The decision to behave in Geneva like the made-in-Oslo Palestinian Authority (PA) was but an extension of the Israeli occupation was the final nail in the coffin of international solidarity with the Palestinian cause in its customary sense. Those who took this decision knew this. International solidarity was confounded by the questions stirred by the […]
Geography Archives: Iraq
The Iran Versus U.S.-Israeli-NATO Threats
It is spell-binding to see how the U.S. establishment can inflate the threat of a target, no matter how tiny, remote, and (most often) non-existent that threat may be, and pretend that the real threat posed by its own behavior and policies is somehow defensive and related to that wondrously elastic thing called “national security.” […]
Mexican Electrical Workers Union Fights for Its Life
The Mexican Electrical Workers Union (SME), made up of approximately 43,000 active and 22,000 retired workers in Mexico City and surrounding states, is fighting for its life. The union’s struggle has rallied allies in the labor movement and on the left in Mexico and solidarity from throughout the country and around the world, but, if […]
Naxalites for Dummies
Dear Indian Reader, Not that I would ever, ever consider you to be a dummy — heaven forbid! After all, you are no US citizen of the (George Dubya) Bush years now, are you? 🙂 You are no placid ignoramus, incapable of pointing to ‘Eye-rack’ on a map, utterly untouched by any knowledge of […]
Rethinking Afghanistan and Iran
Dear Friends, The Defenders will be co-sponsoring an event this evening with the Richmond Peace Education Center. It’s a Teach-In, Richmond’s contribution to the Oct. 17 national day of actions against wars and sanctions. This event consists of a film screening and presentations by local activists and individuals concerned about the militarized path the U.S. […]
Iran Sanctions: Who Really Wins?
U.S. and Iranian representatives meet this week at a time when trust between the two countries is at a low ebb following the revelation last week of a previously undisclosed Iranian nuclear facility under construction and the test firing of Iran’s long-range missiles on September 28. Meanwhile, the Obama administration’s policy of engagement with Iran […]
The Impending Indian Government Offensive against the Adivasi Inhabited Hilly Regions: Statement of Concern and Protest by Arundhati Roy, Noam Chomsky and Others
Analytical Monthly Review On Monday, October 12th, it was reported that Manmohan Singh — despite the request of air chief marshal P. V. Naik to permit IAF personnel in helicopters to attack inhabitants of the hilly regions — had announced that the armed forces would not be deployed against the domestic left-wing opponents of the […]
Occupying Afghanistan Is Making Things Worse
President Obama is coming under attack from the Right for his reluctance to grant the request of General Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, for more U.S. troops. On the other side of the equation sits the majority of the American people, who are against sending more troops and in fact oppose […]
Speech Delivered by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba, H.E. Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla
I wish to congratulate you on your election and reiterate to you our confidence on your capacity to unerringly conduct our works and deliberations. Likewise I would like to recognize the excellent work developed by Father Miguel D’Escoto, President of the recently concluded session. The ethical dimension and the political scope of his presidency, […]
Key Facts to Keep in Mind While Opposing War against Iran
Representatives of Iran and six of the world’s most powerful countries are scheduled to meet this week in Geneva, one of a series of events that increasingly looks like a rerun of the build-up to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. As we prepare for a barrage of anti-Iranian media spin, it would be good […]
Iran, Etc.
Hooman Majd Answers the Nuclear Question Question: How do you respond to concerns over Iran’s nuclear ambitions? Majd: Stop worrying. Don’t learn to love the bomb, but stop worrying. First of all, Iran is so far away from having a nuclear weapon. I know there are all these reports, these alarmist reports: Iran has enough […]
Why Should Russia Bail Out America?
The Obama administration’s decision to scrap the Bush era anti-missile defense plans in Eastern Europe was actually expected. Nonetheless, this was a very pragmatic move on the part of Washington. However, the immediate talk and plans for a different American-led “stronger, smarter, and swifter” anti-missile strategy was not helpful. I will reserve judgment on […]
Iraqi Trade Unionists Speak Out at AFL-CIO Convention
Iraqi trade unionists participated in a panel of Middle Eastern unionists at a reception held at the USWA headquarters on 16 September 2009 during the 2009 Pittsburgh AFL-CIO convention. The trade unionists from Iraq who spoke were Falah Alwan, President of the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq, and Rasim Hussain Abdullah Al-Awady […]
The Financial Crisis and Imperialism
BMR:What is the likely impact of the present financial crisis on geopolitics, especially if the crisis is considered in the context of the energy crisis including the peak oil issue, the food crisis, The Great Hunger, the environmental crisis, and the declining dollar? Will the world experience war(s) as an effort to survive? Will monopoly-finance […]
Class War
US workers’ real wages (money wages adjusted for the prices workers actually pay) have not risen from their levels in the 1970s. Recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data confirm that real wages continued to stagnate through 2009. Across the same 30-year period, the productivity of labor kept rising: the average worker produced ever more output […]
Back to the Future: The Arab Nationalist Tradition and the Political Imagination of Today
The Arab and Muslim world is indeed in crisis. This crisis, however, may give us a new opportunity to reclaim our fate from foreign powers, local autocrats, and religious fanatics. To do so, we can benefit from recuperating the best elements from our great tradition of Arab nationalism. Under the banner of “Arab nationalism,” […]
Beirut: City of Projected Fantasies
Beirut has been labelled the Paris, sometimes the Switzerland, of the Middle East. According to one recent New York Times article, it is now the region’s Provincetown (the Cape Cod resort favoured by gay visitors). This ever-changing city seems to have become a mirror where people project their own fantasies. Comparing Beirut with another […]
Long Peace Movement Needs a Noisy Next Phase
As the peace movement digs in for long-haul opposition to continuing U.S. wars, we simultaneously face urgent immediate challenges. Policy fights that may well determine Washington’s course for many years ahead regarding Afghanistan, Israel-Palestine, and Honduras (and Latin America in general) are at important junctures. It will take more noise — in the streets and […]
American Public Still Ahead of Its Leaders on Foreign Policy
Americans are famous for not paying much attention to the rest of the world, and it is often said that foreign wars are the way that we learn geography. But most often it is not the people who have little direct experience outside their own country that are the problem, but rather the experts. The […]
The Soldier and the Road
Nahid Ghobadi has directed five short films (Closed Circle, First Journey, Build Our Homeland, Last Fever, and A Simple Excuse for Happiness). She was Script Supervisor of Turtles Can Fly, Assistant Director of Marooned in Iraq, and Co-editor of Half Moon. She is also a published poet. This film, released in 2008, was written, […]
