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Rainbow of Crisis
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29 November 2008, by Tarik Ali
Operation Enduring Disaster
Afghanistan has been almost continuously at war for 30 years, longer than both World Wars and the American war in Vietnam combined. Each occupation of the country has mimicked its predecessor. A (…) -
29 November 2008, by Mustafa Barghouti
A year after Annapolis
Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi MP, the Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative, held today press conference to mark the first year anniversary of the ‘Annapolis Peace Process’. -
27 November 2008, by BHATTACHARYA Dipankar
On Mumbai Terror Strike
The terror strike last night on Mumbai’s most prominent landmark locations including luxury hotels and the biggest and busiest railway station in the city has already claimed more than 100 lives. (…) -
26 November 2008, by Sam Gindin
The Financial Crisis: Notes on Alternatives
Over the last quarter century, the left in most of the developed world has been marginalized as a social force. The ’culture of possibilities’ for left alternatives has correspondingly narrowed. (…) -
25 November 2008, by Tarik Ali
M I R A G E O F T H E G O O D W A R
Rarely has there been such an enthusiastic display of international unity as that which greeted the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Support for the war was universal in the chanceries of the (…) -
23 November 2008, by Daya Varma, Feroz Mehdi and Vinod Mubayi
The Threat of Fascism
Though not commonly recognized, India is in the midst of a battle between democracy and fascism. The process started with Advani’s Rath Yatra leading to the demolition of Babri Masjid followed by (…) -
23 November 2008, by Samir Amin
Financial collapse, systemic crisis ?
The financial crisis could not be avoided The violent explosion of this crisis did not surprise us; I mentionned it a few months ago while the conventional economists were ignoring its coming (…) -
21 November 2008, by Richard Tanter
The Coming Catastrophe
By virtually every measure, the war in Afghanistan is getting much worse for both the western coalition and for the Afghan civilian population. The strategic benefits are minimal to non-existent, (…) -
20 November 2008, by Gérard Prunier
Dynamics of conflict
An eruption of war and displacement in east-central Africa is rooted in the complex recent politics of an unsettled region, explains Gérard Prunier -
19 November 2008, by FRANKLIN LAMB
Who Will Evict Israel from Lebanon?
"We, as Lebanese, are here to confirm that we cling to freeing every grain of our soil. We will not abandon the great national cause, which is the continuation of the liberation of our land. The (…) -
18 November 2008, by Aijaz Ahmad
Obama Presidency And Some Question Marks
That the toxic years of the Bush administration are about to end is a great relief. And, we need not dwell on the obvious historical importance of an African-American getting elected President of (…) -
16 November 2008, by Dan LA BOTZ
World’s Labor Federations React to Financial Crisis with Proposals from Re-regulation to Socialism
Labor unions around the world have reacted to the financial crisis and the economic recession with words and actions reflecting their national experience, their political ideology, and their (…) -
16 November 2008, by Naomi Klein
In Praise of a Rocky Transition
The more details emerge, the clearer it becomes that Washington’s handling of the Wall Street bailout is not merely incompetent. It is borderline criminal. -
14 November 2008, by Gareth Porter
Obama Pressured to Back Off Iraq Withdrawal
WASHINGTON, Nov 12 (IPS) - The promotion of Robert M. Gates as President-elect Barack Obama’s secretary of defence appears to be the key element in a broad campaign by military officials and their (…) -
12 November 2008, by Michael T. Klare
Obama’s Toughest Challenge
Of all the challenges facing President Barack Obama next January, none is likely to prove as daunting, or important to the future of this nation, as that of energy. After all, energy policy — so (…) -
11 November 2008, by JEFF HALPER
The Fates of Americans and Palestinians are Deeply Intertwined
Even before the voting began, Israeli politicians and pundits were asking: Will an Obama Administration be good for Israel? “Be good for Israel” is our code for “Will the US allow us to keep our (…) -
11 November 2008, by Walden BELLO
How to Spend the Honeymoon – The first 100 days of Obama’s presidency
It came together spontaneously, the rally at Lafayette Park across from the White House, even before the concession speech by John McCain. The crowd was multiracial, but the vast majority was (…) -
11 November 2008
The time has come: Let’s shut down the financial casino
“Disarm the markets!” When Attac was founded in 1998, this slogan was formulated against the background of the financial crash in East Asia. In the meantime, we have witnessed other crises (…) -
9 November 2008, by Tarik Ali
Great Expectations
Barack Obama’s victory marks a decisive generational and sociological shift in American politics. Its impact is difficult to predict at this stage, but the expectations of the majority of young (…) -
9 November 2008, by Dan LA BOTZ
Election of Barack Obama: The People’s Victory? Or the Elite’s
Barack Obama has won. What happens when what appears to be the peoples’ victory is also the victory of the economic elite? Where is that convergence of interests located? And how long can such a (…) -
7 November 2008, by Firoze Manji
Balkanisation and crisis in eastern Congo
August saw a fresh outbreak of conflict in the DRC. Since then, approximately 250,000 have been displaced in the eastern part of the country. Following a brief cease-fire declared by the forces (…) -
7 November 2008, by Bill Fletcher Jr
Obama: History, challenges and possibilities
With Barack Obama safely elected to his country’s highest seat of power, Bill Fletcher Jr. discusses the sense of fear and anticipation to have gripped him as the votes came in. As the wave of (…) -
7 November 2008, by Mike Davis
Realignment and continuity
“FORTY YEARS ago this week, the Democratic Party (the party of Jim Crow and the Cold War, as well as the New Deal) shipwrecked itself on the shoals of an unpopular war in Vietnam and a white (…) -
6 November 2008, by PETER MORICI
Obama’s First Moves on the Economy
President-elect Obama cannot indulge in a measured transition. He is compelled by events to act decisively, through quick selection of a Treasury Secretary who can work with incumbent Henry (…) -
6 November 2008, by Solidarity
Barack Obama’s Dual Mandate
MILLIONS OF AMERICANS see the election of Barack Obama as a referendum on white supremacy and we join in that celebration. The racist campaigns launched against Obama, conducted sometimes in coded (…) -
6 November 2008, by Michel Husson
Toxic capitalism
The eradication of finance The crisis that we are witnessing today is shaking the very foundations of neo-liberal capitalism. It is unfolding at an accelerating speed, and nobody is capable of (…) -
5 November 2008, by CONN HALLINAN
A New Foreign Policy?
Over the next four years the U.S. will confront several key foreign policy decisions. While the President and the executive branch—in particular the Departments of State and Defense—will play an (…) -
5 November 2008, by Siddharth Varadarajan
Waiting for Obama
Why is it that when the American people and pretty much the entire world want Barack Obama to be elected President of the United States, India’s strategic and business elites seem to be rooting (…) -
5 November 2008, by William Greider
The Triumph of Martin Luther King
We are inheritors of this momentous victory, but it was not ours. The laurels properly belong to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and all of the other martyrs who died for civil rights. And to (…) -
5 November 2008, by Michael Albert
An imaginary Obama
Imagine that Barack Obama has been President of the U.S. for two full years. Finally, imagine also that the following interview with Obama takes place on prime time TV, as a way of situating what (…) -
3 November 2008, by Anna-Esther Younis
"Things Only Got Worse"
Amira Hass is an Israeli author and journalist. The following interview with Amira Hass was conducted in May, 2008 during the first "Israeli-Palestinian Film Festival” in Berlin. Amira is an (…) -
1 November 2008, by Luíz Araújo
Weeping for Angola and Angolans
The government of José Eduardo dos Santos recently authorised the demolition of the Kinaxixe market. This architectural landmark in the centre of Luanda was an icon of Angolan urbanisation. Thus (…) -
1 November 2008, by Naomi Klein
The Bush gang’s parting gift: a final, frantic looting of public wealth
The US bail-out amounts to a strings-free, public-funded windfall for big business. Welcome to no-risk capitalism. -
31 October 2008, by Deepak Tripathi
After Bush
As America enters the final week of the 2008 election campaign, there is something new and historic in prospect and a number of future scenarios come to mind. What actually happens will not only (…) -
31 October 2008, by Siddharth Varadarajan
The Election See from India
Why is it that when the American people and pretty much the entire world want Barack Obama to be elected President of the United States, India’s strategic and business elites seem to be rooting (…) -
30 October 2008, by Anita Sharma
The core crisis: standing with the poor
The importance of the project to end global poverty is accentuated not diminished by the world’s financial troubles, says Anita Sharma. -
29 October 2008, by Kul Prasad KC ‘Sonam’
Reform or Revolution
Nepal is still in a semi-colonial and semi-feudal state. No drastic change has occurred; there can be no change in contradiction in the political situation until there is a fundamental change in (…) -
29 October 2008, by Ute HAUSMANN
The global response to the food crisis – a civil society perspective
The seventh Asia-Europe People’s Forum (AEPF) met in Beijing, China, on October 13-15, 2008. This contribution was given to Workshop 2 (“Food sovereignty and security – experiences and responses”) (…) -
29 October 2008, by ARNO J. MAYER
Two Parties, One Imperial Mission
The United States may emerge from the Iraq fiasco almost unscathed. Though momentarily disconcerted, the American empire will continue on its way, under bipartisan direction and mega-corporate (…) -
28 October 2008, by Vinod Mubayi and Daya Varma
The Nuclear « Deal »
INSAF Bulletin has editorially supported the deal since it was proposed based on a basic, rational, technical judgment; for a number of reasons, many of them having to do with climate change and (…) -
27 October 2008, by Michael Schwartz
The destruction of a country
As the Smoke Clears in Iraq: Even before the spectacular presidential election campaign became a national obsession, and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression crowded out other (…) -
22 October 2008, by Elmar ALTVATER
Post-neoliberalism or post-capitalism ?
The rise of Neoliberalism since the 1970s was, first and foremost, a consequence of the deep, even « revolutionary » changes in the world economy. The « revolution » , however, was a « passive (…) -
22 October 2008
An historic opportunity for transformation
An initial response from individuals, social movements and non-governmental organisations in support of a transitional programme for radical economic transformation Beijing, 15 October 2008 -
21 October 2008, by Ahmad Jaradat and Lubna Masarwa
The Role of Palestinian Intellectuals
Al-Quds Open University in the Hebron District. The university, together with the AIC, held a workshop on the roles of Palestinian intellectuals in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. (…) -
21 October 2008, by Roger Southall
The death of “quiet diplomacy”
The resignation of Thabo Mbeki as South Africa’s president is linked to the failure of Zimbabwe’s power-sharing agreement. The result is to restore the political initiative to Robert Mugabe’s (…) -
20 October 2008, by Amy Goodman
Taliban takeover looks "irreversible"
Amy Goodman: The United Nations envoy to Afghanistan, Kai Eide, warned the Security Council on Tuesday that violence in Afghanistan is the highest it’s been in six years. He also noted positive (…) -
19 October 2008
Responses from the South to the World Economic Crisis
The International Conference on Political Economy: Responses from the South to the World Economic Crisis took place in Caracas, Venezuela from October 8-11, 2008, and was attended by academics and (…) -
19 October 2008, by Phyllis Bennis
Economic Power & Mlitary
The current economic crisis holds enormous dangers, even beyond its direct threat to jobs, homes, savings, and the well-being of millions of ordinary people in the U.S. The challenge will be, as (…) -
17 October 2008, by Mike Davis
Can Obama See the Grand Canyon?
Let me begin, very obliquely, with the Grand Canyon and the paradox of trying to see beyond cultural or historical precedent. The first European to look into the depths of the great gorge was (…) -
16 October 2008, by Gérard Prunier
Omar al-Bashir: a useful war criminal
The controversy over the International Criminal Court’s possible indictment of Sudan’s president centres on a judgment of the character of his regime, says Gérard Prunier -
16 October 2008, by CND
To say No to Indo-US Nuclear Deals
Recently, while New Delhi was experiencing serial bombings Prime Minister and Defence Minister of India were in Washington and Paris signing the Nuclear deals that ended Indian « isolation and (…) -
14 October 2008, by Michel Warshavski
Surprise: Consequences of Israel’s Arrogant Policies
The Yom Kippur supplements of the Israeli newspapers were dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the October War, one of the worst defeats of the Israeli military since the establishment of the (…) -
13 October 2008, by Simone Bruno
The Financial Crisis of 2008
I would like to talk about the current crisis. How is it that so many people could see it coming, but the people in charge of governments and economies didn’t, or didn’t prepare? The basis for (…) -
12 October 2008, by Sergio Yahni
After the Pacification: New Israeli Strategies of Control
As part of the Israeli newspapers’ extended coverage in run up to the Jewish high holidays, Brigadier General Gadi Shamni, currently head of the Israeli military’s central command, gave an (…) -
12 October 2008, by SYED SALEEM SHAHZAD
Why the Neo-Taliban is Winning
Pakistan’s crackdown on organizations operating in Indian-administered Kashmir in 2003 provoked an exodus from the militant camps in Pakistani-administered Kashmir. These fighters gradually (…) -
10 October 2008, by Walden BELLO
Afterthoughts on the meltdown
NEW YORK — Flying into New York Tuesday, I had the same feeling I had when I arrived in Beirut two years ago, at the height of the Israeli bombing of that city — that of entering a war zone. The (…) -
9 October 2008, by Nassar Ibrahim
Women Between the Dynamics of Oppression and Resistance
The 1948 great Palestinian catastrophe (Nakba) and the catastrophes that followed, represent dramatic disconnects between the Palestinian political, social, and cultural structures. However, due (…) -
7 October 2008, by Michel Husson
A Systemic Crisis, Both Global and Long-Lasting
1. How do you assess the changes in the financial system over the last 25 years? How should we assess the current crisis in the light of those changes of the financial system, and how should we (…) -
7 October 2008, by Frédéric Lordon
Saving Wall Street From Itself
The $700bn rescue package proposed over-quickly by the US Treasury and Federal Reserve was initially rejected by one tier of US government. After horse-traded amendments, it was finally accepted (…) -
6 October 2008, by Amira Hass
Divided We Fall
Two locations, two rival political powers. Solidarity against Israel is gradually disintegrating as both regimes, and many individuals living under them, begin to see the future only in terms of (…) -
6 October 2008, by Janata BHAI
Rebel Leader Becomes Prime Minister
On August 16, 2008, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, alias Prachanda, was elected Prime Minister of Nepal by a thumping majority vote of the Constituent Assembly. On May 28, this Assembly, freshly elected in (…) -
6 October 2008, by PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
Futile Bailout
America has become a pretty discouraging place. Americans, for the most part, will never know what happened to them, because they no longer have a free and responsible press. They have Big (…) -
5 October 2008, by Savera Kalideen and Haidar Eid
Learning from South Africa
The strategic value of international solidarity with the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, refugees in the Diaspora and Palestinians in Israel raises some fundamental questions. (…) -
4 October 2008, by John Bellamy Foster, Hannah Holleman, and Robert W. McChesney
Imperial Triangle and Military Spending
The United States is unique today among major states in the degree of its reliance on military spending, and its determination to stand astride the world, militarily as well as economically. No (…) -
4 October 2008, by Carl Bloice
Capitalism Reaches a Crossroads
’Even now, someone somewhere is penning a book with a snappy title The End of Capitalism,’ columnist Philip Stephens, associate editor of the Financial Times wrote recently. Not to worry, he (…) -
3 October 2008, by Ilan Halevi
What Didn’t We Try?
In the meeting of the second Palestinian National Council in 1965, the Fatah representative explained why the movement decided to begin an armed struggle against Israel: “The Palestinian (…) -
2 October 2008, by Adolfo Gilly
Racism, Domination and Revolution
“The problem in Bolivia is that the country is undergoing a process of reforms, without abandoning the democratic framework, but both the opposition and the government act as if they were facing a (…) -
2 October 2008, by James Suggett - Venezuelanalysis.com
Venezuela and South American Allies Advance Integration
The presidents of Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Brazil met in Manaus, Brazil, on Tuesday to advance the economic and political integration of the South American continent. They discussed plans (…) -
1 October 2008, by Guy Hedgecoe
The hyper-political wave
A decisive win in the constitutional referendum maintains Rafael Correa’s political momentum. But the differences as well as the parallels between Ecuador and its radical-led neighbours are (…) -
1 October 2008, by DEEPAK TRIPATHI
The Bitter Harvest
The audacity of recent attacks by the Taleban and their Al-Qaeda allies in Pakistan and Afghanistan has caused alarm in the region and beyond. The bombings of the Indian embassy in Kabul in June (…) -
1 October 2008, by Leo Panitch and Sam Gindin
A Socialist Perspective
’They say they won’t intervene. But they will.’ This is how Robert Rubin, Bill Clinton’s Treasury Secretary, responded to Paul O’Neill, the first Treasury Secretary under George W. Bush, who (…) -
1 October 2008, by Walden BELLO
Why the Meltdown?
Many on Wall Street and the rest of us are still digesting the momentous events of the last 10 days. Between one and three trillion dollars worth of financial assets have evaporated. Wall Street (…) -
30 September 2008, by Walden Bello
The Wall Street Meltdown
For many, the Wall Street crisis is a replay, though on a much larger scale, of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, which brought down the red- hot "tiger economies" of the East. The shocking (…) -
30 September 2008, by JEFF GIBBS
"Just Say No!" to the Robin Hood-in-Reverse Bailout
"I’m disappointed and disgusted with my own Republican Party as I watch them attempt to strong-arm a bailout of some of America’s biggest corporations by asking taxpayers to suck up the staggering (…) -
29 September 2008, by Dan La Botz
The Financial Crisis: Will The U.S. Nationalize The Banks?
The political conflict over the Bush administration’s plan for a bailout of the banks, brought about both by differences with the Democrats and even more intensely with rightwing Republicans, (…) -
29 September 2008, by Sergio Yahni
The Primary Elections of the Kadima Party and the Bankruptcy of the Israeli Left
In the wake of the resignation of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert over a corruption scandal and following her win in the Kadima Party elections, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is (…) -
29 September 2008, by Catherine SAMARY
From the Caucasus to the Balkans - an unstable world order
Moscow’s decision to bombard Georgia and the way it recognised the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia have “borrowed” from Washington both in the methods employed and in the discourse – (…) -
28 September 2008, by Farooq SULEHRIA
Washington’s war already started
Washington’s next war is already on the go. It is as yet undeclared. However, it is not unapproved. Classified orders’’, according to September 11 New York Times, were passed by President Bush (…) -
27 September 2008, by Ken Silverstein
Washington Babylon
James K. Galbraith teaches economics at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, the University of Texas at Austin, where he directs the University of Texas Inequality Project, an informal (…) -
26 September 2008, by Dipak Sapkota
Ambitious plans for nation building
The first government of the Republic of Nepal is now set to implement its ambitious policies and programs after they are passed by the legislature parliament. The implementation of the policies (…) -
26 September 2008, by Mustafa Barghouthi
Jerusalem is now
One doesn’t need to be an expert in the so-called "peace process" to know that Israel’s aim for the past 40 years has been to deny the Palestinians their rights. Having failed to break the (…) -
26 September 2008, by Ayesha Siddiqa
Country on Fire
The rubble of the Islamabad hotel bombing leaves Pakistan with only one option: to escape from the Washington-Taliban vice that traps it, says Ayesha Siddiqa. -
26 September 2008, by Dan LA BOTZ
The Financial Crisis: A View from the Left
Faced with the failure of the financial sector and the possible collapse of the economic system, Republicans and Democrats are working together feverishly to come up with a plan and find the funds (…) -
26 September 2008, by Sean JACOBS
After Mbeki
Responding publicly to calls from his Communist party and trade union allies to depose Thabo Mbeki, Jacob Zuma – speaking in the wake of the court decision that ruled that he had been the victim (…) -
26 September 2008
Refugees want their Rights
The following letter was presented to President Mahmoud Abbas’s office on behalf of 78 Palestinian organizations on Wednesday September 22, 2008. Note that ALL Palestinian political factions have (…) -
24 September 2008, by Phyllis Bennis
Militarism Rising as Elections Loom
As we prepare for the post-election and post-inauguration periods we know, whoever wins, four more years of protest, mobilization, and political pressure will be required. -
24 September 2008, by Tariq ALI
The Marriott bombing in Islamabad: Casualties of another war
The Marriott bombing is terrible revenge for the Afghan campaign that has gone so badly wrong. -
22 September 2008, by Bill and Kathleen Christison
The Neoconservative Agenda
Stephen J. Sniegoski, The Transparent Cabal: The Neoconservative Agenda, War in the Middle East, and the National Interest of Israel, Enigma Editions, Norfolk, Virginia, 2008 -
22 September 2008, by Alternative Information Center (AIC)
Solidarity
A Palestinian delegation representing 15 grassroots, civil society organizations paid a visit yesterday (21 September) to the Venezuelan Ambassador to Palestine, Jonathan Velasco, to express (…) -
21 September 2008, by Mahmood Mamdani
Darfur, ICC and the new humanitarian order
On July 14, after much advance publicity and fanfare, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court applied for an arrest warrant for the president of Sudan, Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir, on (…) -
21 September 2008, by Benjamin Dangl
Crisis in a New South America
On Monday, September 15, Bolivian President Evo Morales arrived in Santiago, Chile for an emergency meeting of Latin American leaders that convened to seek a resolution to the recent conflict in (…) -
21 September 2008, by Paul Rogers
The new frontline
Washington’s military strategy in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region is expanding its range of enemies. -
19 September 2008, by AMY GOODMAN and TARIK ALI
“The DueL”
We speak with Tariq Ali, whose new book, The Duel: Pakistan on the Flight Path of American Power, takes a new a look at Pakistan and its fraught relationship with the United States. [includes rush (…) -
19 September 2008, by Dale T. McKINLEY
The state, xenophobia and nationalism
While the violent intensity and geographical spread of the recent attacks on immigrants across South Africa certainly surprised most of us, we should not have been surprised that such attacks (…) -
19 September 2008, by Phyllis Bennis
Militarism & Global Tensions Rise Together
This past weekend’s latest economic crisis, in which powerful investment banks and some of the wealthiest stock brokerages faced bankruptcy or dissolution by buy-out, has again made clear the (…) -
18 September 2008, by Daya Varma
THE FIRST IN MANY WAYS
Pushpa Kamal Dahal, long known as Prachanda, becomes the fist Prime Minister of the democratic Republic of Nepal, which used to be the Hindu Kingdom a while ago. Departing from the tradition of (…) -
18 September 2008, by Ravinder Kaur
The urban war: through the smoke
The assimilation of India’s urban terror attacks into a global narrative of Islamist violence carries the danger that their domestic social and historical roots will be missed, says Ravinder Kaur. (…) -
18 September 2008, by Badri Raina
Fighting Terror the Terrorist Way
I Who doesn’t know how the Capitalist social order has worked from day one?— By first causing monumental social upheavals in the pursuit of profit maximization, then recommending quick-fixes (…) -
15 September 2008, by Michel Warshavski
On the Struggle, Gimmicks and "Solutions"
Prognosticating over a One-State or Two-State Solution....we must not help to distract from the reality of the current political struggle, and escape to discussions that have no relevance to this (…) -
15 September 2008, by Richard Falk
Assessing the Crisis
The confrontation over South Ossetia represents a collision of US and Russian geopolitical logics which poses great dangers for regional and world peace, as well as to the wellbeing of the peoples (…)