Labor, Trade, & Finance Archives - Page 120 of 214

Israel: A Failing Experiment

by Sam Bahour | Sep 1, 2001

One of Israel’s founding Ministers of Education and Culture, Professor Ben-Zion Dinur (1954), said it most sharply; “In our country there is room only for the Jews. We shall say to the Arabs: Get out! If they don’t agree, if they resist, we shall drive them out by force.” (History of the Haganah) With this theme as the explicit backdrop of a newly established State, it is no wonder that Israel has had little chance of being a normal member of the community of nations.

The Inclusion of Sinks Has Sunk the Kyoto Protocol

by World Rainforest Movement | Aug 1, 2001

Ed. Note: The recent climate meeting held in Bonn resulted in an agreement by all countries attending save the U.S. to implement the Kyoto protocol, a step applauded by many. But the World Rainforest Movement, in a viewpoint below, cautions that amidst the celebration lurks a dark cloud: in the rush to gain an agreement at any cost, the livelihoods of forest dwellers may be threatened, and the goal of emissions reductions has been sacrificed by including carbon sinks in the agreement.

The Military Occupation of Macedonia

by Michel Chossudovsky | Aug 1, 2001

The Western press points to the “mediation” of the U.S. and the EU in what is largely portrayed as an “internal conflict.” Public opinion is led to believe that the Macedonian crisis pertains solely to the social, political, and language rights of the ethnic Albanian minority and that the “international community” is committed to ending the violence “between government forces and ethnic Albanian insurgents” while assisting opposing sides to reach a solution.

Bush Discovers a New Middle East

by HALLENGE | Aug 1, 2001

America’s main strategic goal in the Middle East is to secure the supply of oil. In this light, what is the place of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? The Clinton administration thought that solving it was the chief precondition for stability in the Gulf. President George W. Bush, in contrast, at first gave top priority to bringing down Saddam Hussein. This would convince the Arab world, he thought, that it had no options left but to stick with America.

Strategy and Self-Activity In the Global Justice Movements

by Patrick Bond | Aug 1, 2001

Let us take as a starting point that the broadly consensual strategy and basis for self-activity in what we can term Global Justice Movements is the following: to promote the globalization of people and halt (or at minimum radically modify) the globalization of capital. But this strategy conflicts with the objectives of at least four other tendencies that also appear to have solidified in recent years. Since the full-blown emergence of an international financial crisis around mid-1997, the world has witnessed a revival of Third World Nationalism, a Post-Washington Consensus reform option, obstinacy on the part of Washington Consensus powerbrokers, and a formidable Rightwing Resurgence.

En la recta final hacia la Conferencia Mundial

by Irene León | Aug 1, 2001

En la recta final hacia la Conferencia MundialIrene León

Migration Talks Must Tie in to Trade Relationship or They Will Fall Short

by Carlos A. Heredia | Jul 1, 2001

Seven-and-a-half years after the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) took effect, the situation of Mexico’s migrant workers in the United States is still being approached as if it were divorced from the two countries’ trade relationship; and calls by labor, human rights organizations, church groups, and progressive political constituents in favor of a policy recognizing migration’s link to trade continue to fall on deaf ears.

The Russian Left Today

by Boris Kagarlitsky | Jul 1, 2001

To judge from opinion surveys, newspaper reports, and conversations on the street, Russian society is moving leftward. To judge from the statements of politicians and the relationship of forces within the elite, however, the country is moving decisively to the right.

The Conflict in Colombia: Implications for Ecuador’s National Security

by Adrián Bonilla | Jul 1, 2001

The inability of the Colombian State to control its national territory and diverse armed groups is perceived to pose a threat to the other countries of the Andean region. The danger posed by Colombia’s internal strife is not a typical scenario of external aggression or inter-state competition. Rather, violence in Colombia is a post-cold war conflict with multiple actors whose nature and origins vary greatly. Colombia’s case defies traditional scenarios that emphasize the role of the nation state as the leading actor in the international system; in this conflict, many of the parties involve actors across borders, including peasants, military and police forces, guerrilla movements, entrepreneurs and merchants, border populations, human rights organizations, smugglers, drug-traffickers, and illegal crop growers. While some of these actors engage in violence, not all of them do, yet all are deeply affected by the violence raging in Colombia today.

Has Israeli Occupation Become Legal in the 21st Century?

by Sam Bahour | Jun 1, 2001

This past eight months of bloodletting between Israelis and Palestinians is no more than an additional, exhausting chapter in a decades old conflict that seems today more polarized than ever. When Israel invaded the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem in 1967, the occupation of Palestine was born. With this birth came a second Palestinian Diaspora (the first was in 1948 when Israel was established) and the reality that an entire population–1.2 million Palestinians–would become totally controlled by the Israeli military. Over three decades later, no one expected to see the occupation enduring, or to see Palestinians still able to resist.