Economy

(By Juan Cole) Dear President Obama: You have said repeatedly that if negotiations with Iran do not limit its nuclear enrichment activities solely to peaceful uses, i.e. production of fuel for energy plants, that you would be willing to go to war with that country to ensure that it does not develop an atomic bomb. […]

Economy

US Scam: Give the Rich Money & and they might Make us Slightly Less Poor (David “The Wire” Simon)

Juan Cole

Bill Moyers interviews David Simon on “America as Horror Show” and the fate of the “extra people” left over once the jobs were shipped to the Pacific Rim (they are hunted and 2.2 million incarcerated)

Economy

Gaza Photo Blog: Palestinian Fishermen Idled by Israeli Policies

contributors

(By Muhamad Sabah via B’Tselem) Following are images of the fishing docks in Gaza as captured by B’Tselem field researcher Muhammad Sabah. There is no denying the colorful sight of so many boats moored in the harbor. Yet in point of fact, the picturesque sight is evidence of a grim reality, with the boats out […]

Afghanistan

US Economic Policy in Afghanistan Doomed it: From Dogmatic Privatization to Neglect of Rural Sector

contributors

(By Graciana del Castillo via The Boston Review) . . . The promises made by President Bush in April 2002 to help rebuild Afghanistan in the tradition of the Marshall Plan created high expectations among the Afghan population after the rout of the Taliban and the Bonn Agreement of December 2001. But despite costly international […]

Barack Obama

Why Pres. Obama wants to Raise Minimum Wage: 49 mn Americans Food Insecure

Juan Cole

(Via PRNewswire) The State of Hunger in America: Feeding America Issues Annual Report (via PR Newswire) CHICAGO, Jan. 27, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — In connection with President Barack Obama’s . . . annual State of the Union address, Feeding America has issued its annual “State of Hunger in America,” assessing the prevalence of food insecurity and… […]

Egypt

The 18th Brumaire of Gen. al-Sisi in Egypt

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) On Monday, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) announced that Field Marshall Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (also the minister of defense) was free to run for president if his conscience led him to do so. There had been a question whether the officers wanted him to get directly involved in politics. […]

Africa

Using up Everything Fast: Extractive Capitalism, Sealing and Muslim Slaves in Latin America

contributors

(By Greg Grandin) The Two Faces of Empire Melville Knew Them, We Still Live With Them By Greg Grandin A captain ready to drive himself and all around him to ruin in the hunt for a white whale. It’s a well-known story, and over the years, mad Ahab in Herman Melville’s most famous novel, Moby-Dick, […]

Asia

Is Iran Back? Foreign Policy after the Nuclear Deal

contributors

(By Paul Rogers) Iran Foreign Minister Javad Zarif with EU High Representative Catherine Ashton at the EU+3 and Iran talks, November 2013 Summary If Iran and the P5+1 succeed in negotiating a robust agreement on the nuclear issue, then Iran will be less preoccupied with rebalancing its relationship with antagonistic western powers and its role […]

Inequality

Unbalanced: 85 Super-Wealthy own as Much as Half the World’s Population

contributors

(By Andrea Germanos) The global elite have rigged the rules so that "economic growth looks more like a winner-take-all system" that undermines democracy and threatens future generations with a "cascade of privilege and disadvantage," a new report from Oxfam states. The report, Working for the Few: Political capture and economic inequality, states that just 85 […]