Commentaries Archives - Page 263 of 837

United States, Pakistan: The Decade Ahead

by John Feffer, Zia Mian | Nov 3, 2009

The United States has charted out its relationship with Pakistan for the next 10 years. The recently approved multi-billion-dollar U.S. economic and military aid packages for Pakistan, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recent visit there, suggest that this Pakistan policy will be much like the one Washington followed for the last 50 years. For their part, Pakistanis are unlikely to change their views of the United States and may even become more hostile.

A Call for Clarity on the Afghanistan War

by Sonali Kolhatkar, Emily Schwartz Greco | Nov 2, 2009

While President Barack Obama reviews his strategy on Afghanistan, a perfect moment to send a strong unified message to end the war is slipping through our fingers. Whether it’s because we seem to have bought into the lies about the goals of this war or because we mistakenly feel that a Democratic president is going to come to the right conclusion on his own, one thing is clear: There’s no debate within the Democratic Party or in the White House about whether to end the war. The only thing being debated is how to continue the war.

From Geneva with Love: Breakthrough in U.S.-Iranian Relations?

by Bernd Kaussler, Erik Leaver | Oct 30, 2009

This is part of a strategic dialogue on Iran. You can read Duran Parsi’s piece here.

When U.S. Undersecretary of State William Nicholas Burns, met Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili at the United Nations in Geneva on October 1, it marked the first-ever high-level bilateral meeting between Washington and Tehran in 30 years.

More Than Backpedaling on NAFTA

by Manuel Perez-Rocha, Emily Schwartz Greco | Oct 29, 2009

A bizarre meeting on the "Future of North America" was scheduled to take place on November 2 and 3. Members of the newly created, self-appointed "Commission on North American Prosperity" would have gathered in Toronto. Amazingly, the meeting was considered a "summit," even though none of the presidents slated to lead it are sitting presidents. There was George H.W. Bush representing the United States, Vicente Fox standing in for Mexico, Jean Chretien for Canada, and Ricardo Lagos from Chile. All of a sudden this "summit" has been cancelled.

Activist Listeners

by John Feffer, Niels Van Tomme | Oct 29, 2009

Operating from Delhi since the early 1990s, Raqs Media Collective has developed a multifaceted body of work with a unique take on globalized culture. Mixing contemporary art with historical and philosophical theory, their diverse work consists of a wide range of old and new media techniques, including image-text collages, installations, performances, and media objects.

Rethinking Iran

by Erik Leaver, Duran Parsi | Oct 29, 2009

This is part of a strategic dialogue on Iran. You can read Bernd Kaussler’s piece here.

Obama and State Secrets

by John Feffer, Robert Pallitto | Oct 28, 2009

Among other legacies of the Bush administration, President Obama must confront his predecessor’s use of the state secrets privilege. The state secrets doctrine protects information from disclosure when “there is a reasonable danger that compulsion of the evidence will expose matters which, in the interests of national security, should not be divulged.” It is typically applied during litigation, when one party seeks to obtain documents from its adversary though the discovery process and the government objects on national security grounds.

Setting Out the Conditions for ‘Success’ in Afghanistan

by Erik Leaver, Mark Sedra | Oct 28, 2009

President Obama is right to be deliberate in contemplating General Stanley McChrystal’s request for a troop surge in Afghanistan, as that decision may determine the outcome of the eight-year U.S. engagement in Afghanistan and perhaps even the broader state-building process.

The Struggle Against Free Trade Continues

by Gabriela Campos | Oct 27, 2009

On October 15th, La Mesa Nacional Frente a La Minería Metálica en El Salvador, also known as El Salvador’s National Roundtable on Mining, won the Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award awarded by the Institute for Policy Studies for their fight against mining in El Salvador.

60-Second Expert: Torture and the Bomb

by Jon Reinsch, Grace Yoo | Oct 26, 2009

In 1945, the Truman administration’s historic decision to unleash atomic bombs on Japan challenged America’s values and shocked the world’s conscience. More recently, the Bush administration’s use of torture in the "war on terror" presents similar controversies. Despite the difference in era and method, the two stories reveal several disturbing parallels in how the U.S. government made and justified such landmark decisions.