The best thing is to ignore the parameters of discussion that are being presented to you, and to shift those parameters. . . . That is the heart of the struggle for us in the United States where the story is already framed, and they are just trying to discuss things within the parameters. […]
Geography Archives: Middle East
The State under Neo-liberalism
Much has been written on the subject of the capitalist State in the era of neo-liberalism. Two features of the “neo-liberal State” in particular have been highlighted.1 One relates to the change in the nature of the State, from being an entity apparently standing above society and intervening in its economic functioning in the interests […]
Can You Recruit Your Republican Friend to Oppose the Permanent War?
Campaigning for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2008, Senator Barack Obama said: “I don’t want to just end the war, but I want to end the mindset that got us into war in the first place.” But as Andrew Bacevich notes in his new book, Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War, as President, Barack […]
Who Says Iran Is Becoming Isolated in the Middle East?
We have argued for some time that the policy debate about Iran here in the United States is distorted by a number of “myths” — myths about the Islamic Republic, its foreign policy, and its domestic politics. One of the more dangerous myths currently affecting America’s Iran debate is the proposition that, through concerted diplomatic […]
A Bird Is a Bird
To be honest, I don’t remember What I’ve come here for Surely, it must have been an important reason One doesn’t just make a vagabond of oneself for no reason When I remember I will finish this poem. . .
Quality of Education
Ali Farzat is a Syrian cartoonist. | Print
Attending the Second Grand Congress of Iranians Abroad
Dear friends, As soon as we get five minutes to breathe, we’ll send out a report on the Second Grand Congress of Iranians Abroad, a conference for Iranian ex-pats held here in Tehran, Aug. 2-3. As with many other countries that have experienced the international “brain drain,” the Iranian government is trying to redevelop ties […]
Obama and the Islamic World
Instead of ending the wars on Iraq and Afghanistan, Obama applies a bandage of speech. Fahd Bahady is a Syrian cartoonist. This cartoon was published in his blog on 5 May 2010; it is reproduced here for non-profit educational purposes. The text above is an interpretation of the cartoon by Yoshie Furuhashi. See, also, Gareth […]
Fiscal Discipline and All That
Rarely has an economic idea had such a brief revival. After several years of almost undisputed sway of monetarist ideology over economic policy makers across the world, suddenly Keynesian ideas were back in fashion, in particular the idea that active state intervention in the form of increased state expenditure is necessary to bring a market […]
Obama on Iran: The Substance behind the “Signal”
August 5, 2010 Yesterday, President Obama called a small group of journalists into the White House to talk about Iran. According to the Washington Post‘s David Ignatius, Obama’s agenda was to signal Iran that the United States might “accept a deal that allows Iran to maintain its civilian nuclear program, so long as Iran provides […]
Israel, Hizballah, and Iran: Rumors of Another Regional War
August 4, 2010 Yesterday’s fighting on the Israeli-Lebanese border has intensified commentators’ already quite heightened rhetoric about the risk of another armed conflict between Israel, on one side, and some combination of Hizballah, Syria, HAMAS, and Iran, on the other side. The risk of another regional war needs to be evaluated, at least in part, […]
Military Expenditures
Fahd Bahady is a Syrian cartoonist. This cartoon was published in his blog on 3 May 2010; it is reproduced here for non-profit educational purposes. The text above is an interpretation of the cartoon by Yoshie Furuhashi. | Print
Israel: Looking to Ignite New War against Lebanon
Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian cartoonist. | Print
Nationalism, Liberalism, and Capitalism
The Economist (July 15) published an editorial on Egypt and Saudi Arabia (two dictatorial countries allied with the United States in the Middle East) expressing hope that they would become democratic in the future. What is surprising, however, is that in the same issue the magazine did a favorable review of a book by Stephen […]
Neoliberalism, Neocolonialism, and the Criminalization of “Homosexuality”: Interview with Scott Long
Nan Hunter and Scott Long
Scott Long: Around the world, there are existing sex laws being strengthened, there are new sex laws being passed. In Egypt you have people being jailed for homosexuality and for being HIV positive under what’s actually a prostitution law that dates from the fifties. In Burundi and Nigeria, you have people trying to pass […]
The Key to Nuclear Diplomacy with Iran
It seems increasingly likely that we will see another round of nuclear diplomacy with Iran in September. This round will probably include discussions with the “Vienna Group” (the United States, Russia, and France) at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on refueling the Tehran Research Reactor (TRR) in light of the Iran-Turkey-Brazil Joint Declaration announced […]
Afghanistan
In the mirror of Afghanistan, the American soldier sees the ghost of the defeat in Viet Nam. Fahd Bahady is a Syrian cartoonist. This cartoon was published in his blog on 3 May 2010; it is reproduced here for non-profit educational purposes. The text above is an interpretation of the cartoon by Yoshie Furuhashi. | […]
Revealing Moments: Obama, WikiLeaks, the “Good War” Myth, and Silly Liberal Faith in the Emperor
War Crime Whistleblower in Obama’s Sights, War Criminals Not Private First Class Bradley Manning, a 22-year-old U.S. Army intelligence analyst stationed in Iraq, is being prosecuted by the Obama administration for disclosing a classified video showing American troops murdering civilians in Baghdad from an Apache Attack Helicopter in 2007. Eleven adults were killed in the […]
Strand
Rouzbeh Rashidi, born in Tehran in 1980, is an independent Iranian filmmaker. He has been making films since 2000 when he founded the Experimental Film Society in Tehran, devoted to avant-garde, experimental, and low-budget filmmaking. He is currently based in Dublin. Strand (Iran-Ireland: Experimental Film Society, 2009) was shot in Iran in 2008. For […]
Give Me A Little Hand
Uncle Sam: “Israel! You need to come and give me a little hand. . . .” Tomás Rafael Rodríguez Zayas (Tomy) is a Cuban cartoonist. This cartoon was published in Cambios en Cuba on 29 July 2010. Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi (@yoshiefuruhashi | yoshie.furuhashi [at] gmail.com). | Print
