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3 June 2009, by
A Fascist Odor of the New Coalition
How lucky we are to have the extreme Right standing guard over our democracy. This week, the Knesset voted by a large majority (47 to 34) for a law that threatens imprisonment for anyone who (…) -
1 June 2009
Palestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel (PSCABI)
"Gaza today has become the test of our indispensable morality and common humanity." -
1 June 2009, by
The war on civilians
The extension of war in Pakistan - from the Afghan border regions to Lahore - is inflicting a terrible toll on the country’s poor and displaced. -
29 May 2009, by
The Dangers of False Optimism in the Middle East
The recent announcement that Barack Obama will deliver a major address to the Muslim world from Cairo in early June has further heightened expectations that the new American administration is (…) -
28 May 2009, by
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 (…) -
28 May 2009, by
Only diplomacy can reverse North Korea’s nuclear status
Given the impact a nuclear Korean peninsula will have on Japan and the rest of Asia, Beijing and Washington have an incentive to formulate a joint approach towards DPRK. -
28 May 2009, by
Can China Save the World From Depression?
Will China be the "growth pole" that will snatch the world from the jaws of depression? This question has become a favorite topic as the heroic American middle class consumer, weighed down by (…) -
26 May 2009, by
A Logical Defeat for the Left
There is a certain irony in the defeat of the Left, in particular of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M), in the recent general elections. It was among the handful of communist (…) -
26 May 2009, by
Obama and two States
A false claim is wafting through the press: Obama is hanging tough with Benjamin Netanyahu, he’s going to "twist Israel’s arm" and at long last force the Jewish state into a two-state agreement, (…) -
25 May 2009, by
Israeli Government Obstinance Following Netanyahu’s Return from Meeting in US with Obama
Now that Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has arrived back from his first meeting in Washington D.C. with US President, Barack Obama, the pundits are out on both sides, either filled (…) -
24 May 2009, by
The Left‘s Exit: Notes for Consideration of All Concerned
History, at times, is a cruel reminder. Twenty years ago, 1989 signalled the impending collapse of the Soviet Union, as the Berlin wall crashed. Two years thereafter, the year 1991, watched how (…) -
23 May 2009, by
Two Funerals and a Wedding
There were three significant happenings this week up and down the vertical axis of the Indian Subcontinent. Up in the North, Pakistani troops battled the Taliban in Swat. As the week closed (…) -
22 May 2009, by
On Normalization—Continued: Daniel Barenboim in Cairo
Last month, the great conductor Daniel Barenboim was invited for a concert in Cairo. Among his many passports, Barenboim has also an Israeli one, a fact that reopened, in Egypt, the public debate (…) -
21 May 2009, by
Normalization or sanctions?
Israel is not a normal state. Israel is a colonial settlers’ state, built on the ruins of Palestine and the dispossession of its people. This is why, for several decades, the Arab world – and many (…) -
21 May 2009, by
US President Gives Green Light for Israel to Continue Its Nuclear Arms Program
The Dimona nuclear reactor in the south of Israel. According to the Israeli press, US President Barak Obama promised Prime Minister Netanyahu that he would maintain the current understandings (…) -
21 May 2009, by
A “Famous Victory”?
According to an announcement by the Sri Lankan Government, the LTTE chief Prabhakaran is dead, killed by the Lankan Army. The LTTE is yet to confirm the death, and some sections are questioning (…) -
20 May 2009, by
NETANYAHU AT THE WHITE HOUSE
Overall, yesterday’s White House meeting between President Barack Obama and IsraelivPrime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has to be seen as a draw. As former U.S. ambassador to Israel and Obama (…) -
20 May 2009, by
The Elections: a Game Changer?
The Indian general election of 2009 is finally over. 445 million voters entered 828,000 polling booths to elect 543 candidates to the lower house of the parliament, the Lok Sabha. An immense state (…) -
20 May 2009, by
15th Lok Sabha Election: The Right Is Snubbed, Left Faces Debacle
That the results came as a huge relief, at least on the immediate term regardless of medium term prospects, with the rather unexpected scale of defeat and resultant suffered by the “Hindu” Right, (…) -
18 May 2009
The Alternative Information Center to Host Its 2nd Middle East International Political Camp: Bridges Instead of Walls!
The Alternative Information center announces its second Middle East International Political Camp, Bridges Instead of Walls!, to be held July 17-24 2009. With the success of the first political (…) -
18 May 2009, by
Humility in victory, introspection in defeat
If the Congress party needs to guard against the triumphalist revival of ‘Congress culture’, both the Left and the Bharatiya Janata Party must also re-evaluate their political strategy. -
16 May 2009, by
Indian Government Must Stop Intervention in Nepal
The fledgling republic of Nepal seems to be standing on the verge of a new phase of civil war. Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) Rookmangud Katawal had been asked by the civilian government to explain (…) -
16 May 2009, by
15th Lok Sabha Elections and Beyond
In vain were the galaxy of film stars and other celebrities pressed into service for encouraging citizens to pay ballot tributes to the great Indian democracy. The third phase of polling — which (…) -
13 May 2009, by
The Permanent Crisis
TARIQ ALI: Unfortunately there appears only one way the crisis in Pakistan can go — toward another military takeover. In the past 60 years we have had this cycle of politics in Pakistan — military (…) -
12 May 2009
AlterInter at Maghreb Machrek seminar in Rabat- Marocco 5-6 may 2009- and IC WSF meeting
Feroz Mehdi is one of the founder member of Alternatives. He has been working on projects related to the countries in South Asia. He has also been working in education programs in Quebec and (…) -
11 May 2009, by
Who Killed 120 Civilians?
Herat is cut off from the rest of the planet. This was once one of the great cities of the world, an imperial capital drawing its wealth from trade along the Silk Road with Iran, the rest of (…) -
9 May 2009
Call for peace
Aware of the negative impact of the current crisis in the Maghreb region as a result of the conflict between the Western Sahara, the Moroccan state of the Polisario Front on all the peoples of the (…) -
7 May 2009, by
Adivasis Rise Up Against Police Terror in West Bengal
The demonstrations of the indigenous tribal people [’adivasis’] of West Bengal, India against longstanding police brutality have not dissipated with time, contrary to the expectations of the (…) -
1 May 2009, by
Sources of turmoil
An insurgent advance beyond the Afghan borderlands is provoking alarm in Washington. But current United States strategy, alongside Pakistan’s deepening social divisions, could lead to even greater (…) -
1 May 2009, by
The economic crisis
The SA economy is linked to the global economy basically through exports and imports. The difference in value between exports and imports is called the balance of trade. When transfers of money (…) -
29 April 2009, by
Obama’s 100 Days — The Mad Men Did Well
The BBC’s American television soap Mad Men offers a rare glimpse of the power of corporate advertising. The promotion of smoking half a century ago by the "smart" people of Madison Avenue, who (…) -
29 April 2009, by
The Taliban’s Roads to Kabul
Hamid Karzai, who played host to the British prime minister, Gordon Brown, in Kabul two days ago, will have been delighted to hear the Prime Minister confirm the long-standing Afghan belief that (…) -
29 April 2009, by
The Crisis and Socialism: What is to be Done?
In their essay “Reimagining Socialism,” Barbara Ehrenreich and Bill Fletcher point to the need for solidarity and organization if we are to respond to the current crisis and undertake what they (…) -
28 April 2009, by
Unions and the crisis – Ways forward
The political and economic setting facing the union movement today is the most difficult since the Great Depression. Unions have already confronted two decades of unrelenting assault from (…) -
27 April 2009, by
ISRAEL WON THE BATTLE, ANTI-RACISM LOST
Representing the Alternative Information Center at the Durban Review Conference on Racism of the UN hold in Geneva on April 20-24, I was the only Israeli-Jew participating at this important (…) -
26 April 2009, by
The international debate and the alter-globalist movement’s approach
The London G20 summit was as disappointing as expected. Several declarations were of course of interest insofar as they seem opposite to the policy principles of past years. Let us take note of (…) -
26 April 2009, by
"Deeds, Not Words" Will Determine Future of U.S.-Latin American Relations
What is the opposite of "damage control?" Repair control? Obama’s Latin America advisor and director for the Summit of the Americas Jeffrey Davidow did his best to undermine the president’s (…) -
25 April 2009, by
Netanyahu’s Diplomacy
As the new Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, prepares his visit to the White House next month, his government’s diplomatic perspectives begin to be revealed. The government as well as (…) -
25 April 2009, by
The Reawakened Specter of Civil War
April has already been a cruel month in Iraq. A spate of bombings aimed at Shi‘i civilians in Baghdad has raised fears that the grim sectarian logic that led the capital to civil war in 2005-2007 (…) -
23 April 2009, by
Conflicting strategies
The acceptance of Sharia in a region of Pakistan adjoining Afghanistan is likely to usher a new division in Pakistan society. This article analyzes its implications and will be included in the (…) -
21 April 2009, by
Iraqi dead join us optimists to extol success of surge
Instead of focusing attention on the devastation caused by an unjust, imperial war, the US media deliberate on the success of ’surge’ and cheer for the troops. A man at a horse show danced (…) -
21 April 2009, by
Drone wars
A new report on the sources of violent death in Iraq is relevant to an assessment of the changing nature of the air-war over Pakistan. -
20 April 2009, by
Non violence
When one speaks of or advocates non-violence, does he promote such an idea because he believes that historically it has been a more effective means of liberation, or is it purely because he thinks (…) -
20 April 2009, by
What Can Obama Do in Latin America?
What if Barack Obama had picked the Nation’s Katrina vanden Heuvel or Democracy Now! anchor Amy Goodman to advise him at the upcoming Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago this week? (…) -
20 April 2009, by
A Lexicon of Disappointment
All is not well in Obamafanland. It’s not clear exactly what accounts for the change of mood. Maybe it was the rancid smell emanating from Treasury’s latest bank bailout. Or the news that the (…) -
20 April 2009, by
As UN Blocks Palestine-Related Side Events at Durban Review Conference: Palestinian Civil Society Launches “Israel Review Conference” in Geneva on the Eve of Durban Review
Representing over 170 Palestinian civil society organizations, the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC) launches its Israel Review Conference under the title: (…) -
20 April 2009
World Stands By As Gazans Sift Through Rubble Three Months after Ceasefire, Warn Aid Agencies
Gaza rubble following Israeli bombardment, January 2009.Jerusalem—A coalition of international aid agencies today warned that tens of thousands of Gazans are still homeless and without basic (…) -
20 April 2009
THE ECONOMIC MODEL THAT IS IN CRISIS NEED URGENT CHANGE
As representatives from a wide diversity of trade union, farmer, indigenous, women’s, youth, consumer advocacy, human rights, environmental and, in general, social and civil organizations that are (…) -
19 April 2009, by
Clash of Civilizations, Europe and the Israeli Colonial War on Gaza
Israeli artillery flares illuminate a neighbourhood in the Palestinian town of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on January 10, 2009 as seen from the Israeli side of the border with Gaza. The (…) -
18 April 2009, by
In Fragments
"[W]hat lengths men will go in order to carry out, to their extreme limit, the rites of a collective self-worship which fills them with a sense of righteousness and complacent satisfaction in the (…) -
18 April 2009
Shifting Politics
Siddharth Varadarajan is the associate editor of "The Hindu," India’s leading English-language newspaper. In an interview with RFE/RL correspondent Abubakar Siddique, Varadarajan weighs in on (…) -
17 April 2009, by
Electoral Exclusion
The Obama administration and the international community have largely remained silent the past two weeks concerning a decision by Haiti’s election council to move forward with controversial Senate (…) -
16 April 2009, by
The irrelevance of terror
US dissident Noam Chomsky’s assertion that the 2003 invasion of Iraq was "undertaken with the general recognition that it might well lead to proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and (…) -
16 April 2009, by
The elections and the uncertain future
An epic month-long election takes place against a background of both regional and global tests to India’s polity, says Sumantra Bose. -
15 April 2009, by
Solving Palestine While Israel Destroys It
To a greater degree than perhaps ever before, Washington today is engulfed in denial about Israel and its stupefying behavior, about its murderous policies toward the Palestinians, about the (…) -
14 April 2009, by
India Should Immediately Resume Composite Dialogue with Terror-Struck Pakistan
March 27 was another fateful day for our western neighbour. As the US president was unveiling his new strategy to “disrupt, dismantle and defeat al Qaeda” and its allies in Pakistan, Pakistanis (…) -
13 April 2009, by
Iraqi Militia Fear Reprisals After US Exit
The Sunni Arabs lost their dominant position in Iraq when Saddam Hussein was overthrown, but they began to regain their strength when the United States recruited them as foot soldiers to fight (…) -
10 April 2009, by
Master Plan for Transfer
No one doubts that Avigdor Lieberman is a thug. His ultimata (“Those who think that through concessions they will gain respect and peace are wrong,” etc, New York Times Thursday, April 2, 2009) (…) -
9 April 2009, by
The Af-Pak Paradox
There is a new acronym in the lexicon of Obama administration national security moguls. "AfPak" stands for Afghanistan and Pakistan. The term denotes the administration’s desire to take a unified (…) -
8 April 2009, by
Immunity for mobs in the ‘war on terror’
Within weeks of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, a new anti-terror law was hurriedly passed. But seven years after Gujarat, the promised law to deal with communal violence is nowhere in sight... -
8 April 2009, by
Day of rage
It was billed as a "day of rage", 24 hours of co-ordinated protests across the country in which Egypt’s 80 million citizens would send a powerful message of defiance to their unloved government. (…) -
7 April 2009, by
The G20, Empire, and Anti-Capitalist Demands
Sasha Lilley: This past Wednesday, before the start of the G20 Summit in London, France and Germany asked for more regulation as a response to the unraveling of the financial system, while the US (…) -
5 April 2009, by
The South Africa Moment
Justin Podur (JP): Perhaps we should start with an outline of the call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS), and the demands of the call. Omar Barghouti (OB): The BDS call is based on (…) -
4 April 2009, by
Too big to save: the end of financial capitalism
The financial logic of neo-liberal capitalism has devoured the world and exhausted itself in the process. A new model beyond "financialisation" is needed, says Saskia Sassen. -
4 April 2009, by
Wrong on Afghanistan!
Sometimes I feel like I am reliving the era of President Lyndon B. Johnson. The era of ’guns and butter,’ as they called it. At the same time that Johnson was launching his ’War on Poverty’ he was (…) -
2 April 2009, by
U-20: Will the Global Economy Resurface?
The Group of 20 (G20) is making a big show of getting together to come to grips with the global economic crisis. But here’s the problem with the upcoming summit in London on April 2: It’s all (…) -
2 April 2009, by
Beyond Here Lies Nothing
"Their goal is to save what they care about in ways that they know." Tom Englehardt "Beyond here lies nothing: Nothing done and nothing said." Bob Dylan The political class has failed us. (…) -
1 April 2009, by
The Hazy Path Forward
(Sarah Washburne is a doctoral student at the University of Exeter. She contributed this article from Khartoum.) For another view on the ICC decision, see Khalid Mustafa Medani, “Wanted: Omar (…) -
1 April 2009, by
The World crisis, capital and labour: the 1930s and today
Almost nowhere are the labour movement and the left prepared to respond to the world economic crisis even as the latter deepens. Today’s economic crisis and labour’s response cannot be a replay of (…) -
31 March 2009, by
Political Islam and Historical Materialism — An Exchange
In December 2007, the Monthly Review published an article of Samir Amin on political Islam. In March 2009, it published a critique by Tariq Amin-Khan and Samir Amin’s answer. Comments on Tariq (…) -
30 March 2009, by
Israel’s Ethnic Cleansing Policy and Land Day: Palestinian Uprising and Resistance
On March 30, 1976, six young Palestinians were killed and dozens injured in mass demonstrations that took place in many towns and villages. Twenty-eight years before, Palestinians lost 78% of (…) -
30 March 2009, by
Beware of human rights fundamentalism
Andrew HeavensIn response to the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, Mahmood Mamdani argues that those enforcing rights also need to be held (…) -
24 March 2009, by
A path through danger
The heart of Pakistan’s crisis is arbitrary power. The solution is a democratic system founded on the rule of law, says Asma Jahangir. Pakistan has in the last two years been living through (…) -
24 March 2009, by
Obama and Cuba: Real Change or Minor Tweaks?
Is it too early to consider President Barrack Obama the eleventh president to not get it? Is it too early to pronounce his Cuba policy a failure? Some think so because of the timid reforms he (…) -
23 March 2009, by
The Rules of Engagement in Gaza
"Rules of Engagement: Open fire also upon rescue," was handwritten in Hebrew on a sheet of paper found in one of the Palestinian homes the Israel Defense Forces took over during Operation Cast (…) -
23 March 2009
Right to water
The EU’s international water policies will face a double challenge from civil society campaigners and Southern governments when the World Water Forum starts in Istanbul next week (March 16-22) (…) -
20 March 2009, by
The Moment of Truth
In view of a world consensus on a two-state solution for the Arab-Israeli conflict, most political analysts and commentators have concluded that the Israeli Prime Minister-designate, Benjamin (…) -
17 March 2009, by
Israel Guilty of War Crimes; Palestinians are Winning the Legitimacy War
Professor Richard Falk is the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories Professor Richard Falk is the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human (…) -
16 March 2009, by
Towards Theocracy?
FOR 20 years or more, a few of us in Pakistan have been desperately sending out SOS messages, warning of terrible times to come. Nevertheless, none anticipated how quickly and accurately our dire (…) -
16 March 2009, by
“The Entire World is Against Us. No Matter, We Will Overcome”
In the wake of the latest Israeli national elections, Likud head Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel Beitaynu head, Avigdor Lieberman are in the midst of creating a far Right coalition. A month ago, (…) -
16 March 2009, by
The Crisis and the Consolidation of Class Power
Does this crisis signal the end of neo-liberalism? My answer is that it depends what you mean by neo-liberalism. My interpretation is that it’s a class project, masked by a lot of neo-liberal (…) -
13 March 2009, by
Gaza 2009: De-Osloizing the Palestinian Mind
Not only have the whites been guilty of being on the offensive, but by some skilful manoeuvres, they have managed to control the responses of the blacks to the provocation. Not only have they (…) -
13 March 2009, by
Colombia’s magic laptops and the war against social movements
One of Colombia’s major magazines, Cambio, published a story quoting from the magic laptops that survived bombing in the Ecuadorian jungle and were retrieved after the Colombian government (…) -
11 March 2009, by
Wanted: Omar al-Bashir—and Peace
For the first time, the international community has indicted a sitting president of a sovereign state. Omar al-Bashir of Sudan stands accused by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague (…) -
10 March 2009, by
Elections 2009: Hope and Change?
Likud leader, Benyamin Netanyahu is now in the process of trying to put together a working government, following Israeli national elections. Michael Warschawski’s speech at the AIC’s weekly café (…) -
9 March 2009, by
Who is Gulbuddin Hekmatyar?
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar—a brutal, capricious, and violently anti-American warlord—may be the West’s best hope for its faltering adventure against the Taliban in Afghanistan. -
9 March 2009, by
Contested Terrain: Obama’s Iraq Withdrawal Plan and the Peace Movement
The meaning of President Obama’s Iraq withdrawal speech, and its influence on real U.S. policy in Iraq, will not be determined solely by his actual words. The import of the speech - and whether (…) -
8 March 2009, by
Feminist Organizing against the Gaza Conflict
Throughout the seemingly intractable Israel-Palestine conflict, civil society has been active in responding to crises and advocating for peace and justice. Kathambi Kinoti of the Association for (…) -
8 March 2009, by
Dangerous void
Just as the Obama administration tries to get a handle on Pakistan – a critical part of its regional approach to sorting out Afghanistan and defeating the Taliban – the country takes another (…) -
7 March 2009, by
As Time Passes, Israelis Begin to Understand the Offensive on Gaza Was a Failure
During and after Operation Cast Lead, senior Israeli spokespersons highlighted its most apparent achievement: restoring Israel’s power of deterrence. In addition, many of those spokespersons (…) -
6 March 2009, by
U.S. Military Aid to Israel
In these days of economic crisis, budget overruns, earmarks, and multi-billion dollar bailouts, when Americans are being forced to tighten their own belts, one of the most automatic earmarks—a (…) -
6 March 2009, by
The drift into the hands of extremists
The intention of the attack on Sri Lanka’s cricket team was to send a clear message to Washington: Pakistan is ungovernable -
5 March 2009, by
Grumbles as the Country Heads into the Elections
Haret Hreik, South Beirut. In Lebanon rapt attention is focussed on the probable, but not certain, June Parliamentary elections, variously described as “the most important in Lebanon’s (…) -
4 March 2009, by
Can the international community do something?
The aim of these recommendations is to advise world leaders of what needs to be done or changed if the dream of regional peace is to be realized in the near future. It is a plea for understanding, (…) -
4 March 2009, by
Ethnic cleansing
One of the more disturbing developments in the Middle East is a growing consensus among Israelis that it would acceptable to expel—in the words of advocates “transfer”—its Arab citizens to either (…) -
3 March 2009, by
The Crisis Unseen
The medical dictionary defines crisis as "the turning point of a disease for better or worse." Doctors with cool heads understand their procedures may produce recovery or death for their patients. (…) -
2 March 2009, by
Lawfare in Gaza: legislative attack
The emerging landscape of "lawfare" allows military operations to remake international humanitarian law. Israel’s assault on Gaza both exposes the dangers and suggests the need for a response that (…) -
1 March 2009, by
The Palestinian Issue: A Strong and Important Presence at the World Social Forum in Belem, Brazil
One Hundred Twenty thousand representatives of social movement from all over the world gathered in order to dialogue and discuss about the problems and needs of humanity in the 21st Century. The (…) -
1 March 2009, by
A Planet at the Brink
The global economic meltdown has already caused bank failures, bankruptcies, plant closings, and foreclosures and will, in the coming year, leave many tens of millions unemployed across the (…) -
1 March 2009, by
“A Whole New Kind of Struggle is Emerging”
John Bellamy Foster is editor of Monthly Review and professor of sociology at the University of Oregon. He is the coauthor with Fred Magdoff of The Great Financial Crisis: Causes and Consequences, (…)
