Operation El Dorado: The Road to a Resource War in Afghanistan
The roots of a war are rarely simple. In Afghanistan what at first looked like retaliation turned out to be the first preemptive resource war of the 21st century.
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Chomsky: Why It’s “Legal” When the US Does It
Source: TomDispatch.com
[This piece is adapted from “Uprisings”, a chapter in Power Systems: Conversations on Global Democratic Uprisings and the New Challenges to US Empire, Noam Chomsky’s new interview book with David Barsamian (with thanks to the publisher, Metropolitan Books). The questions are Barsamian’s, the answers Chomsky’s.]
Does the United States still have the same level of control over the energy resources of the Middle East as it once had?
The major energy-producing countries are still firmly under the control of the Western-backed dictatorships. So, actually, the progress made by the Arab Spring is limited, but it’s not insignificant. The Western-controlled dictatorial system is eroding. In fact, it’s been eroding for some time. So, for example, if you go back 50 years, the energy resources – the main concern of US planners – have been mostly nationalised. There are constantly attempts to reverse that, but they have not succeeded.
Eleanor: The Radical Roosevelt
Source: Yes Magazine
Hollywood just can’t seem to tell the truth about Eleanor Roosevelt, who was a fierce defender of human rights. Historian Peter Dreier steps in to set the record straight.
Many younger Americans probably know little about Eleanor Roosevelt, and if their first encounter with her is the new film Hyde Park on Hudson, what they’ll learn is incredibly misleading and inaccurate. Otherfilms—including Sunrise at Campobello (1960); the two-part Eleanor and Franklin HBO mini-series (1976); Eleanor, First Lady of the World (1982); and Warm Springs (2005)—have depicted different aspects of her life. Yet not one of these films accurately portrays the depth and influence of Eleanor’s radicalism.
Exploited and Misused: The Impossible Discourse of the ‘Arab Spring’
To advance our understanding of what is transpiring in Arab and other countries in the region, we must let go of old definitions.
Disaster Capitalism Hits New York
The city will adapt to flooding—but at the expense of the poor?
Vermont: One Tiny State’s Movement to Ban Private Prisons
Vermont, the most progressive state in America, spent over $14 million last year to lock up Vermonters in for profit prison like Lee Adjustment Center in Kentucky. A dialogue about mass incarceration, budget crises, and privatization is unfolding. A group of Vermonters working out of Church basements and living rooms is attempting to build a movement to push this conversation forward by passing a historic law banning Vermont’s use of for-profit prisons.