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Rainbow of Crisis
Articles in this section
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8 April 2009, by Jack Shenker
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 Sasha Lilley and Leo Panitch
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 (...) -
5 April 2009, by Omar Barghouti
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 Saskia Sassen
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 Bill Fletcher Jr.
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 (...) -
2 April 2009, by Walden Bello
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 CHRIS FLOYD
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 Sarah Washburne
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 Dan LA BOTZ
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 (...) -
31 March 2009, by AMIN Samir and AMIN-KHAN Tariq
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 (...) -
30 March 2009, by Ahmad Jarada
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 Mahmood Mamdani
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 (...) -
24 March 2009, by Asma Jahangir
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 ROBERT SANDELS
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 AMIRA HASS
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 Nicola Nassar
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 Corey Balsam
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 Pervez Hoodbhoy
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 (...) -
16 March 2009, by Michael Warschawski
“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 DAVID HARVEY
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 Haidar Eid
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 Justin Podur Blogs
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 Khalid Mustafa Medani
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 (...) -
10 March 2009, by Michel Warshawski
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 PETER LEE
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 Phyllis Bennis
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 Eilat Maoz
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 (...) -
8 March 2009, by Ahmed Rashid
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 Sergio Yahni
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 KATHLEEN and BILL CHRISTISON
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 Tariq ALI
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 FRANKLIN LAMB
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 Abu Yussef
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 (...) -
4 March 2009, by CONN HALLINAN
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 (...) -
3 March 2009, by Saul Landau
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 (...) -
2 March 2009, by Eyal Weizman
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 (...) -
1 March 2009, by Ahmad Jaradat
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 Michael T. Klare
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 Mike Whitney
“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 (...) -
28 February 2009, by Michael Warschawski
Why Must Meretz & Peace Now Also be Criticized?
Peace Now and Meretz both supported the Israeli military attack on the Gaza Strip. Several readers of the Alternative Information Center’s website have asked why, during the Israeli massacre in (...) -
27 February 2009, by Paul Rogers
A misread war
The war in Afghanistan is reaching a pivotal moment. A range of diplomats, politicians and military strategists from dozens of countries is now paying the conflict the intense and concentrated (...) -
27 February 2009, by JONATHAN COOK
Military Mephistopheles
It is not entirely surprising that Amos Gilad, an Israeli general who once sued his own government for “irreversible mental damage” caused by his role in the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, has (...) -
26 February 2009, by CHRIS SANDS
Chaos Central
As the summer of 2005 began its slow fade into autumn, a piece of newspaper wrapped around a kebab said Osama bin Laden had moved to Iraq. It seemed everyone had forgotten there was a war on (...) -
25 February 2009, by CHRIS FLOYD
Obama’s Non-Withdrawal Withdrawal Plan
It would be superfluous in us to point out that a plan to "end" a war which includes the continued garrisoning of up to 50,000 troops in a hostile land is, in reality, a continuation of that (...) -
24 February 2009, by Amy Goodman
Behind the news: The great crime
The very existence of Israel is based on a refusal to treat the Palestinians on fair or equal terms, writes Arthur Goodman Israel is obviously willing to kill and wound thousands of people, (...) -
24 February 2009, by Mouin Rabbani
Out of the Rubble?
Speaking to his people on January 18, hours after Hamas responded to Israel’s unilateral suspension of hostilities with a conditional ceasefire of its own, the deposed Palestinian Authority (...) -
24 February 2009, by Stephen Kristoff
Questions on media coverage
Reporting independently from the front lines of war is an increasingly rare engagement for journalists working for major international media outlets. From Iraq to Afghanistan, reporters are (...) -
23 February 2009, by PATRICK COCKBURN
The new war
A new war is threatening Iraq just as the world believes the country is returning to peace. While violence is dropping in Baghdad and in the south of the country, Arabs and Kurds in the north (...) -
23 February 2009, by Ines Gramigna
Avigdor Lieberman or “Ivet the Terrible”
Avigdor Lieberman is head of the rightwing Israel Beytenu Party, who calls, among other things, for an "oath of loyalty" law and for the transfer of Palestinian citizens of Israel to the (...) -
23 February 2009, by The Guardian
The real story is in the West Bank
It is quite likely that you have not heard of the most important developments this week in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In the West Bank, while it has been "occupation as normal", there (...) -
22 February 2009, by I. A. Rehman
Shariah Zone: One Solution for Pakistan?
The civil war underway in the tribal areas and a large part of the Frontier province, including Swat, presents the biggest challenge Pakistan has ever faced. At stake is not only the integrity (...) -
22 February 2009, by Ramzy Baroud
A New Nightmare
When US envoy to Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke met with Afghanistan’s ‘democratically’ installed President Hamid Karzai in Kabul on February 14, he may have just learned of the historic (...) -
21 February 2009, by Leo PANITCH
The Financial Crisis and American Power
Workers’ Liberty. What is your assessment of the relationship between this serious financial crisis emerging foremost in the U.S. and American power and economic decline? I don’t think that (...) -
20 February 2009, by Michel WARSCHAWSKI
Nine Remarks on the Israeli Elections
A polling station in Jerusalem during the most recent national elections in Israel. 1. Less than a month after the Gaza massacre, Israeli democracy worked as if nothing had happened; Right (...) -
20 February 2009, by Paul Rogers
The "AfPak" war: Washington’s three options
The United States’s strategic predicament in Afghanistan and Pakistan is deepening. What will Barack Obama do? -
19 February 2009, by Amal Ghazal
Complicity with Israel
One of the major achievements of the Israeli revisionist historians has been to break down Israeli myths surrounding the establishment of the State of Israel. A key myth has been the claim that (...) -
19 February 2009, by M. SHAHID ALAM
Into the Chasm
As the United States prepares to escalate its eight-year war against the Taliban, it might be useful to weigh its chances of success. Consider, first, the fate of three previous invasions of (...) -
18 February 2009, by MICHAEL HUDSON
Finance Capitalism Hits a Wall
The financial “wealth creation” game is over. Economies emerged from World War II relatively free of debt, but the 60-year global run-up has run its course. Finance capitalism is in a state of (...) -
17 February 2009, by John Bellamy Foster and Robert W. McChesney
A New New Deal under Obama?
With U.S. capitalism mired in an economic crisis of a severity that increasingly brings to mind the Great Depression of the 1930s, it should come as no surprise that there are widespread calls (...) -
17 February 2009, by Phyllis Bennis
RISE OF THE RIGHT
In its recent elections Israel has witnessed the rise of the right, the extreme right, and the fascist right. -
17 February 2009, by PATRICK COCKBURN
The Greatest Fraud in US History?
In what could turn out to be the greatest fraud in US history, American authorities have started to investigate the alleged role of senior military officers in the misuse of $125bn (£88bn) in a (...) -
17 February 2009, by Pierre BEAUDET
The chain broke at the weakest link
Last time we talked, you said that out of this crisis we will see more directive oversight by capitalist states, and we might even see something you called “the social-democratisation of (...) -
16 February 2009, by Derrick O’Keefe
Obama: Imperialism with a Human Face
With President Obama set to visit Ottawa this Thursday, Feb. 19, renowned writer and anti-war campaigner Tariq Ali shares his thoughts on the new administration’s foreign policy. In his recently (...) -
15 February 2009, by Sergio Yahni
Irish Trade Unions Launch Boycott
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) launched a report on Israel and Palestine compiled by senior members who visited the troubled region. Trade unionists are to launch a boycott of Israeli (...) -
15 February 2009, by BRIAN M. DOWNING
On the Brink
Pakistan might collapse. It faces regional insurgencies, political failures, rising Islamism (in the public and army alike), and reprisals from India over the Mumbai attacks of last November. (...) -
12 February 2009, by John PILGER
Obama – The politics of bollocks
Supporters of the new US president refuse to admit that the “man of change” is, in fact, changing very little. It’s time the Obama lovers grew up. Growing up in an Antipodean society proud of (...) -
11 February 2009, by Sergio Yahni
Elections Results
Avigdor Liberman demands that citizenship will depend on loyalty The elections to the 18th Israeli Knesset were called due to multiple corruption cases connected to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. (...) -
11 February 2009, by Walden Bello
The Coming Fury
As goods pile up in wharves from Bangkok to Shanghai, and workers are laid off in record numbers, people in East Asia are beginning to realize they aren’t only experiencing an economic downturn (...) -
11 February 2009, by Joost R Hiltermann
After the Elections
The Iraqi local elections were held on 31 January 2009, with 440 seats being contested in fourteen of the country’s eighteen provinces. The results, most of which were released on 5 February, (...) -
10 February 2009, by Pierre BEAUDET
The endless war: challenge and opportunities
When George W. Bush declared the endless war back in September 2001, the world was taken aback. However, retroactively, it becomes apparent that it did not start on that fatidic date. For years (...) -
10 February 2009
After Gaza
What are the larger implications of the current ceasefire between Gaza and Israel and why do you think it happened right now? The timing of the cease-fire agreement has two reasons. One, a (...) -
9 February 2009, by NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD
Strong Indications of Israeli War Crimes
We are a delegation of 8 American lawyers, members of the National Lawyers Guild in the United States, who have come here to the Gaza Strip to assess the effects of the recent attacks on the (...) -
9 February 2009
Gaza And Its Aftermath
For more than three weeks, starting December 27th, Gaza and its 1.5 million people bore the brunt of a massive Israeli military campaign, supported and abetted by the US government. While Israel (...) -
9 February 2009, by Siddharth Varadarajan
ICC should prosecute Israeli leaders for Gaza
With Palestine accepting the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction, Israel should realise there is a price to pay for committing war crimes -
8 February 2009, by Naomi Klein
Public Revolt Builds Against Rip-off Rescue Plans for the Economy
Watching the crowds in Iceland banging pots and pans until their government fell reminded me of a chant popular in anti-capitalist circles in 2002: "You are Enron. We are Argentina." Its (...) -
8 February 2009, by Tauseef-ur-Rahman
Militarization and Talibanization
Who are Taliban and what is their agenda in the Swat valley? Afrasyab Khattak: The extremist insurgency in Swat is not an isolated phenomenon; it is connected with the militancy that has its (...) -
6 February 2009, by PATRICK COCKBURN
The Iraqi Elections
The Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, who seemed weak and isolated a year ago, appears to have won a sweeping victory in the Iraqi provincial elections that will strengthen his hold on (...) -
4 February 2009, by Mustafa Barghouthi
“…and he stood steadfast before Goliath.”
What is Steadfastness? When I was asked about Palestinian identity, one idea kept coming to mind. I wondered how this idea would translate into English, and I was told that it would be (...) -
3 February 2009, by RANNIE AMIRI
Gaza and the Crimes of Mubarak
As staggering as the statistics detailing Gaza’s destruction may be, they still do not present a complete picture of the unique travesties and tragedies suffered by individuals, families, (...) -
2 February 2009, by Robert P. BRENNER and Seongjin JEONG
On the Current World Crisis
SEONGJIN JEONG Most media and analysts label the current crisis as a ‘financial crisis’. Do you agree with this characterization? ROBERT P. BRENNER It‘s understandable that analysts of the (...) -
1 February 2009
No Change
January 24, 2009 — Press TV: Professor Chomsky, we better start with Pakistan. The White House not commenting on the killings of people [in cross-border drone attacks from Afghanistan into (...) -
31 January 2009, by Abu Yusef
The Myth of Disengagement
‘Gaza is a prison; and Israel seems to have thrown away the key.’ John Dugard, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights In 2004, former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced to the (...) -
31 January 2009, by Mouin Rabbani and Chris Toensing
Palestine: The Continuity of Obama’s Change
President Barack Obama’s campaign pledge that his administration would begin working for peace in the Middle East from its first day in office is one that he almost met. On January 21, a mere 24 (...) -
31 January 2009, by Reidar Visser
A Litmus Test
Former Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari arrived in Basra on January 24. His mission in the southern oil port was to stump for his Reformist Front, a breakaway faction of the Da‘wa Party (...) -
29 January 2009, by NORMAN FINKELSTEIN
Behind the bloodbath
Early speculation on the motive behind Israel’s slaughter in Gaza that began on 27 December 2008 and continued till 18 January 2009 centered on the upcoming elections in Israel. The jockeying (...) -
26 January 2009, by Noam Chomsky
Obama on Israel-Palestine
Barack Obama is recognized to be a person of acute intelligence, a legal scholar, careful with his choice of words. He deserves to be taken seriously - both what he says, and what he omits. (...) -
26 January 2009, by Michel Warshawski
Israeli Attacks: Both Reckless and Failed
One single, solitary thing will be noted to Ehud Barak’s credit: in contrast to many others, he did not dub the bullying rage of the Israeli army in Gaza as a “war”, but made due with the term (...) -
26 January 2009
Why the Gaza disaster is not 3 weeks old and has not stopped along with the bombs
Following the latest Israeli aggression on Gaza that started late December 2008, the eyes of the world have been opened to the reality of the daily lives of the people of Gaza; or the reality (...) -
26 January 2009, by Gabriel KOLKO
Understanding Gaza
How will history describe the Israeli war against the Palestinians in Gaza? Another Holocaust, this time perpetrated by the descendants of the victims? An election ploy by ambitious Israeli (...) -
25 January 2009, by Robert Fisk
Arab peoples will not forget
The front page of the Beirut daily As-Safir said it all yesterday. Across the top was a terrible photograph of the bloated body of a Palestinian man newly discovered in the ruins of his home (...) -
24 January 2009, by Walden Bello
The end of an era
MANILA, Jan (IPS) As the US recession drags Asia down, there has been much speculation about a regional response to the crisis. Seemingly lending substance to this have been a trilateral summit (...) -
23 January 2009
How to confront a genocidal war
Interview with Sergio Yahni, Program Director of the Alternative Information Center (AIC) and member of Alternatives International Governance Board. -
23 January 2009, by Michel Warshawski
Israeli Attacks on Gaza: Both Reckless and Failed
Michael Warschawski One single, solitary thing will be noted to Ehud Barak’s credit: in contrast to many others, he did not dub the bullying rage of the Israeli army in Gaza as a “war”, but (...) -
22 January 2009, by Noam Chomsky
“Exterminate all the Brutes”: Gaza 2009
On Saturday December 27, the latest US-Israeli attack on helpless Palestinians was launched. The attack had been meticulously planned, for over 6 months according to the Israeli press. The (...) -
21 January 2009
“Resistance Should be our Strategic Choice”
What is going on in the West Bank in relation to the Israeli attack on Gaza? Why is the reaction not so strong? The reaction in the West Bank is strongly affected by the internal Palestinian (...) -
20 January 2009, by Abu Yusef
This Unilateral Cease-Fire is no Cease-Fire at all
What has been sold to the international community as a show of Israeli mercy - in the form of a ceasefire - is only one more political ploy by Israel’s soon-to-be-criminally-indicted leadership. -
20 January 2009, by KEVIN ALEXANDER GRAY
Time for a New Divestment Campaign
Barack Obama’s inauguration coming as we celebrate of Martin Luther King Day predictably draws linkages between the two. Many use Obama’s election to claim a realization of the “dream.” Others (...) -
19 January 2009, by Haim Baram, Hagada Hasmalit
Components of Power: An Israeli’s Argument Against the Attack on Gaza
During the entire week I read a majority of the responses in the major (Hebrew language) websites and the letters to the editor in the three major Israeli newspapers. There were sensitive and (...) -
18 January 2009, by Jonathan Cook
The Plot Against Gaza
Israel has justified its assault on Gaza as entirely defensive, intended only to stop Hamas firing rockets on Israel’s southern communities. Although that line has been repeated unwaveringly by (...)