the case with […]
Thailand: Drop Lèse Majesté Charges against Giles Ji Ungpakorn
Academics, Intellectuals and Members of Parliament from around the World Call for Charges against Giles Ji Ungpakorn to be Dropped Academics from U.K, Canada, France, South Africa, Ireland, Australia, South Korea, Greece and the U.S.A., including those from Oxford University and SOAS London University, have signed an open letter calling for charges of lèse majesté, […]
Elections in Hesse
Sunday’s special elections in the German state of Hesse were the first in a year jammed full of state and national votes. The two main results: the right-wing incumbent Ronald Koch won again; and the young party, the Left, again overcame the 5 percent barrier to win six seats in the state legislature. In the […]
Continuing Gaza Protests, as Seen on Al Jazeera
and unseen on American TV. . . . Demos Call for Closure of US Embassy — Police and Protesters Clash, Awkar (North of Beirut), Lebanon, 19.01.09 Demos in Solidarity with Gaza in Cities of Australia — Sydney Demo, the Largest, Draws 20,000, 19.01.09 Tens of Thousands Protests in Solidarity with People of Gaza, Karachi, Pakistan, […]
Satyam and Capitalism
Analytical Monthly Review, published in Kharagpur, West Bengal, India, is a sister edition of Monthly Review. Its January 2009 issue features the following editorial. — Ed. Another spectacular hole in the torn fabric of the “success story” of the neoliberal “reform” has opened in recent days. Though but a week has passed from the […]
Flip-flops of Economics
Most US economists are professors in colleges and universities. Their academic positions enable research and teaching that is supposed to be independent of corporate interests. They could, at least hypothetically, provide the critical insights into economic problems needed for their solution. Economists might help to propose, evaluate, and debate the wide range of possible solutions […]
A Structural Crisis of the System: Interview with István Mészáros
István Mészáros won the 1971 Deutscher Prize for his book Marx’s Theory of Alienation and has written on Marxism ever since. He talks to Judith Orr and Patrick Ward about the current economic crisis. The ruling class are always surprised by new economic crises and talk about them as aberrations. Why do you believe they […]
Gaza in Europe
Freedom of expression is once again on the agenda in Denmark. The country received world attention when the rightist newspaper Jyllands-Posten published provocative cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad a few years ago. The cartoons caused widespread protests in the Muslim world, whereas discussions in Denmark and other Western countries revolved around freedom of the press. […]
British Jews Call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel
We the undersigned are all of Jewish origin. When we see the dead and bloodied bodies of young children, the cutting off of water, electricity and food, we are reminded of the siege of the Warsaw Ghetto. When Dov Weisglass, an adviser to the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, talked of putting Gazans “on a […]
Sir Gerald Kaufman Asks “What the International Reaction Would Be If Hamas Had Slaughtered Nearly 900 Israelis and Subjected Nearly 1.5 million Israelis to Degradation and Deprivation?”
Sir Gerald Kaufman (Manchester, Gorton) (Lab): In congratulating my right hon. Friend [David Miliband] on steering resolution 1860 through the United Nations Security Council, may I ask him what the international reaction would be if Hamas had slaughtered nearly 900 Israelis and subjected nearly 1.5 million Israelis to degradation and deprivation? Is it not an […]
Greek Solidarity with Gaza in Response to PFLP Appeal
On 10 January 2009, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine* issued an “Urgent Call to Greek People: Block the Shipment of US Arms to Israel through Greek Ports.” It reported that the U.S. Navy was planning to ship 3,000 tons of ammunition by merchant ship from the Greek port Astakos to the […]
Hamas: What It Is, What It Wants, and What Israel Makes of It
Israel’s stated reasons for its declaration of “all-out war” against the population of Gaza are the latest variation on a theme it put forward following the 2006 electoral victory of Hamas in Gaza. In February of that year Israel issued an official set of demands. Israel requires that Hamas recognize Israel’s permanent right to exist, […]
