JIM KAVANAGH—No slouch in that regard, Obama was first American President to give bunker-buster bombs to Israel—secretly, precisely because he had publicly said Israel had to curtail settlement construction in exchange for such gifts and didn’t want it to be known that he was capitulating. He was also the first American President to demand that “Palestinians must recognize that Israel will be a Jewish state”—a new, gratuitous, and excessive demand, insisted upon by Netanyahu.
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Iran’s Basij: The reason why land or civil war inside Iran is impossible
RAMIN MAZAHERI—The Basij are also not comparable to Nazi Brownshirts or Italian Blackshirts. The reason for this simple: Iran has a modern, democratic, anti-racist, anti-imperialist & anti-capitalist ideology which is fundamentally different from the fascist, imperialist, war-mongering, racist, faux-socialist ideology of those two European groups. No such comparison is legitimate in the slightest, and it is fear-mongering anti-Iranian propaganda not based on facts.
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On The Path To Failure – U.S. Attempts Violent “Regime Change” In Iran
MOA—Making Iranians poorer is thought to lead to an uprising and regime change. But it is doubtful that such will work. The identity of the Islamic Republic is quite strong. It is more likely that the Iranian people will pull together and accept the hardship while asymmetric Iranian operations slowly destroy the U.S.’s policies. Saudi oil ports are quite vulnerable targets…
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What privatisation in Iran? or Definitely not THAT privatisation
RAMIN MAZAHERI—It is amazing what a one-sided story is presented by leftists such as the WSWS: that cuts to social programs are “neoliberal austerity”, instead of being forced by sanctions – as if Iran is cutting programs for the same reason Hollande and Macron are in France?! It’s really shocking ignorance of, or insensitivity towards, Iran’s overall economic situation….It is as if Iran was operating freely.
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BAR Book Forum: Shane Maddock’s “Nuclear Apartheid”
ROBERTO SIRVENTIS—Nuclear Apartheid exposes how “white supremacy” remained alive in U.S. foreign policy thinking and undergirded some American efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. Antonio Gramsci’s theory of “cultural hegemony” raised my awareness of how unquestioned assumptions often shape and limit the choices leaders make and while also enabling them to persuade the public that those choices were the only “rational” ones.
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Freedom Rider: Democrats Unhinged by Korea
MARGARET KIMBERLEY—The Democrats like war, interventions and United States hegemony. They always have. If anyone wants proof they need only look at their collective hissy fit regarding the Trump and Kim summit. Part of the reaction is caused by fear of Trump getting credit for a foreign policy achievement. But Democrats are also true believers in imperialism. The last thing they want to see is any reduction in the American military presence in Korea or anywhere else.
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Norway: Just Withdraw From NATO
GARY LEUPP—The Nordic countries had a reputation for charitableness and disproportionate donations to aid organizations. They had an independent often joint foreign policy; for example, all Nordic countries including Norway recognized the DPRK in 1974 and established embassies in Pyongyang. Norway has played a role in negotiations between the DPRK and Washington. And between Israel and its backers and the Palestinians; remember the Oslo Accords of 1993 and 1995?
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