Barack Obama’s Cairo speech heralds a shift from the Islamophobic rhetoric of the Bush regime, but not from the long-term aims of the U.S. empire. Predictably, Barak Obama’s speech in Cairo came under hysterical criticism from the right. Sean Hannity screamed that Obama gave “sympathizers of 9/11” a voice on the world stage, Charles Krauthammer […]
Geography Archives: Pakistan
Obama’s Doublespeak on Iran
On the US-Iran relationship, President Obama seems to be talking from both sides of his mouth. From one side we hear promising messages of dialogue and a “new beginning” with Iran; from the other side provocative words that seems to be coming right out of the mouth of his predecessor, George W. Bush. For example, […]
Obama’s Guantánamo Appeasement Plan
Two days after his inauguration, President Obama pledged to close Guantánamo within one year. The Republicans, led by Senators John McCain, Mitch McConnell, and Pat Roberts, immediately launched a concerted campaign to assail the new president. They claimed his plan would release dangerous terrorists into U.S. communities and allow released terrorists to resume fighting against […]
Netanyahu Chooses Warehousing
Would Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu say the magic words “two states” after his meeting with President Obama? All Israel held its breath. (He didn’t). The gap between the two is wider than those words could ever have bridged, however. Obama, I believe, sincerely — perhaps urgently — seeks a resolution of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, a […]
The Resurrection of India’s Congress Party — A Worrying Road Ahead
On May 16th, some 60 percent of India’s 714 million-strong electorate delivered a definitive victory to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), giving it a commanding 262 seats in India’s 543-member parliament. The UPA’s principal opponent, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), took a severe beating, dropping down […]
Pakistan at the Precipice
To watch my country of birth unravel has been a curious thing. As the Taliban continues to sweep across vast swaths of northern Pakistan, American pundits and officials ask incredulously, “How can their government let this happen? How can their people let this happen?” The United States looks on anxiously like a jolted passerby watching […]
Stealth Move in Washington Aims to Get $100 Billion for IMF without Congressional Debate
“You don’t have to do this.” Those are the near-last words of several victims in the Coen brothers’ classic, No Country for Old Men, as they try to convince the movie’s unrelenting assassin that he should spare them. The assassin, played by Javier Bardem, finds this annoying, because in his mind these murders are pre-determined. […]
US Pakistan Policy Is Floundering
Aijaz Ahmad and Paul Jay
Paul Jay: So, we left off the first segment of the interview with you suggesting that there really doesn’t seem to be any kind of sensible strategy of the US in Pakistan and Afghanistan. What would the sensible strategy be right now? Obama seems to have . . . it’s very strange, they assessed the […]
Tariq Ali: “Nobody in Washington Knows What the War Aim Is”
Tariq Ali says in an interview with Der Standard: To continue its war in Afghanistan, the US accepts the risk of destabilizing Pakistan. But only a regional diplomatic approach can help. STANDARD: How would you evaluate the danger often invoked today that Pakistan is collapsing and its nuclear weapons may fall into the hands […]
US Policy Makes Things Worse in Pakistan
Aijaz Ahmad and Paul Jay
Paul Jay: So, President Karzai has just been in Washington, President Zardari has been in Washington, meeting President Obama. What effect are the policies of the three presidents having in Pakistan? Aijaz Ahmad: We know that the pressure from the United States that has been mounted over the last two weeks has led to […]
From Blunder to Blunder in Afghanistan
“I also made it clear that the United States will work with our Afghan and international partners to make every effort to avoid civilian casualties as we help the Afghan government combat our common enemy,” US President Barack Obama promised. He received his Afghan and Pakistani counterparts Hamid Karzai and Asif Ali Zardari at […]
Iran Urges International NGOs to Help Refugees There
DUBAI, 10 May 2009 (IRIN) — The Iranian government is seeking greater assistance from international NGOs to meet the needs of hundreds of thousands of refugees, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Some international NGOs already work with refugees in Iran, but several left the country earlier this decade because of difficult working conditions. […]
Hundreds of Thousands Displaced by Fighting in Pakistan Highlands
MARDAN DISTRICT, Pakistan, May 8 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency said Friday there was a situation of “massive displacement” in north-west Pakistan, as the confrontation between government forces and militants becomes more widespread and people take advantage of the partial lifting of curfews to move into safer areas. The provincial government estimates between […]
The Obama Government’s First Massacre
One may have more or less sympathy for the new US president, more or less believe in his words, more or less value the change in the US government’s tone when handling its differences with other governments. But there is a limit when it comes to judging the character of a president and a government. […]
Pakistan: Who’s to Blame?
Speaking at the National Assembly, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani said that the military could stop the Taliban and that the country’s nuclear weapons were safe. “Does this parliament not have moral courage to stop them?” he asked. Pakistan is on a precipice. The Swat Valley, once called the Switzerland of Pakistan for […]
On Islam and Gender Justice
Zainah Anwar, ed., Wanted — Equality and Justice in the Muslim Family, Kuala Lumpur: Musawah/Sisters in Islam (www.musawah.org/info@musawah.org), 2009, pp. 261, ISBN: 978-983-2622-26-0, 28 Malaysian Ringgit. Muslim family laws have for long been — and continue to be — a hugely controversial subject. Critics contend that these laws seriously militate against basic human rights, especially […]
The Baloch Question
The brutal murder of three nationalist leaders of Balochistan and the ensuing crisis has brought the issue of the Baloch national struggle to the forefront once again, only to be met with feigned surprises and arrogant dismissals by a major part of the rest of Pakistan. We in Pakistan — and particularly those of us […]
Rethink Afghanistan
Part 1: Afghanistan + More Troops = Catastrophe Part 2: Pakistan: “The Most Dangerous Country” Part 3: Cost of War Anand Gopal, Afghanistan Correspondent, Christian Science Monitor: The United States has only forces to go and control certain urban areas. . . . They don’t have the troop size, nor could they conceivably ever […]
Turkey and the Obama Visit: “He Gave Me Water!”
Obama did what was expected, dispensing good luck charms for all. What he left behind is a state of delirium, a la the Hunchback of Notre Dame: “He gave me water.” Even though some of Obama’s gestures during the visit — such as Obama reminding the young people he was chatting with of the […]
China’s Way Forward? Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Hegemony and the World Economy in Crisis
2008 — Annus Horribilis for the world economy — produced successive food, energy, and financial crises, initially devastating particularly the global poor, but quickly extending to the commanding heights of the US and core economies and ushering in the sharpest downturn since the 1930s depression. As all nations strive to respond to the financial […]
