Subjects Archives: Imperialism

Since the coming into power of the Stephen Harper Conservative government in January of this year, there has been much gnashing of teeth over the foreign policy stance of Canada.  In particular, Canada’s relation with the U.S. on a phalanx of fronts has been at the center of controversy.  One has been the softwood lumber […]

  “The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’  But . . . the good Samaritan reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?’” — Martin Luther King, Jr.1 “The truth […]

NAKED IMPERIALISM:The U.S. Pursuit of Global Dominance by John Bellamy FosterREAD EXCERPTBUY THIS BOOK John Bellamy Foster’s Naked Imperialism: The U.S. Pursuit of Global Dominance was published by Monthly Review Press in May 2006.  It consists of essays written between September 2001 and September 2005, addressing the origins of today’s undisguised imperialism, led by the […]

  My first full realization of homelessness hit as I was waking up, shivering, one cold, damp, and foggy November morning in 1991.  The pain in my lower back was excruciating, not to mention the numbness in my legs and feet.  I was attempting to raise myself to a seated position in response to pleadings […]

The overwhelming response by alumni of United States service academies to the anti-war efforts of West Point Graduates Against the War (www.westpointgradsagainstthewar.org) has resulted in a combined arms organization of former and current land, sea, and air officers united against the war in Iraq.  The new organization, Service Academy Graduates Against the War (www.sagaw.org), was […]

What can we do to end one war and prevent another? Photo by Lynsey Addario The Tour for a Just Foreign Policy in Iran and Iraq is making its way across the Northeast in November with an amazing lineup of speakers and a photo exhibit by award winning photojournalists.  We invite you to join us […]

In recent days, reports have begun to appear in mainstream US media sources such as Time magazine and the Los Angeles Times hinting at a new strategy on Iraq from Washington.  This strategy, which is scheduled to be officially made public after the November congressional elections, is the product of a so-called bipartisan commission headed […]

  Australian Prime Minister John Howard should get a hostile reception at the Pacific Islands Forum this week.  His in-your-face imperialism has provoked conflicts in three island nations. The Solomons and Papua New Guinea In the latest outrage, Aussie police have raided the office of Solomons PM Manasseh Sogavare.  Meanwhile a key report on the […]

Critics have exposed how globalization’s benefits have been unequally distributed around the world.  Many of the world’s poorer regions have become poorer still in relation to the regions that gained.  And within regions, it turns out that globalization often worsens wealth and income inequalities.  However, critics admit and defenders boast that at least for some […]

Olmert and Lieberman Just what we needed.  The government is running hard in order to avoid the appointment of an authentic Judicial Investigative Committee, i.e., one with wide powers.  Our Prime Minister is busy preparing himself for investigations into his all “too-successful” real estate deals.  His popularity rating hovers at a magnificent 7%.  But Ehud […]

  The Spanish and Portuguese colonization of America is still a kind of theoretical no-man’s land and a political taboo.  One can easily understand why Spanish and Portuguese intellectuals avoid any discussion of the topic.  Remember the magnificent Centennials of both the Spanish discovery of the Caribbean and the Portuguese discovery of Brazil.  Any critical […]

Thursday, October 19 Que(e)rying Islamophobia: Race, Sexuality and Imperialism Reza Abbasi, “Two Lovers” (ca. 1630) Discourses of race, gender and sexuality have always served an important ideological function within imperialist projects, and the current phase of American imperialism, characterized by the War on Terror, is no exception.  Given the contemporary geo-political context, this imperialist project […]

General William Tecumseh Sherman declared that “War is hell,” but every grunt or swab that has ever served knows that, more than anything else, war is work.  Staging operations, killing people, breaking their things, and sometimes cleaning up the mess, all involve tremendous amounts of human labor. Current estimates are that there are at least […]

  Face à l’évènement, certains veulent faire supporter à la Résistance tout le poids de cette guerre.  C’est endosser l’erreur.  La grande majorité des analystes politiques internationaux savent que cette guerre était prévue à courte échéance, avec ou sans prétexte ; Israël ne manque pas d’en créer au besoin.  Souvenons-nous de l’invasion de 1982 : […]

  Prodded by Amnesty International (AI), the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Asian Human Rights Commission, Reporters Without Borders, and other international organizations, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo recently cobbled a group to look into the allegations of massive human rights violations — over 729 victims of extrajudicial killings, and 180 involuntary “disappearances,” by the latest count — during her […]

Coordinatrice des Campagnes civiles internationales pour la protection du peuple palestinien (CCIPPP), Nahla Chahal est chercheur à Paris.  Elle fut l’une des dirigeantes, dans les années 1970, de l’Organisation d’action communiste du Liban (OACL).  De retour du Liban, où elle a passé plus d’un mois pendant l’offensive israélienne, elle raconte et analyse ces événements. Quel […]

  In an article published by the Mail & Guardian Online on June 27, titled “Iran Cannot Engage in Serious Talks with US,” I briefly explained some of the reasons why Iran would not be able to engage in serious talks with the United States or accept the European incentives package offered in exchange for […]

  Here is another contradiction for Israel to deal with: the collapse of the Palestinian Authority.  The Wall Street Journal reports: Israel’s war with Hezbollah has overshadowed a looming crisis in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, where conditions have deteriorated to the point that some in the Palestinian government are exploring the prospect […]

Thousands of Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel, peace organizations, and political parties took to the streets of Tel Aviv on 5 August to protest against Israel’s invasion of Lebanon.  The demonstration was organized by a coalition of peace organizations, including Gush Shalom, Yesh Gvul, Coalition of Women for Peace, Ta’ayush, ICAHD, AIC, Hadash, Balad, […]

  4 August 2006 Last night, whatever hopes anyone had that this war was drawing its last breath and would take minimal — if hopefully no more — victims were brutally shattered like the bridges that crumpled under the latest warplane onslaught. Lebanon awoke today to more destruction and chaos.   To more fears that no […]