(Tomdispatch.com ) – I went to a birthday party recently. The celebrants greeted each other with hugs on the patio. After an outdoor barbeque dinner, we stood shoulder to shoulder around the island in the kitchen, eating cake from small paper plates. We sang “Happy Birthday.” Ordinarily, an event like that wouldn’t be worth noting, […]
Democracy: On the Precipice?
( Foreign Policy in Focus) – If we extrapolate from the current trend lines, democracy will be gone in a couple decades, melted away like the polar ice. But although down, democracy is not out. By John Feffer | June 2, 2021 Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarussian dictator, snatches a dissident from midair. Military strongman Assimi […]
They’re Not Conservatives, They’re Extremists
( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – By mislabelling the radical members of the Republican Party “conservative,” the mainstream media gives them a veneer of respectability. By John Feffer | May 26, 2021 The House Freedom Caucus is routinely described as conservative, by its members, by the mainstream media, by Wikipedia. The caucus, which draws […]
For Greying Geriatric Wealthy Countries, Immigrants are the Solution, not a “Crisis”
( Foreign Policy in Focus) – Germany faces a major crisis. The German birth rate is considerably below what’s needed to replace the population. German seniors, meanwhile, are living longer and drawing more on state resources for their pensions and health care. There are basically two ways out of this demographic crisis. First of all, […]
The Cold War Has Already Turned Hot — on the Internet
( Tomdispatch.com) – America has a serious infrastructure problem. Maybe when I say that what comes to mind are all the potholes on your street. Or the dismal state of public transportation in your city. Or crumbling bridges all over the country. But that’s so twentieth century of you. America’s most urgent infrastructure vulnerability is […]
Afghanistan’s Green Future? Earth Minerals and Renewables
( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – Can Afghanistan’s mineral wealth finance a transition to a carbon-neutral future? By John Feffer | April 21, 2021 Everyone has a different Doomsday scenario for Afghanistan once U.S. and NATO troops withdraw by September 11. The Taliban will take over and reimpose their repressive social agenda. Al-Qaeda will […]
Social Media and the Spread of Global Hate
( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter helped right-wing populists take power. Can they now help rein them in? By John Feffer | April 14, 2021 One insidious way to torture the detainees at Guantanamo was to blast music at them at all hours. The mixtape, which included […]
Lifting Trump’s sanctions on the Int’l Criminal Court doesn’t go Far Enough: The US must uphold International Law
( Foreign Policy in Focus) – When the loony right gathered at the Conservative Political Action Conference back in February, the theme of the Trump-heavy gathering was “America Uncanceled.” Speaker after speaker railed against “political correctness” in American culture, from “woke mobs” to “censorship” in the mainstream news media. Incredibly, they tried to transform so-called […]
The US lost the Afghanistan War and is finally Leaving, but can Biden win the Peace?
( Foreign Policy in Focus) – In October 1944, with the end of World War II in sight, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin passed a note back and forth to each other at a conference in Moscow. On the piece of paper, Churchill had assigned percentages to several Eastern European countries. Stalin amended the numbers, […]
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