Chapter Eight – The Colonial Powers at Times Openly at Times Backhandedly Assisted European Fascism and Hitler’s Preparations for War – Capitalist Speculative Banking Run Colonial Empires Continued to Allow and Assist Hitler To Violate the Prohibitions of the Versailles Treaty Meant to Prevent the War Empowerment of Germany
[The following is excerpted from David Barsamian’s recent interview with Noam Chomsky at AlternativeRadio.org.]
David Barsamian: On March 20th, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued its latest report. The new IPCC assessment from senior scientists warned that there’s little time to lose in tackling the climate crisis. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, “The rate of temperature rise in the last half-century is the highest in 2,000 years. Concentrations of carbon dioxide are at their highest in at least 2 million years. The climate time bomb is ticking.” At COP 27 he said, “We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator. It is the defining issue of our age. It is the central challenge of our century.” My question to you is: You’d think survival would be a galvanizing issue, but why isn’t there a greater sense of urgency in addressing it in a substantial way?
A state actor’s involvement in the blast of the Nord Stream pipelines last year is the “absolute main scenario”, said the Swedish prosecutor investigating the attack.
A Reuters report — State actor involvement in Nord Stream pipeline attacks is ‘main scenario’, says Swedish investigator, April 6, 2023, — said:
A state actor’s involvement in the blast of the Nord Stream pipelines last year is the “absolute main scenario”, though confirming identity will prove difficult, the Swedish prosecutor investigating the attack said on Thursday.
African leaders who hold power indefinitely often employ cults of personality to consolidate power, demand personal fealty, and systematically undermine independent governance institutions.
When long-serving, neo-patrimonial leaders in Burkina Faso, Gambia, Zimbabwe, and Sudan were forced to step down because of popular and youthful protests in recent years, the era of “presidents for life” in Africa seemed to be ending. Yet, for every such leader who has been forced from power, new ones emerge on the scene. In many cases, African leaders who retain power indefinitely are characterized by pervasive cults of personality, demonstrating the enduring potency of this instrument of power.
Summary
In 2020–2022, Tunisian illegal migrants traveled through Serbia to reach Western Europe, as an alternative
to the hazardous, more monitored Mediterranean route. This was driven by push factors in Tunisia, including deteriorating economic conditions and government acquiescence, and pull factors in Europe, namely smuggling networks and Serbian authorities looking the other way. While the route was sealed for Tunisians in November 2022, as long as transit states can use illegal migration to secure geopolitical leverage, such actions will continue.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
UNODC has carried out its most comprehensive collection of data on firearms trafficking to date, gathering details from survey responses and other sources in 81 countries for 2016-17. These data give a unique insight into the patterns of trafficking globally, regionally and nationally, providing a vital resource for law enforcement, policymakers and public bodies seeking to reduce the damage caused by the illicit circulation of firearms.
INTRODUCTION
The EU Drugs Strategy 2021-2025 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Strategy’) provides the overarching political framework and priorities for the European Union’s drugs policy for the period 2021-2025. The framework, aim and objectives of the Strategy serve as the basis for the EU Drugs Action Plan from 2021 to 2025 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Action Plan’).
Law enforcement authorities from EU member states work together to combat serious and organised crime in Europe.
How the EU fights serious and organised crime
Organised crime is a major threat to European citizens, business and institutions, as well as to the European economy. In 2019, criminal revenues in the main criminal markets amounted to 1 % of the EU’s GDP, i.e. €139 billion.
Crime groups are present in all EU countries and often operate across borders. 70 % of criminal groups are, in fact, active in more than three member states.
A new film looks at the harm done by the practice in Italy of ‘informal readmissions’ by which refugees and migrants were swiftly sent back over the border with Slovenia in 2020. Ignoring a court ruling that suspended the practice, Italy’s new government says it will be revived.
Chapter Seven – Peculiarities of Fascism’s and Hitler’s Rise to Power – Hitler’s Mercurial Rise to Absolute Power in Germany and Its Press Coverage in the Colonial Powers
In April of 1921, the victorious European Allies of World War One, notably France and England, presented a bill to Germany demanding payment for damages caused in the war which Germany had started. This bill (33 billion dollars) for war reparations had the immediate effect of causing ruinous inflation in Germany.