“O there are times, we must confess To harboring a whim — we Like to picture old Karl Marx Sliding down our chimney” — Susie Day “Help fund the good fight. By contributing to MR, you help reinforce the left and reclaim the future.” — Richard D. Vogel “To do my part, I just […]
Geography Archives: Iran
World Against War Conference
“O there are times, we must confess To harboring a whim — we Like to picture old Karl Marx Sliding down our chimney” — Susie Day“Help fund the good fight. By contributing to MR, you help reinforce the left and reclaim the future.” — Richard D. Vogel “To do my part, I just […]
Bombing for Peace: An Interview with Diana Johnstone
“O there are times, we must confess To harboring a whim — we Like to picture old Karl Marx Sliding down our chimney” — Susie Day “Help fund the good fight. By contributing to MR, you help reinforce the left and reclaim the future.” — Richard D. Vogel “To do my part, I just […]
For Whom the Bells Jingle
This time of year, when cute reindeer And ruddy-suited Santa Inspire shoppers everywhere To spend more than they’d planned-ta We’d like to glean for MRZine The money Santa draws, But we are godless communists And can’t appear bourgeois This time of year, when Season’s cheer Means Jesus and things votive, We stand as godless communists […]
Trading the National Rights of Iranians for Factional Gain
“Help fund the good fight. By contributing to MR, you help reinforce the left and reclaim the future.” — Richard D. Vogel“To do my part, I just got out my checkbook and wrote a check for $100 to the Monthly Review Foundation. That’s on top of my Monthly Review Associate membership, which I […]
Response to Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, et al. on Nandigram
We read with growing dismay the statement signed by Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn and others advising those opposing the CPI(M)’s pro-capitalist policies in West Bengal not to “split the Left” in the face of American imperialism. We believe that for some of the signatories, their distance from events in India has resulted in their falling […]
Critique of the Arab Left: On Palestine and Arab Unity
The situation of the Arab Left is similar to “the phenomenon of the transformation of the Left” on the global scale and a reflection of it. The reason is simple: the Arab Left, as a general rule though with some exceptions, was never a “Left” in the dialectical materialist sense. It has always been a […]
The Danger of War Grows: The Scenario Reminiscent of the Iraq War [Die Kriegsgefahr wächst: Das Szenario erinnert an den Irak-Krieg]
Die ständigen Mitglieder des UN-Sicherheitsrats hatten sich im Atomstreit mit dem Iran Anfang Oktober geeinigt: Die Entscheidung über verschärfte Sanktionen wird vertagt, bis die Internationale Atomenergiebehörde (IAEO) einen neuen Bericht über das Atomprogramm Irans vorgelegt hat. Aber so viel Geduld wollten die USA nicht aufbringen. Im Alleingang verschärften sie die Wirtschaftssanktionen, stuften die Revolutionsgarden […]
Twenty Reasons against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran
INTRODUCTION Five years into the US-UK illegal invasion of Iraq and its consequent catastrophe for Iraqi people, peace loving people throughout the world are appalled by the current Iran-US standoff and its resemblance to the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. The hawks, headed by Dick Cheney in Washington, are now shamelessly calling for […]
Kurds, Turkey, and the US: Playing with Fire
Once again the Turkish generals threaten to invade areas in Northern Iraq, or, if you want, Southern Kurdistan. Historically, these areas with their flat fields around the Euphrates and Tigris, surrounded by peaked mountaintops, were home to a multitude of religions and cultures, in the way mountainous areas often are. But, after decades of […]
The Mystery of Hezbollah [Le mystère Hezbollah]
Un an après la dernière guerre au Liban, le parti Hezbollah reste un mystère. Pour la première fois, son leader, Hassan Nasrallah, a accepté la présence de caméras occidentales au sein de l’organisation et répond, sous haute surveillance, aux questions les plus délicates. En retraçant l’histoire de ce mouvement, ce documentaire exceptionnel donne les clés […]
Turkey into the Vortex of the Iraq Quagmire: Another Breach in US Policy
A new dimension of immense importance is being added to the contradictions of US policy in Iraq and the Middle East at large. Turkey, a staunch US ally for over half a century and a NATO member, is threatening to militarily intervene in Northern Iraq, i.e. Iraqi Kurdistan. A resolution was passed by the Turkish […]
How Can Anybody Be Persian? [Comment peut-on être Persan ?]
Dans son chef-d’oeuvre Les Lettres persanes, publié en 1721, le grand philosophe français Charles-Louis de Montesquieu s’interroge sur les comportements surprenants des Français : lorsque Rica, son voyageur iranien arrivé à Paris, décide de s’habiller à la française, il constate avec étonnement que ses amis français ne le traitent plus avec l’admiration qu’ils lui portaient […]
Surmounting Sectarianism in the Middle East: An Interview with Hisham Bustani
In a recent interview with the Qatari daily al-Raya, the Jordanian Marxist writer and activist Hisham Bustani analyses current issues: the situation in the Arab region; threats against Iran; the “Broader Middle East Initiative”; the U.S., Arab regimes, and Islamists; and prospects of the Arab liberation project. This interview, conducted by the journalist As’ad al-Azzouni, […]
Iran: Bernard Kouchner’s Declaration [Iran : Déclaration de Bernard Kouchner]
La déclaration de Bernard Kouchner appelant à se préparer à la possibilité d’une guerre avec l’Iran est inquiétante. Cette déclaration venant après le discours de Nicolas Sarkozy sur une alternative entre « la bombe iranienne ou le bombardement de l’Iran », simplifiant à l’outrance le problème du dossier nucléaire iranien, vise en réalité à préparer […]
Abuse of Iran’s President in New York Fits a Pattern
Many Iranians, ranging from university presidents in Iran to immigrants here in the United States, feel insulted by the treatment president Ahmadinejad received in New York in September. This is understandable, coming in the midst of a larger media campaign to demonize Iran, including the newspaper cartoon last month that depicted Iranians as cockroaches crawling […]
Russian and Iranian Presidents’ Joint Statement
Wednesday, October 17, 2007 Tehran, 16 October: A joint statement has been signed following today’s talks in Tehran between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinezhad. Here is its full text. On 16 October 2007, which corresponds to 24 Mehr 1386 in the Iranian calendar, Russian President Vladimir Putin, at the head of […]
Putin in Iran: Interview with Vladimir Putin
Interview with IRNA Information Agency and Iranian State Television and Radio ABBAS ALI HADJI PARVANE: In the name of Allah! Mr President, we are very grateful to you for finding the time to give us this interview in spite of your busy schedule and to answer our questions on Russia’s international position and bilateral relations […]
Unembedded, an American Journalist Keeps Focus on Iraqis
The U.S. corporate media have been widely criticized for their refusal to question the Bush administration’s motives and assertions during the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Armed with one-sided experts and pundits, the media fanned the passions of the American public, acting as a kind of perverse cheerleader for war with slick TV […]
Pro-Israel Oppressors Cherished at Columbia University
In the fuss about Iranian president Ahmadinejad’s visit to New York, a finer point was lost. Columbia University and its current president, Lee Bollinger, have for some time each been a leader in the fields of foreign policy opportunism and service to global oppressors. In 1955, a mere two years after the CIA reinstated the Shah […]
