2015

Articles

• 1 December 2015, by Sophia Reuss

  There is No Planet B: A Short Note on COP21

  The Global Climate March, which comprised more than 2,000 civil society mobilizations in over 150 countries, took place on the eve of the two-week UN climate change talks, COP21. Despite clashes (…)
• 1 December 2015, by Messaoud Romdhani

  After The Bloody Terrorist Attacks In Paris

  When they sow the wind, we reap the storm “We should be well-aware that we have, in great part, given rise to the Islamic State and we have, ever since, been trapped in a vicious circle.” (…)
• 1 December 2015, by Bernard Dreano

  Which Side Will Prevail?

  In this chilly evening of November the 27th, a few hundred people are on the Place de la République. Many are meditating, praying, or just silent around the big statue of the Republic in the (…)
• 1 December 2015, by Katrina Gibbs

  A Culture of Protest amidst a Culture of Fear

  Intellectuals, writers, and artists have banded together in response to aggressive and violent political tactics that have been employed since the landslide election of Prime Minister Narendra (…)
• 1 December 2015, by Joanny Belair

  BDS Quebec: An Interview

  On November 26, 2015, in Montreal, I interviewed Sabine Friesinger, who is member of the Coordinating Committee of the Quebec BDS Coalition, to discuss Quebec BDS Coalition activities, challenges, (…)
• 1 December 2015, by Janet Redman

  Will the Paris Climate Talks Deliver the World We Need? Not likely

  We need to leave more than 80 percent of known oil, coal, and gas reserves in the ground to avoid triggering catastrophic climate change. That means shifting away from an economy driven by (…)
• 1 December 2015, by Conn Hallinan

  Portugal: The Left Takes Charge

  After several weeks of political brinkmanship, Portugal’s right-wing president, Anibal Cavaco Silva, finally backed off from his refusal to appoint the leader of a victorious left coalition as (…)
• 5 November 2015, by Messaoud Romdhani

  The Nobel Prize for Quartet: Great!! But Let’s Wait For The Silver Lining

  The Nobel Committee justified its attribution of the Prize for Peace by saying that the National Dialogue led by the quartet, a group of civil society organizations made up of The Tunisian General (…)
• 5 November 2015, by Sophie Reuss

  The Best Offence is to (De)Fence! The Syrian Refugee Crisis and the Turkish Elections

  The November 1 election results in Turkey mark a transformation in the political negotiations concerning the Syrian refugee crisis. While politicians, activists, and media outlets have attempted (…)
• 5 November 2015, by Tapan Bose

  Why I Am Returning The National Awards

  Fundamental freedoms, freedom of conscience, freedom of expression, freedom of movement are under serious threat in our country. Never in the history of independent India, we were told what kind (…)
• 5 November 2015, by Sophia Reuss

  Mass Mobilization and COP 21: An Interview with Roger Rashi

  I interviewed Roger Rashi, long-time social and political activist in Montreal, on October 28th, 2015 to discuss the impending COP 21 conference in Paris and the parallel mobilizations planned. (…)
• 5 November 2015, by Katrina Gibbs

  Drone Warfare: Who Are We Protecting?

  Since their inception, drones have been a controversial weapon of war. Drone warfare has not only continued to advance technologically, but also the frequency of their use has steadily increased (…)
• 5 November 2015, by Kyle Jacques

  Who Wants What in Syria: A Guide for the Perplexed

  As I write this, the foreign ministers of about twenty different countries are seated around a conference table in Vienna arguing about what should be done in Syria. That now twenty countries have (…)
• 5 November 2015, by Dylan Boyko

  Questions, Period/Question Period

  Explain to me, if you can, why we love public figures. Narrative creation, especially in the realm of public policy, seems an inauspicious way to search for new politicians or validate old ones. (…)
• 5 November 2015, by Jennifer Geleff

  Cop21: Idealized Inclusivity

  Conference of Parties (COP) is an annual meeting among the countries of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This year’s meeting, COP21, will be held in Paris with a total of (…)
• 5 November 2015, by Ahmad Jaradat

  Palestinian Uprising Moves Forward

  This week, Palestinians have participated in demonstrations against the Israeli occupation consistently, and in huge numbers. Moreover, Palestinian political groups are publicly calling for (…)
• 5 November 2015, by Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta

  Interview: Irfan Habib

  Irfan Habib, the eminent historian, on how the present government’s large-scale project to saffronise history does not stand rigorous historical scrutiny and why the Hindu Right, given its record (…)
• 5 November 2015, by Immanuel Wallerstein

  "Obama’s Impossible Options in the Middle East"

  President Barack Obama is being criticized on all sides for whatever he does these days in the Middle East. And well he might, since there is probably nothing he can do to become the deciding and (…)
• 5 November 2015, by AIC

  Support Alternative Information Centre

  The Alternative Information Center (AIC) is now launching an appeal, not simply because of the current Israeli offensive, but as we know there are more to come and we must be prepared. To (…)
• 1 October 2015, by Dominique Bauer, Daniela Paredes, Kristine Kroyer

  Civil Society In Times Of (De)Fences: On-The-Ground At The Hungarian-Serbian Border

  In Hungary, a fence has been built. One day before the opening of the second meeting of the Regional Academy on the United Nations (RAUN) in Szeged, a city located close to the Hungarian-Serbian (…)
• 1 October 2015, by Sophia Reuss

  Regional Solidarity, Peace, and Labour in South Asia: An Interview with Karamat Ali

  Karamat Ali is a Founding Member and Executive Director of the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education (PILER), a Founding Member of the Pakistan-India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy, and (…)
• 1 October 2015, by Katherine Cashman

  South Asian Regional Cooperation to Ease Migration, Alleviate Labour Issues

  The subcontinent of South Asia was divided in 1946 during the process of decolonization from British control, in an event called the Partition. Mass migrations followed Partition, whereby 6 (…)
• 1 October 2015, by Malcolm Araos

  Climate Migration in Bangladesh: Vulnerability, Resilience, and Ways Forward

  Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change. Floodplains occupy 80% of the country and every ten years around one-third of the country is severely affected (…)
• 1 October 2015, by Dylan Boyko

  Crisis of Coincidence

  Stephen Harper is not my dad, but he might wish he was. It is becoming categorically apparent that helicopter parenting is all the rage in the Harper household, with its peculiar and protective (…)
• 1 October 2015, by Katrina Gibbs

  Freedom of Expression in the Age of the Internet

  As we partake in this era of expansive technological advancement, the invention of the Internet has changed nearly every aspect of the way that we live our lives. The Internet has completely (…)
• 1 October 2015, by Messaoud Romdhani

  Corruption: A Big Fly In The Ointment Of The Transition

  “Democracy is fragile because it doesn’t speak all the truth.” Edgar Morin, Manouba Univesity, Tunis (May 29th, 2015) While the feel-good memories of the “Arab Spring” slowly fade away in the (…)
• 1 October 2015, by Ranabir Samaddar

  The Politics of Indebtedness and Government

  The tragic capitulation and decline of the Greek government is directly linked to the postures of the radical left, and hence is the cause for greater alarm. A government that was elected to (…)
• 1 October 2015, by Theodoros Karyotis

  There is Nothing to Celebrate after Sunday’s Elections in Greece

  Skyrocketing abstention, social demobilisation and an impending wave of harsh austerity measures call for critical reflection after Syriza’s victory. There is nothing to celebrate, really. (…)
• 1 October 2015, by Pervez Hoodbhoy

  Pakistan’s Donald Trump

  Even his fellow Republicans have labelled him insane. But, defying the predictions of all soothsayers and political pundits, Donald Trump’s still surging popularity with Republican voters suggests (…)
• 1 October 2015, by Jawed Naqvi

  Of Mermaids Singing Each to Each

  In a contested Greek legend, Phryne was publicly disrobed during her trial for alleged impiety. The jurors were outraged by her condition and declared her innocent. In another Greek story, the (…)
• 1 October 2015, by ICSSI

  Participate in the Extended Iraqi Social Forum 2015!

  The Iraqi Social Forum on Coexistence and Civil Peace will take place in Baghdad on 1-3 October 2015. If you can not be there, participate in the Extended Iraqi Social Forum 2015 from everywhere (…)
• 2 September 2015, by Sophia Reuss

  The Myth of the Invisible Hand: Income Inequality and the Decline of the Labour Movement

  Most tactics aimed at decreasing income inequality involve a combination of more progressive taxation schemes and increased availability of social services. By this logic, alleviating inequality (…)
• 2 September 2015, by Jennifer Geleff

  The Indian Enigma: Can Growth and Development Co-exist?

  The so-called ‘South Asian Enigma’ points to a puzzling question: why has rapid economic growth failed to reduce hunger, malnutrition, child health, and other social indicators? The ‘Indian (…)
• 2 September 2015, by Kyle Jacques

  America: Land of the Free Trade Agreement

  Canadians should expect to hear a lot about free trade in the coming weeks and months leading up to the October 19 election. Canada may be on the cusp of signing onto one of the largest free trade (…)
• 2 September 2015, by Dylan Boyko

  The Small Town Discount

  I’m from a small town that prides itself on those stereotypical small town values. The people are thrifty and hard working, or at least present as such. They believe in an honest day’s work for an (…)
• 2 September 2015, by Sukumar Muralidharan

  The Developing Story

  There are few areas of settled concord in economic theory. That the dynamic of power is often determinant in the limited enclaves of consent has been evident in recent times in the (…)
• 2 September 2015, by Noel Ortega

  What Piketty Forgot

  The crisis of capitalism isn’t just about the gap between rich and poor. It’s about the gap between what’s demanded by our planet and what’s demanded by our economy. By now, it’s no secret (…)
• 2 September 2015, by Amir Khadir

  Federal Leaders Must Come Up With a Substitute for Oil

  The longest election campaign in recent Canadian history is an opportunity to point to the contradictions of the major parties on the question of ecology. If there is one issue that touches (…)
• 3 August 2015, by Sophia Reuss

  Understanding the Greek Debt Crisis: Lessons from Structural Adjustment

  The Troika has once again tightened their debt shackles around Greece’s wrists, despite having already cut off the nation’s circulation. By forcing Alexis Tsipras to accept another round of (…)
• 3 August 2015, by René Charest and Roger Rashi

  A Few Observations on the Greek Crisis

  Democracy and Break in the Fight Against Austerity “Moreover, we have the same issues at stake as does Europe: how to combine the electoral process and the mobilization of the masses, how to (…)
• 3 August 2015, by Dylan Boyko

  Let Me Tell You A Story About Your Money

  Everyone loves to create debt narratives. From politicians to economists, local pundits to talking heads, the use of debt – loaded with historical baggage – refers pejoratively to the money spent (…)
• 3 August 2015, by Stefan Christoff

  News From Greece Must Spark a Challenge to Austerity in Canada

  Reflecting closely on both the crisis and movement against austerity in Greece here in Canada is clearly important, not simple due to the unprecedented nature of the latest events in recent (…)
• 3 August 2015, by Messaoud Romdhani

  Terrorism: The Great Challenge

  One essential observation is clear: terrorists struck a hard blow on this 26th June 2015, in Sousse, Tunisia, targeting the economy and the security of the country through slaughtering (…)
• 3 August 2015, by Sukumar Muralidharan

  A Deal That Raised Hell

  Israel’s querulous reaction to a nuclear deal that has won wide-spread acclaim underlines how far removed it is from world opinion A ‘historic mistake’ — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin (…)
• 3 August 2015, by George Monbiot

  Disinventing Democracy

  The assault on Greece is just the latest episode in a long history of shutting down choice on behalf of the financial elite. Greece might be financially bankrupt; the troika is politically (…)
• 3 August 2015, by Theodoros Karyotis

  Syriza Surrenders: Time For Renewed Popular Resistance

  Now that Syriza has caved in to the creditors, the need for grassroots mobilization is more urgent than ever. A new cycle of struggles is ahead of us. For two weeks now, political time has (…)
• 1 July 2015, by Yiannis Bournous

  “After Five Years of Devastation I Am Finally Bringing A Message of Solidarity And Hope From Greece”

  Yiannis Bournous, member of the Political Secretariat of Syriza was invited by Alternatives to its Festival of Solidarity held in Montreal on June 13, 2015. This speech has been transcribed by (…)
• 1 July 2015, by Pablo Bustinduy Amador

  “In our Blood, We Have in The Memory of the Spanish Fighters, Who Were The First To Fight Fascism In Europe”

  Pablo Bustinduy Amador, International Representative of Podemos, Spain was invited by Alternatives to its Festival of Solidarity held in Montreal on June 13, 2015. This speech has been translated (…)
• 1 July 2015, by Caren Lay

  “Syriza’s Election Success Has Done Much To Stimulate Debate About The Future Of Europe”

  Caren Lay, member of the Parliament from Die Linke, Germany was invited by Alternatives to its Festival of Solidarity held in Montreal on June 13, 2015. This speech has been transcribed by (…)
• 1 July 2015, by Sean Sweeney

  How Climate Change Connects to Austerity

  Sean Sweeney from Trade Unions for Energy Democracy, USA was invited by Alternatives to its Festival of Solidarity held in Montreal on June 13, 2015. This speech has been transcribed by Sophia (…)
• 1 July 2015, by Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois

  With Referendum on Austerity, Greece Goes all-in on Democracy

  Within Syriza, tensions were reaching a fever pitch. The left wing of the party was growing impatient, and party activists openly confessed their disappointment with the government. Some went so (…)
• 1 July 2015, by Sophia Reuss and Jennifer Geleff

  Three Minutes To Midnight: Natural Catastrophes in the Anthropocene

  The 2015 Doomsday Clock reads 3 Minutes to Midnight. Since 1947, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has annually evaluated nuclear threats, climate change, biosecurity and other potential (…)
• 1 July 2015, by Messaoud Romdhani

  Tunisia: Old Cultural Reflexes and Nascent Democracy

  After January 14th, 2011, the most uncommon dreams of a beleaguered small country were permitted, and some of them have already come true: for the first time there have been the formation of (…)
• 1 July 2015, by Sukumar Muralidharan

  Globalisation of Misery

  One in every 122 people on the planet today is displaced, a result of the iniquities of development the world over World Refugee Day on June 20 may have been just one of those rituals conjured (…)
• 1 June 2015, by Sophia Reuss

  Lampedusa: European Border Delocalization in the Mediterranean

  Lampedusa, a rocky, 20-square kilometre Italian island in the Mediterranean, lies 113 kilometres east of Tunisia and 300 kilometers north of Libya. In the past two decades, Lampedusa, an (…)
• 1 June 2015, by Sophie Smith and Jennifer Geleff

  Forced Migration and Ethnic Cleansing: Rohingya Adrift in Southeast Asia

  The Rohingya people are an oppressed Muslim minority group in Buddhist-majority Myanmar that have faced an enduring history of ethnic discrimination and systemic poverty. In Myanmar, the Rohingya (…)
• 1 June 2015, by Kyle Jacques

  Mediterranean Militarization: A New Obstacle for Europe’s Migrants

  Last April over 800 people drowned to death in the Mediterranean Sea after a ship packed full of migrants capsized on its way from Libya to Italy. The victims of this tragedy were much like the (…)
• 1 June 2015, by Interview

  The Roots of Inequality for Ethiopian Israelis

  Jessica Desvarieux, Producer, TRNN interviews Lia Tarachansky Jessica Desvarieux: So Lia, when the protests and the destruction of property took place in Baltimore last week, we covered it and (…)
• 1 June 2015, by Frans Jansson

  A Kurdish Perspective on the Turkish Elections

  ISTANBUL – Hopes and fears are plentiful in Kurdish and left-wing politics in Turkey ahead of the elections on Sunday. The Peoples Democratic Party (HDP), the left-wing party focused on the (…)
• 1 June 2015, by Messaoud Romdhani

  Saving What’s Left of the Arab Spring

  When Tunisia succeeded in holding its second legislative and presidential elections by the end of 2014, the “Washington Post” wrote: “Remember the Arab Spring? Here’s what’s left,” (November 23, (…)
• 1 June 2015, by Dylan Boyko

  Uncovering Something Less Ignorant

  I first heard of the vague concept of the Armenian Genocide when I was 13 reading a Kurt Vonnegut novel called Bluebeard. The book was first published in 1987, and only the narrator’s distant (…)
• 1 June 2015, by Alternatives

  Fighting Austerity

  You are kindly invited to join us at this third edition of The Festival of Solidarity to be held in Montreal, on June 13th, at Salle Agora- Coeur des sciences de l’UQAM, from 9:30am to 5:30pm. (…)
• 4 May 2015, by Sophia Reuss

  Colonialism and Austerity: The Crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in Canada

  The situation of missing and murdered indigenous women in Canada, Harper’s failure to respond to demands for a national inquiry into the issue, and intensifying federal and provincial austerity (…)
• 4 May 2015, by James Patrick Cannon

  Austerity on Trial? Much at stake for Spain in Electoral Year

  2015 is a critical year for Spain’s progressive forces. The country is set to hold municipal and regional elections in May, and national elections by the end of the year, democratic exercises (…)
• 4 May 2015, by Dylan Boyko

  The Grexit Looms

  The unfortunately named grexit looms unenviably. Caught between the hardline dictates of the IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and the uncertain plans of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and (…)
• 4 May 2015, by Kyle Jacques

  Case of Bolivia Offers Alternative Perspective on the Supposed Necessity of Fiscal Austerity

  The Quebec Liberals and their supporters in the news media are relying on familiar and simplistic arguments regarding the need for fiscal austerity in the province. While budget cuts will harm (…)
• 4 May 2015, by Noah Sutton and Sophia Reuss

  Austerity and Environment: Interview

  Roger Rashi is a long-time social and political activist from Montreal. He now works as Campaigns Coordinator for Alternatives. Since the fall of 2011, Roger was involved in organizing the Peoples (…)
• 4 May 2015, by Aditya Adhikari

  Watching A City Crumble

  A first person account of the earthquake and its aftershocks in Kathmandu. In the evening of April 25, the day that the 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal, I stood on the roof of my house (…)
• 4 May 2015, by Asad Zaidi

  Radical Storyteller

  Six years ago, at the Summit of the Americas, Hugo Chavez, sprung a surprise on the unsuspecting Barack Obama by presenting him, with great fanfare, a copy of the original Spanish edition of Open (…)
• 4 April 2015

  People United Will Never Be Defeated!

  Declaration of the Social Movements Assembly World Social Forum 2015 Tunisia, 27 March 2015 The Social Movements Assembly of the WSF 2015, Tunisia is the place where we come together through (…)
• 4 April 2015, by Gideon Levy

  Netanyahu Deserves the Israeli People, and They Deserve Him

  The first conclusion that arose just minutes after the announcement of the exit polls was particularly discouraging: The nation must be replaced. Not another election for the country’s leadership, (…)
• 4 April 2015, by Paul Weinberg

  Bill C-51 Wants You to Stop Protesting in Support of Palestinians

  One of the less discussed questions of the Harper government’s anti-terror bill, Bill C-51, is whether Palestinian rights advocates and advocates of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) will be (…)
• 4 April 2015, by Pablo Solón

  Behind the Climate Negotiating Text for COP21

  The future lies in the past. What has happened will determine what will come. The idea that we can change everything and save the world at the last minute is exciting in movies but it does not (…)
• 4 April 2015, by Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois

  Quebec Police Don’t Live in a Bubble

  When faced with a symbolically criminalized enemy, there’s only one possible attitude: all-out war. Last Thursday, a police officer from the Service de police de la ville de Québec (SPVQ) shot (…)
• 4 April 2015, by Spyros Lapatsioras, John Milios and Dimitris P. Sotiropoulos

  Syriza’s Only Choice: A Radical Step Forward

  “One must know how to employ the kairos [right or opportune moment] of one’s forces at the right moment. It is easy to only lose a little, if one always keeps foremost in the mind the idea that (…)
• 4 April 2015, by Sukumar Muralidharan

  Free Speech, Fearless Listening and Fair Trial

  How India’s Daughter has led to a bonfire of free speech Free speech is not about raging at the walls of an empty room. It also involves the right to be heard. And this freedom could (…)
• 4 April 2015, by Immanuel Wallerstein

  Antisystemic Movements and the Future of Capitalism

  Unrevised version of talk at 39th Annual Meeting of the Political Economy of the World-System Conference, Berlin, Mar. 2015. The antisystemic movements now find themselves in the midst of a (…)
• 4 April 2015, by SACW

  Daya Varma (1929-2015)

  Dr. Daya Varma, life-long communist, scientist, activist, dreamer, pharmacologist, professor emeritus at McGill University, Montreal, passed away on 22 March 2015 in St. John’s, Newfoundland, (…)
• 1 March 2015, by Praful Bidwai

  India: From a Politics of Hatred to a Politics of Hope

  The Aam Aadmi Party has accomplished a stupendous political feat in India’s capital. Not only has it won more than half the total vote and 95 percent of all seats, which even the luckiest of (…)
• 1 March 2015, by Stefan Christoff

  A Surveillance Society And Criminalize Dissent

  New ‘anti-terrorism’ legislation proposed by the Conservative government, Bill C-51, is a clear assault on free expression, creating an extensive legal framework for state authorities to (…)
• 1 March 2015, by Messaoud Romdhani

  Terrorism on Both Sides of the Mediterranean

  On 6 February 2013, the Tunisian leftist leader Chokri Belaid was shot dead. Belaid had been very critical of the Islamist-led troika government and of violence perpetrated by radical Islamists. (…)
• 1 March 2015, by Prashant Bhushan

  Terrorizing Teesta Setalvad

  The case of Teesta Setalvad is a chilling example of what can still happen to even highly acclaimed and well connected persons in this country if they take on those in authority The case of (…)
• 1 March 2015, by Palestinian BDS National Committee

  Disinformation and Repression Against BDS

  Palestinian Civil Society Condemns Canadian Government Disinformation and Repression Against Boycott Movement The Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC), the largest coalition of Palestinian (…)
• 1 March 2015, by Uri Avnery

  The Casino Republic

  Who is the ruler of Israel? Prime Minister Biyamin Netayahu, of course. WRONG. The real ruler of Israel is one Sheldon Adelson, 81, American Jew, Casino king, who was rated as the world’s (…)
• 1 March 2015, by Grist staff

  Why Low Oil Prices Could be a Great Thing

  May Boeve, executive director of 350.org, recently interviewed Naomi Klein, activist and author of the book This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate (and a 350 board member), as part of (…)
• 1 March 2015, by Costas Douzinas

  Syriza: The Greek Spring

  The 2015 Greek elections mark the beginning of the end of a cycle that started in 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall. We are now witnessing the end of the "end of history" metanarrative. (…)
• 1 March 2015, by Bernard Dreano

  Letter from Paris

  My friends and I, either in the past or more recently, all had some kind of personal and/or activist link with people among the victims... Dear Friends, As you know the terrorists killed 17 (…)
• 1 February 2015, by Stathis Kouvelakis

  After Syriza’s Victory, Confrontation or Capitulation

  Syriza’s Stathis Kouvelakis on why his party fell short of an absolute majority and the choices that lie ahead. Syriza’s electoral triumph has brought hope to the European radical left and (…)
• 1 February 2015, by Glenn Greenwald

  Free Speech for Western Apologists Only

  France Arrests a Comedian For His Facebook Comments, Showing the Sham of the West’s “Free Speech” Celebration Forty-eight hours after hosting a massive march under the banner of free (…)
• 1 February 2015, by Praful Bidwai

  Did Obama Legitimize Extremist Violence With His Visit to India?

  The president roped once-non-aligned India into a strategic alliance, but only by bolstering the Modi government, with its religious intolerance and pro-corporate policies. The combination (…)
• 1 February 2015, by Mustafa Caglayan

  Norman Finkelstein: Charlie Hebdo is Sadism, not Satire

  World renowned political science professor says he has ’no sympathy’ for staff at Charlie Hebdo In Nazi Germany, there was an anti-Semitic weekly newspaper called Der Stürmer. Run by Julius (…)
• 1 February 2015, by Sukumar Muralidharan

  Hand in Hand?

  India inhabits a complex part of the geopolitical map, where the simple binaries of us and them break down, especially for the US The sole Indian journalist called on to address a question to (…)
• 1 February 2015, by Messaoud Romdhani

  Women’s Empowerment: The Text and the Practice

  Tunisia could pride itself on drafting the most advanced code of personal status in the region, forbidding polygamy, legalizing divorce, establishing equality between partners in the choice of the (…)
• 1 February 2015, by Medea Benjamin

  Flogging for Blogging?

  The U.S. government continues to turn a blind eye to the medieval forms of torture meted out by its Saudi allies. On January 9, two days after the massive Paris march condemning the brutal (…)
• 1 February 2015, by Harsh Kapoor

  Long Live Charlie Hebdo!

  A letter to the left leaning in wake of Charlie Hebdo shootings of January 2015 The January 2015 terror attack on the Paris satirical weekly and its gross misinterpretation by people of Left (…)
• 1 February 2015, by Leo Panitch

  The Greek Election

  As we enter the eighth year of the long-lingering global economic crisis, it is sobering indeed that it is only in Greece that a political party putting forward a clear, radical democratic (…)
• 1 January 2015, by Pervez Hoodbhoy

  It Wasn’t The Final Atrocity

  THE gut-wrenching massacre in Peshawar’s Army Public School has left Pakistan aghast and sickened. All political leaders have called for unity against terrorism. But this is no watershed event (…)
• 1 January 2015, by Ajmal Kamal

  Litfests and Bookfairs – Two Worlds?

  If you have attended this year the two events that mark the pinnacle of Karachi’s book culture – the Karachi Literature Festival and the Karachi International Book Fair – you may have noticed that (…)
• 1 January 2015, by Editorial, Economic and Political Weekly

  Staring Down a Precipice

  Lima ignored the urgent need to address climate change. They came, they talked, and they almost failed. That seems to be the trajectory of most of the conferences on climate change held under (…)
• 1 January 2015, by John Feffer

  Carrots for Cuba, Sticks for North Korea

  As one cold war thaws, another refreezes. Cuba and North Korea share a great deal in common. They are both led by dynastic rulers. They retain their nominal affiliation to revolutionary (…)