Oily Iraq
The elections in Iraq were widely hailed as a tentative success in an otherwise disastrous situation. But considering the history of foreign intervention in the Middle East when it comes to oil interests, perhaps this silver cloud has a dark lining.
Keep your knitting needles handy – just in case
Keep your knitting needles handy – just in case Author: Simon Stander, Editor- Originally Published at Peace and Conflict Monitor on: 04/14/2003 Category: Editorial Of all the outcomes of the current war, one surprising series of events has been the scale of peace protests: from London and Rome to Moscow and Paris. From China and […]
Israel’s Military Industrial Complex
As a child, I remember the Commander of Palmahim Air Force Base inviting the people of Israel, through festive radio jingles, to participate in one of the key events of our independence day: the magnificent exhibition of Israel’s weaponry, culminating in an air-show over the base’s sky, a demonstration of our impressive aircraft. One time my parents took us. I recall the feeling of enormous pride and admiration, combined with reverence, in view of the inspiring sight of the might of our army. The thought that death, pain and horror were involved, did not even pass through my mind.
Memory and denial: The Rwandan genocide fifteen years on
While most of
the world is familiar with Rwandan genocide, fifteen years later the influence
of a small band of deniers is growing thanks to the embrace of the deniers’
arguments by a small but influential number of left-wing, anti-American
journals and websites, cautions Gerald Caplan.
This article is cross posted from Pambazuka News
Summarizing Iraq
Summarizing Iraq Author: Peter Krupa Originally Published at Peace and Conflict Monitor on 06/16/2005 Understanding Iraq Author: William R.Polk Publisher: HarperCollins Pages: 221 The subtitle makes some pretty grandiose claims: “The whole sweep of Iraqi history,” it says, “from Genghis Khan’s Mongols to the Ottoman Turks to the British Mandate to the American Occupation.” Flipping […]
Hebron: a typical cauldron
Some recent press reports have been suggesting recently that peace in Israel/Palestine is a real prospect in the not-so-distant future. Am Johal, now back in Canada, reflects on how tense the situation is in Hebron, and measures the problems there against those of the whole of Israel/Palestine.
Is the War in Iraq Justified Under International Law?
“All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.”
Laying the Blame
Bernard Lewis, What Went Wrong: The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East, Perennial (HarperCollins), 2003, ISBN 0-6-051605-4, PB, pp.186
Bernard Lewis argues that Islamic fundamentalism (thus terrorism) is a result of the failure of Islam to produce modern societies and nation states, and the best prescription for the current violent conflicts between the West and the Islamic world is the spread of modernism.
Every Man for Himself: A Personal Account of Academic Repression
UPEACE Professor Victoria Fontan gives a personal and candid account of academic repression in the United States, exposing, as she puts it “how my research, teaching, and writings were repressed by different sources both within and outside my academic institution during the 2003-2004 year, and how this repression led me to expatriate from US academia into an Iraqi university.” This article was first written for an edited volume on academic repression soon to be published by AK Press. Due to legal threats made against AK Press and the book’s editors, the article below had to be re-written in a sanitized format. Still, it was courageously published by Counterpunch on March 16th 2009. To date, no legal action was initiated in reprisal.
Democracy and Governance in Afghanistan
Lack of security, slow progress in the disarmament of militias, and a weakly developed legal and institutional framework for democratic politics are endangering the success of Afghanistan’s presidential and parliamentary elections due to be held in September.