Firestone Archives - Foreign Policy In Focus

Corporate Accountability In Liberia Gets A Fresh Look

by Emily Dickey, Miriam Hauser | Jun 30, 2012

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia’s first woman president, has been praised internationally for her efforts to address war crimes from the country’s civil war and for negotiating significant debt relief, even winning the Noble Peace Prize as a result. However, a briefing held last Thursday by IPS’ Foreign Policy in Focus coinciding with Sirleaf’s recent visit to the United States drew attention to areas that Sirleaf has failed to adequately address. The event was well attended, with more people than could fit into our conference room.

Rejecting Paternalism in Africa?

by John Feffer, Tim Newman | Feb 18, 2008

A central aspect of President Bush’s trip to Africa is the promotion of neoliberal trade policies and foreign direct investment as a path to “empowerment” and a “culture of self-reliance and opportunity.” The president has explicitly rejected “the paternalistic notion that treats African countries as charity cases, or a model of exploitation that seeks only to buy up their resources.”

Super Bowl of Shame

by Jamie Menutis, Emily Schwartz Greco | Jan 25, 2008

What’s more American than football, apple pie and Chevrolet? How about cool brand new radial tires?

Slavery Persists

by Emira Woods | Feb 1, 2007

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the end of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the 175th anniversary of the first meeting of the New England Anti-Slavery Society.

Stopping Firestone: Getting Rubber to Meet the Road

by Roxanne Lawson, Tim Newman | Dec 7, 2006

Liberia is rich in natural resources and Africa’s largest producer of natural rubber. It is also one of the world’s poorest countries. Liberia’s impoverishment is directly related to the wealth generated from its natural resources; wealth that because of a history of inequality and exploitation benefits multinational corporations and some wealthy Liberians at the expense of the citizens of Liberia. However, many Liberians, along with international allies, are actively resisting this unjust system.