Author: M Barbu

Neoliberals Don’t Like Free Markets, But They Want You To Think They Do

It was very frustrating to read Noam Scheiber’s profile of Jaz Brisack, the person who led the first successful union organizing drive at a Starbucks. Brisack does sound like a very impressive person and it is good to see her getting the attention her efforts warrant. However, Scheiber ruins the story by repeatedly telling readers that the neoliberals, who have dominated political debate in recent decades, want a free market. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Who Is A Primary Winner In Emerging Food Crisis?

Since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, international grains prices, especially wheat, corn and sunflower, have soared. The circumstance has abruptly aggravated the already serious shortage of grains due to frequent droughts and other adverse climatic variations, now developing into a global food crisis. According to the U.N. World Food Program, 49 million people in the developing world are falling into peril of famine, manifested by riots and protestations in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Pakistan, Peru, and by destabilizing dynamics in the Sahel, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Chad, among others[2].

There’s No Need For War With Russia – OpEd

Conflicts have a history of spinning out of control. Trotsky, the one-time close comrade of Lenin, reportedly said, “You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you”. The overwhelming majority of Ukrainians were not interested in war until President Volodymyr Zelensky took his counterproductive stance on NATO membership and President Vladimir Putin subsequently launched his invasion and united most of Ukraine’s people against him.

Will the War in Ukraine Push Iran and Russia to Compete?

When
Thursday, June 30, 2022
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM EST

Where
Zoom Webinar

Four months have passed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and it has had wide-ranging implications for geopolitical and geoeconomic trends in the Middle East. The war could lead to the emergence of new strategic vacuums in conflict zones across the region while reshaping Russian relations with energy players in the Middle East, including Iran. Beyond the immediate assumption that the war will create new opportunities for cooperation between revisionist powers like Iran and Russia, it has also given rise to new potential conflicts of interest.

Cultural Warriors: Why Palestine’s Sports Victories Should Inspire Us

The Palestine National Football Team has, once more, done the seemingly impossible by qualifying for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. By any standards, this is a great achievement, especially as the Palestinians have done it with style and convincing victories over Mongolia, Yemen and the Philippines, without conceding a single goal. However, for Palestinians, this is hardly about sports.

Russian Think Tank Director Bordachev: Russia Was Fortunate In Facing The West ‘At The Moment Of Its Greatest Weakness’, But The West Will Rebound

Timofei Bordachev (Source: Publico.ru)

Timofei Bordachev, the program director of the Valdai Discussion Club think tank, is confident that the West will soon be approaching Russia to seek a compromise on Ukraine that will be advantageous to Russia. He warns his countrymen, however, not to engage in self-congratulation, because the West is still intent on the extinction of Russian sovereignty. Moreover, in the current crisis Russia was lucky to face the West when the US and Europe were at their weakest and their leadership was comprised of “mindless chatterboxes or hustlers.” The West has shown its recuperative powers in the past and the next phase of the perpetual struggle will be tougher.

Hizbullah And The Israeli-Lebanese Gas Field Dispute

Introduction

A main element in the current economic and financial crisis in Lebanon is its energy crisis. The Lebanese people have been hit hard by the accelerated devaluation of the Lebanese pound and the fuel shortage; many lost their life savings in the recent collapse of the country’s banking system. Thus, the prospect of exploiting the potentially rich offshore natural gas fields appears to be a golden opportunity.

Water Infrastructure as Commons

Vision & History

Some People got hopes and dreams
Some People got ways and means

– Bob Marley and the Wailers, “Survival”

We have to recognize the fundamental social realities behind our most pressing crises, in order to have any hope of ever facing and dealing with them. Summer 2020 saw a righteous global awakening against structural racial injustice and death. Summer 2021 as well as 2022 terrifying onslaught of floods, drought and killing heat, adding up to an awakening to the imminent disasters – not mere “risks” – of climate catastrophe. As the late, great John Trudell[i]taught us, sometimes it’s in our interests to deal with the things that are in front of us. Yes, let’s. First some new language for new challenges.

The Ukrainian War and a New World Order

The war in Ukraine poses numerous questions: What will be the country’s fate?; what will happen to the Ukrainian people?; will Russia be held accountable?; and what is the U.S.’s role in the war? One question that often goes unasked is: what does the war say about the nature of the international world order?

Iraq targets desert ‘wali’ and braces for impact of possible conflict

Counterterrorism operations in Iraq’s western desert have resulted in the killing of an Islamic State leader as regional tensions rise across the border ahead of a likely Turkish military operation in northern Syria.

Iraq has in recent weeks stepped up counterterrorism operations in its western desert and other areas amid risks of an imminent flare-up of conflict in eastern Syria, with potential repercussions in the regional fight against the Islamic State (IS).