Reflectii

The Road Not Taken

After two weeks in Iran during latter part of January 1979, the height of the revolutionary movement against the dynastic, autocratic rule of Mohammed Reza Ayatollah, I had the opportunity for an extended conversation with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in his tent where he received foreign visitors and journalists during his final days in Paris. This was the individual who would serve as uncontested Iranian leader, officially the Supreme Guide, of the Islamic Republic of Iran until his death in 1989.

I’m reading a book on political economy that, early on, says “Consider, for example, inequalities in the distribution of income and wealth that result from the stark differences of economic opportunity and power between people in different socio-economic circumstances, particularly those relating to class, race and gender.” It happens to be this book, but that sentence is characteristic of contemporary thinking regarding economic issues. Inequality along racial and gender lines is a hot topic. I wrote about this in The Beacon recently, here, and here.

America’s allies are hedging against current American approaches to exercise global leadership, mostly in response to its casual abandonment of Afghanistan after two decades of war that cost over $2 Trillion.

Adding to their unease with Washington was the abandonment of over $7 billion of military equipment to the Taliban, and the State Department’s admission that the U.S. had refused to negotiate with Russia about keeping Ukraine out of NATO, arguably forcing Russia’s hand.

With every passing day, the United States government borrows yet another leaf from Nazi Germany’s playbook: Secret police. Secret courts. Secret government agencies. Surveillance. Censorship. Intimidation. Harassment. Torture. Brutality. Widespread corruption. Entrapment. Indoctrination. Indefinite detention.

This week, thousands of university students around the world will begin their introduction to international relations courses for the first time. If their professors are attuned to the ways the world has changed in recent years, they will be teaching them that the major theories of international relations warn that great-power conflict is coming.

A bad argument for invading the Solomon Islands reflects the inherent conflict between America’s dominance and its purported liberal values.

There is no shortage of bad ideas circulating in U.S. foreign policy discourse. On occasion, however, a particularly poor argument can be helpful insofar as it reveals something noteworthy about the assumptions and ideology that produced it.

Changement climatique, déclin rapide et massif des espèces, recul continu du jour du dépassement, accroissement des inégalités… À mesure que les signaux d’alerte sociaux et environnementaux se multiplient, nos modes de développement apparaissent de plus en plus incompatibles avec un avenir positif et durable.

Hemos de agradecer a Macron que rompiese parcialmente el consenso discursivo negador de la realidad que hasta hoy siguen defendiendo las élites económicas, políticas y mediáticas: la abundancia energética y la plétora mercantil son cosa del pasado

Definițiile cuvintelor sunt absolut esențiale, deoarece dacă nu înțelegem exact și precis ce înseamnă cuvintele, nu putem comunica între noi. Schimbarea subtilă și în timp a definițiilor nu poate duce decât la o lipsă de înțelegere și la confuzie. Acest lucru echivalează cu o putere, indiferent de unde provine, care încurajează idiocrația generalizată.

Αυτή τη φορά έλειψαν οι ενθουσιασμοί και οι μεγαλόστομες ανακοινώσεις για τις ποσότητες φυσικού αερίου που περιέχει ο «Κρόνος». Ίσως γιατί έχουμε κουραστεί να ακούμε για φυσικό αέριο και φυσικό αέριο να μην βλέπουμε.