Page 630 – Toward Freedom

Egypt: History is Being Made—Without the U.S.

Amitabh Pal January 31, 2011 Amitabh Pal

This year may very well prove to be the most memorable in modern Arab history. Too bad that the United States is on the wrong side.

I have written a soon-to-be-published book on Islam and nonviolence that deals with mass protest in the Middle East, but Tunisian and Egyptian youth have already made the book a bit dated by deciding that this year was the year they had enough.

Tunisia itself was momentous. It was the first time in the recent past that an Arab dictator had been toppled by people power. But as significant as this was, Tunisia is a relatively small country and on the margins of the Arab world, geographically and culturally. read more

Egypt: People’s Revolution on the March

Rene Wadlow January 31, 2011 Rene Wadlow

Throughout the Arab world, governments have been unable or unwilling to open serious discussions on socio-economic policies and alternatives. It is in Egypt that, following the Tunisian example, people have taken to the streets demanding that President Hosni Moubarak must go. The cries of the Tunisian revolutionary movement “Liberty-Work-Dignity” have been taken up by other peoples.

Cracking the Donor Discourse on Haiti

Kanya D'Almeida January 28, 2011 Kanya D'Almeida

Source: IPS News

(IPS) – In her remarks last week to the president of the U.N. Security Council on the first anniversary of Haiti’s earthquake, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice called for a free and fair election that reflected the views of Haitian voters, applauded the work of the U.N. Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), and declared that the “prospects for rebuilding Haiti depend upon maintaining a secure environment and creating jobs for Haitians”.

Rice made no mention of historic patterns of Western coercion, occupation, interference and destruction in Haiti, which has rendered the grassroots movement in the country virtually powerless. read more

Fossil Fuel Fest: Obama and Climate Change

Sandy LeonVest January 28, 2011 Sandy LeonVest

Only days before President Obama delivered this year’s State of the Union speech, a startlingly grim assessment of global climate change was released by the International Energy Agency which was as definitive as it was dramatic.

Women Lead Latin America’s Anti-Militarization Movements

Laura Carlsen January 26, 2011 Laura Carlsen

Source: Americas Program

When George W. Bush left the White House, the rest of the world breathed a sigh of relief. The National Security Doctrine of unilateral attacks, the invasion of Iraq under the false pretext of weapons of mass destruction, and the abandonment of multilateral forums had opened up a new phase of U.S. aggression. Despite the focus on the Middle East, the increased threat of U.S. military intervention cast a long shadow over many parts of the world.

Two years later, that sense of relief has given way to deep concern. After hopes of a something closer to FDR’s Good Neighbor Policy of (relative) non-intervention, we find ourselves facing a new wave of militarization in Latin America–supported and promoted by the Obama administration. read more

Iraq Inquiry: Tony Blair Has Not Lost Thirst for War

Stefan Simanowitz January 26, 2011 Stefan Simanowitz

Einstein once defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and waiting for different results. Therefore, perhaps it was madness to hope that Tony Blair, appearing for the second time at the Iraq Inquiry would tell us anything new.