The Iranian nuclear crisis has been on the international agenda for nearly eight years now. At the heart of the matter is Iran’s insistence on its right under the IAEA protocols to uranium enrichment, and international concern lest the Islamic regime acquire the capability to develop nuclear weapons should it decide to embark on […]
Geography Archives: United States
The Future of Iranian-American Relations
A shift in US policies toward Iran was already discernible at the end of the Bush presidency. With the extreme right wing of the neoconservative movement marginalized and the US army bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Bush administration amended its policies in accordance with a re-assessment of the United States’ capabilities after the […]
Interview with Tariq Ali: “We Suffer from the Worst of Every World”
Tariq Ali, a co-editor of New Left Review, is the author of The Duel: Pakistan on the Flight Path of American Power as well as more than a dozen other books. Raza Naeem: Given that much of your recent writing has focused exclusively on Latin America and the Middle East, why this sudden motivation to […]
Honduras’ Most Prominent Human Rights Expert Calls on Obama Administration to Denounce “Grave Human Rights Violations”
Too Late to Have Free Elections This Month, She Says from Washington Washington, D.C. — Bertha Oliva, the head of Honduras’ most well-known and respected human rights organization, called on the Obama administration to denounce the “grave human right violations” in Honduras. “How can it be that the United States government is silent while Hondurans […]
Nothing Resolved in Honduras
Bertha Oliva, Comité de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos en Honduras (COFADEH): I believe that the accord was destined to come out bad. As a general rule, you can’t sit down and negotiate under imposition and repression. This was what happened before, during, and after the agreement. . . . Jesse Freeston: The accord was broken […]
Constitutional Government of Honduras Declares That the Tegucigalpa Agreement Has Failed
The constitutional president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, said the Tegucigalpa/San José agreement failed, along with what was thought to be the attempt to end the political crisis in this Central American country. His declaration came after the unilateral formation of an alleged Government of Unity and Reconciliation by the de facto Honduran regime. Speaking to […]
Statement of Keith Hall, Commissioner, Bureau of Labor Statistics, before the Joint Economic Committee, United States Congress
Madam Chair and Members of the Committee: Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the employment and unemployment data we released this morning. In October, the unemployment rate rose to 10.2 percent, the highest rate since April 1983, and nonfarm payroll employment declined by 190,000. Since the start of the recession, payroll employment has fallen […]
The Democrats’ War in Afghanistan
Part 1: Eight Years and Counting The United States invasion and occupation of Afghanistan entered its ninth year in October, and the majority of Americans now tell opinion polls they want it to end. So far the war has failed to achieve U.S. objectives, and it is likely the Obama Administration’s expansion of the fighting […]
In Arafat’s Shoes
Speaking to a delegation of American doctors visiting the Gaza Strip on October 29, Hamas Prime Minister Esmail Haniya acknowledged an “optimistic mood” in the region, thanks to the Obama Administration. He commended “Obama’s new language” and called for direct dialogue between Hamas and the US — words that sent shockwaves throughout the upper echelons […]
Neoliberalism as Hegemonic Ideology in the Philippines
Paper delivered at the plenary session of the 2009 National Conference of the Philippine Sociological Society held at the PSSC Building on 16 October 2009 Why does the ideology of neoliberalism still exercise such influence in the Philippines despite the challenges it has faced from both the Asian and now global financial crisis? This paper […]
No Partner for Peace: Our American Problem
It was as if some official, perhaps one of President Obama’s “czars,” like the Czar for Demolishing American Credibility, had orchestrated a systematic campaign to isolate the US from the rest of the world, make it a political laughingstock and, finally, render it a second-rate power capable of throwing around tremendous military weight but absolutely […]
‘The Dangers Are Great, the Possibilities Immense’1: The Ongoing Political Struggle in India
“What made Spence dangerous to the bourgeoisie was not that he was a proletarian nor that he had ideas opposed to private property but that he was both.” — Peter Linebaugh.2 ‘Poorest of the Poor’ and Politics It is always easy to criticize and dismiss an argument in its weakest formulation. Attacking the policies of […]
No Justice for Canadian Rendition Victim Maher Arar
Court Refuses to Hold U.S. Officials Accountable for Complicity in Torture Abroad November 2, 2009, New York — Today, a federal Court of Appeals dismissed Canadian citizen Maher Arar’s case against U.S. officials for their role in sending him to Syria to be tortured and interrogated for a year. Arar is represented by the Center […]
Honduras: A Victory for “Smart Power”
Henry Kissinger said that diplomacy is the “art of restraining power.” Obviously, the most influential ideologue on US foreign policy of the twenty-first century was referring to the necessity to “restrain the power” of other countries and governments in order to maintain the dominant world power of the United States. Presidents in the style of […]
The Economic Crisis: How It Impacts African-Americans and Labor
Lecture delivered at the Economic and Black Labor Forum, the Philadelphia Community Institute for Africana Studies, 22 October 22 2009 The present Great Recession is the latest and largest crisis of capitalism since the Great Depression of the 1930s. During the Great Depression over half of all African-American men were unemployed. The present Great […]
About the Results of Eduard Shevardnadze and Anatoly Dobrynin’s Visit to Afghanistan
Notes of Anatoly S. Chernyaev Shevardnadze: In the country and in the provinces they created authoritative organizations for reconciliation. They are working actively. There is a special committee for refugees. Many [rebel] bands — although they are not big — stopped armed struggle. Najib leaves a very good impression. However, not everybody supports him, […]
Is Capitalism Really on Its Last Legs? Interview with Michael D. Yates and Fred Magdoff
Mike Whitney: In your new book, The ABCs of the Economic Crisis: What Working People Need to Know, you allude to right-wing think tanks, like the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute, which promote a “free market” ideology. How successful have these organizations been in shaping public opinion about capitalism? Do you think that […]
Agreement to Restore Zelaya, If Honored, Will Be a Victory for Democracy in the Hemisphere, CEPR Co-Director Says
Washington, D.C. — News of a deal that would effectively end the coup d’etat in Honduras and restore democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya to office would be a “victory for democracy in the hemisphere” resulting from the continued resistance of the Honduran people and pressure from Latin American governments, Center for Economic and Policy Research […]
Interview with Mustafa Barghouti and Anna Baltzer
“Palestinian equal rights was placed directly next to health care and the economy on The Daily Show’s progressive agenda and the audience was totally along for the ride. I could hardly believe my eyes, and yet it made perfect sense at the same time. Who can argue that it is necessary to deny people […]
The FBI Raid and Shooting Death of Imam Luqman
It is with deep sadness and concern that we announce the shooting death of Imam Luqman A. Abdullah, of Masjid Al-Haqq (Detroit, MI). Imam Luqman was a representative of the Detroit Muslim community to the “National Ummah” and the general assembly (Shura) of the Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA). The Federal Bureau of […]
