Putin’s Cold, Cold Strategy
Russia’s aim is to create a frozen conflict in Ukraine, but time is not on Putin’s side.
It’s Settled That Israel Is Committing Apartheid. Now What Should We Do About It?
Movements for justice and Palestinian rights laid the ground for recent declarations by Amnesty International and other human rights organizations. Now we have to follow up.
The U.S. ‘COMPETES’ with China — At What Cost?
The COMPETES Act, which ramps up spending to raise the stakes with China, puts Washington’s warped priorities on display.
Building a Post-Extractivist Future for Latin America
The region faces a choice between top-down “Green growth” and bottom-up efforts to transform economies.
Counterterrorism Calculus in Yemen Shortchanging Political Solutions
The White House neither confirms nor denies the air war in Yemen.
The Crisis in Syria Calls Out for an Intervention — with Russia
In the chorus of condemnation that resounded after the massacre, Russia’s voice stood out for its glaring ambiguity.
Dashed Hopes for Baghdad Breakthrough
The recently concluded negotiations between Iran and the world powers, the so-called P5+1, was perhaps the first serious attempt at resolving the Iranian nuclear impasse since the 2009 botched negotiations. Both sides entered the talks with a strong sense of cautious optimism, thinking maybe this time would be different. Even former top American diplomats joined the euphoric run up to the Baghdad talks. According to the former lead U.S. negotiator on Iran, Nicholas Burns, “for the first time in 32 years, since the Iranian revolution, there is the possibility of serious, substantive and sustained talks with Iran.”
Just How Many Cyberattacks Will Iran Take Sitting Down?
Iran may or may not have the ability to mount cyberattacks of its own.
American Culture Wars in Uganda
On March 14, Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) filed a U.S. federal lawsuit against American Minister Scott Lively, using the Alien Torts Statute (A.T.S.). The ATS allows for non-citizens to launch US court actions for violations of international law. SMUG accuses Lively of collaborating with four named Ugandan co-conspirators (conservative evangelicals Martin Ssempa and Stephen Langa, Member of Parliament David Bahati, and the current Minister of Ethics and Integrity James Buturo) to create an enabling environment for persecution and violence against gays and lesbians in Uganda. Lively is also accused of directly contributing to the infamous 2009 “Kill the Gays” bill1 which never came to a vote. In February, however, Bahati reintroduced the legislation.
Time to Recall the Land Grabbers
On 5 December 2011, GRAIN received the 2011 Right Livelihood Award, often referred to as the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’, at the Swedish Parliament in Stockholm. GRAIN was awarded “for its worldwide work to protect the livelihoods and rights of farming communities and to expose the massive purchases of farmland in developing countries by foreign financial interests”. GRAIN seized on the opportunity to demand an immediate end to land grabbing and a restitution of lands to local communities. The following speech was delivered to the Swedish Parliament by GRAIN during the Awards Ceremony.
Tall Tale about Special Forces in North Korea?
A classified Pentagon document leaked to me in 1984 may shed some light on a U.S. general’s outlandish claim last week that U.S. Special Forces, along with their South Korean counterparts, have parachuted into North Korea in search of human intelligence on the country’s nuclear weapons programs. The revelation was made by Brigadier General Neil Tolley, the commander of U.S. Special Forces in Korea, at a “Special Operations Force Industry Conference” in Florida organized by defense contractors. His remarks were relayed by David Axe, a prominent military writer who has reported on Africa and the Middle East but has little experience in Korea.
The Failure of the Summit of the Americas VI
Dilma Rousseff interrupted the speech of Barack Obama. The President of the United States was speaking about the advances of various countries in Latin America, commenting that now there exists “a prosperous middle class” that represents a business opportunity for companies from his country. “Suddenly, they are interested in buying iPads, interested in buying planes from Boeing.” “Or Embraer,” interjected Dilma, yielding applause.
Syria’s Atamans
A political solution cannot occur without a military one, but a military solution alone does not guarantee stability or security, even in the short term.
Review: The Journey to Tahrir
The essays in The Journey to Tahrir: Revolution, Protest and Social Change in Egypt, 1999-2011 validate Hannah Arendt’s famous quote that “revolutionaries do not make revolutions. The revolutionaries are those who know when power is lying in the street and then they can pick it up.” Journey to Tahrir, edited by Jeannie Sowers, rejects the mainstream media’s often monolithic and melodramatic portrait of a random pro-democracy uprising in Egypt. Instead the contributors meticulously dissect the numerous components that coalesced in November 2011 in a mass social upheaval that brought down the Mubarak regime.