Tag: current affairs – international

Tory lobbying row over unregulated ‘Westminster Russia Forum’ / Donald Trump can't stop praising Vladimir Putin

Concerns have been raised that unregulated pro-Moscow lobbyists at the heart of Westminster are using their links to Tory MPs to gain influence and respectability. A group formerly known as the Conservative Friends of Russia (CRF) is advertising its first in-person conference for two years next week, despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Thursday. Now called the Westminster… Read More Tory lobbying row over unregulated ‘Westminster Russia Forum’ / Donald Trump can't stop praising Vladimir Putin

Dilip

The CIA and the New Dialect of Power. By River Page

Wokeness serves two functions for today’s ruling elites. The first is a kind of ideological control directed against Western working classes: wokeness covers over concrete class and economic injus­tices – massive wealth inequality, health precarity, stagnant wages and so on – with a thick fog of mystification. It creates an impression of furious change and even revolutionary activity. Yet… Read More The CIA and the New Dialect of Power. By River Page

Dilip

Chris Hedges: America is a de-facto one-party state whose business is war

Wars can get started by Democrats, such as Harry S. Truman in Korea or John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson in Vietnam, and perpetuated by Republicans. Or they can get started by Republicans, such as George W. Bush, and perpetuated by Democrats such as Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Bill Clinton, without declaring war, imposed… Read More Chris Hedges: America is a de-facto one-party state whose business is war

Dilip

Mauritius formally challenges Britain’s ownership of Chagos Islands

Britain’s ownership of the Chagos archipelago has been formally challenged after the Mauritian ambassador to the UN, Jagdish Koonjul, raised his country’s flag above the atoll of Peros Banhos. In a ceremony on Monday at 10.30am local time, Mauritian officials sang their country’s national anthem and the red, blue, yellow and green standard was raised up… Read More Mauritius formally challenges Britain’s ownership of Chagos Islands

Dilip

Robert Reich – Beware of this deadly mix: oligarchic economics and racist, nationalist populism

The United States presents itself as the beacon of democracy in contrast to the autocracies of China and Russia. Yet American democracy is in danger of succumbing to the same sort of oligarchic economics and racist nationalism that thrive in both these powers. After all, it wasn’t long ago that Donald Trump – who openly admired Xi… Read More Robert Reich – Beware of this deadly mix: oligarchic economics and racist, nationalist populism

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Owen Jones: Johnson’s hypocrisy and lies are emblematic of the British establishment

Johnson is no grotesque interloper: his behaviour and attitudes are emblematic of the British establishment. If our ruling institutions have a shared culture, it’s entitlement and shamelessness, a conviction that wrongdoing should meet consequences only if you are poor and powerless. When Johnson solemnly lectured the nation to abide by the rules while presiding over… Read More Owen Jones: Johnson’s hypocrisy and lies are emblematic of the British establishment

Dilip

The Break-Up of Britain / The US today resembles the Soviet Union just before it fell

Because of the impact it has already had and because its influence continues to grow, Tom Nairn’s The Break-Up of Britain, first published in 1977, is the most significant book on British politics of the past half-century, even though it is not a famous best-seller. Today, its republication by Verso signals the post-Brexit renewal of… Read More The Break-Up of Britain / The US today resembles the Soviet Union just before it fell

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Joe Lauria: The Three Types of U.S. ‘Regime Change’ / Andrew Bacevich: Why Washington Has Learned Nothing From Vietnam to Afghanistan

Throughout the long, documented history of the United States illegally overthrowing governments of foreign lands to build a global empire there has emerged three ways Washington broadly carries out “regime change.”  From Above. If the targeted leader has been democratically elected and enjoys popular support, the C.I.A. has worked with elite groups, such as the military, to overthrow… Read More Joe Lauria: The Three Types of U.S. ‘Regime Change’ / Andrew Bacevich: Why Washington Has Learned Nothing From Vietnam to Afghanistan

Dilip

Jonathan Freedland: This scandal reveals a Conservative party corrupted by Boris Johnson – and by Brexit / Rory Stewart: Britain needs a new era of serious leaders

The origin of all this – a Conservative party happily trampling on the union, the monarchy and the cultural organisation that binds these islands together like no other – is not hard to fathom, though it has become impolite to mention it. It’s Brexit that transformed the Conservative party. Where once Tories revered tradition, Brexit filled them… Read More Jonathan Freedland: This scandal reveals a Conservative party corrupted by Boris Johnson – and by Brexit / Rory Stewart: Britain needs a new era of serious leaders

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