The regime that will succeed the nation-state will not be the fruit of preconception or social engineering, but of sociological and political imagination wielded through transformative actions. — Gustavo Esteva Que se vayan todos (‘Let’s get rid of them all’). — message written on the walls of Argentina The No-state Solution Even as the neo-liberal […]
Geography Archives: Middle East
Palestine and Israel: What’s Iran Got to Do with It?
Responding to the Israeli voices and actions noisily advocating a preemptive strike against Iran, Ha-Aretz columnist Uzi Benziman (July 21, 2008) writes, “Before bombing Iran, it would be best [for Israel] to solve the conflict with the Palestinians. By the way, there does appear to be a link between the two threats.” While Benziman doesn’t […]
Palestine in the Middle East: Opposing Neoliberalism and US Power (Part 1)
Adam Hanieh, “Palestine in the Middle East: Opposing Neoliberalism and US Power: Part 2,” MRZine, 19 July 2008. Over the last six months, the Palestinian economy has been radically transformed under a new plan drawn up by the Palestinian Authority (PA) called the Palestinian Reform and Development Plan (PRDP). Developed in close collaboration with institutions […]
Palestine in the Middle East: Opposing Neoliberalism and US Power (Part 2)
Adam Hanieh, “Palestine in the Middle East: Opposing Neoliberalism and US Power: Part 1,” MRZine, 19 July 2008. Neoliberalism, the “New Middle East” and Palestine In the late 1960s, with the definitive collapse of British and French colonialism in the Middle East, the US rose to become the dominant imperial power within the region. Because […]
Rethinking Venezuelan Politics
Steve Ellner. Rethinking Venezuelan Politics: Class, Conflict, and the Chavez Phenomenon. Boulder and London: Lynne Rienner, 2008. Since the arrival of Hugo Chavez on the Venezuelan scene — and later, for the left and the right, on the world scene — he’s been the source of considerable interest. Is he a new caudillo in […]
Sixties Rebel Undaunted (Maybe Just a Little Daunted)
Kendall Hale. Radical Passions: A Memoir of Revolution and Healing. Bloomington, Indiana: iUniverse, 2007. 225pp. $18.95 (pbk). Radical memoirs of 1960s veterans seem to be coming out in considerable numbers now, and that’s no surprise. The veterans are getting old and summing up their lives’ experiences, just at the moment when the Iraq war […]
Has the “Surge” in Iraq Worked?
In 2006, things seemed to be going badly for the U.S. military efforts in Iraq. The Iraq war became a top issue in the 2006 Congressional elections in the United States. It is generally agreed that the Republicans did poorly in those elections, largely because the U.S. electorate had become disillusioned with the viability and […]
Obama, Afghanistan, and the Anti-War Movement
Nine US soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan this week in a major attack attributed to the Taliban. More US troops have been killed in Afghanistan than Iraq in the past several months. We can expect as a result that the Democrats and their Presidential candidate Obama will intensify their calls for shifting the “war […]
Is There an Oil Shortage?
The popular perception of the recently skyrocketing oil price is that there is an oil shortage in global energy markets. The perceived shortage is generally blamed on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting countries (OPEC) for “insufficient” production, or on countries like China and India for their increased demand for energy, or on both. This perception […]
Iranians Speak Out on Regime Change Slush Fund
On Wednesday, July 16 the House Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs will meet to mark-up the FY’09 International Affairs budget. Included in the budget is the so-called program to “promote democracy” in Iran, the regime change slush fund. The FY’09 International Affairs budget request (also known as Function 150) includes $65 million […]
Oil Prices and the Economy
With oil prices having more than doubled over the last 12 months, various reasons are being cited for the price increases. Adhip Chaudhuri, a visiting professor of economics at Georgetown University’s campus in Doha, Qatar, explains the cause and effect of high oil prices. Is the increase in oil prices plunging the global economy into […]
SEIU: Debating Labor’s Strategy
Introduction by Michael D. Yates Over the past several years, a vigorous debate has taken place within organized labor and among its allies over how best to rebuild a dying labor movement. Much of the is debate has centered around the actions and arguments of the leaders of the nation’s largest union, The Service […]
Interpreting after the Largest ICE Raid in US History: A Personal Account
On Monday, May 12, 2008, at 10:00 a.m., in an operation involving some 900 agents, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) executed a raid of Agriprocessors Inc, the nation’s largest kosher slaughterhouse and meat packing plant located in the town of Postville, Iowa. The raid — officials boasted — was “the largest single-site operation of […]
Meeting Bashar al-Assad
He receives us at the door, at the entrance to a one-story house located on the hills of Damascus. No protocol, no security measure: we are not searched, nor are our recording devices inspected. “Here is the house where I read, where I work. There are only this room, a conference room, and a kitchen. […]
Citizen Diplomacy Tour to Iran — October 2008
Dear Anti-War Activists, Mina Doroud, Jamshidieh Park, Tehran. Photo by Hamed Saber. As you all know, the Bush administration is ratcheting up its rhetoric on Iran, and all of us are concerned and wondering how best to react and counter this growing threat. As a resource to the anti-war movement, Global Exchange organizes […]
An Iranian’s Letter to the US Congress
Honorable Ladies & Gentleman! National Call-in Day on Iran Blockade Resolutions Wednesday, July 9 is a national call-in day for H.Con.Res 362, the blockade resolution. Call your member of Congress and ask him or her not to support a blockade on Iran. It was with great dismay that I, and many of my fellow […]
Florida Unilaterally Restricts Travel to Iran, “State Sponsors of Terror”
National Call-in Day on Iran Blockade Resolutions Wednesday, July 9 is a national call-in day for H.Con.Res 362, the blockade resolution.Call your member of Congress and ask him or her not to support a blockade on Iran. Washington, DC — A law has been passed by the Florida legislature making it significantly more difficult […]
Iran-US: A Gesture for Peace
July the 3rd marked the 20th anniversary of the shooting down of an Iranian airliner by the US-guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes, killing all its 290 passengers. The timing of the shootdown in 1988 and the circumstances surrounding it were significant in that they contradict the US government’s official position describing the incident as wholly […]
Is Iran Currently an Existential Threat to the United States? A Side-By-Side Comparison of Military Capabilities
A side-by-side comparison of the two countries’ conventional military capabilities demonstrates the overwhelming superiority of the United States. It is time to inject realism into discussions about U.S.-Iranian relations. Hyping the threat about Iran obscures the bottom line: Iran does not currently represent an existential threat to the United States or its allies, and […]
What Americans Don’t Know: There’s a Plan on the Table to End the Nuclear Standoff with Iran
Dear Supporter of a Just Foreign Policy, Recently we’ve seen an escalation of threats to attack Iran. In the New Yorker, Seymour Hersh reported that Congressional leaders agreed last year to fund a major escalation of covert operations against Iran.1 The House of Representatives is currently considering a resolution promoted by AIPAC that would effectively demand […]
