Category Archives: International

Yemen: A War of Many Fronts

Posted on August 2021 by Valerie Hoffman

Journalists describe the conflict in Yemen as a sectarian proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, but that fails to capture the complexity of the war: in October, 2020, Human Rights Watch reported more than thirty battle fronts between various … Continue reading →

23 total views

Posted in Arab Spring, Foreign Policy, International, International, Islam, Middle East, War | Comments Off

Ubuntu, Hope, and Respect: Socially Conscious Music from the African Continent, the Indian Ocean, and North America

Posted on August 2021 by Al Kagan

Music is often a reflection of struggles for social change, and a source for joy and hope for the future. This can be heard in the songs noted in my first music review article in the February 2021 issue of … Continue reading →

62 total views, 1 views today

Posted in Africa, African American, African American women, Arts, International, Music | Comments Off

The Quiet Strength of Bamboo: Three Wonderful Films from the Pacific to Stream

Posted on August 2021 by Audrey Wells

Add these three visually stunning and thoughtful films to your watch list. Each, to varying degrees, tells a story of indigenous culture from an insider’s point of view, and each offers the special pleasure of real people playing themselves in … Continue reading →

14 total views

Posted in Arts, cinema, film, International, International, Pacific films | Comments Off

Palestinians Aren’t Safe Anywhere, Not Even in their Classrooms

Posted on August 2021 by Sireen Amra

In the past month, Palestinians have witnessed yet another escalation of Zionist violence inflicted onto our homeland without reservation. Israeli warplanes murdered over 250 Palestinians and displaced nearly 100,000 people from their homes during a two-week-long bombardment of the Gaza … Continue reading →

61 total views

Posted in International, International, Israel/Palestine, Palestinians, Section, Students, Voices, Women | Comments Off

Chile: The Hopes and Challenges of Drafting a New Constitution

Posted on July 2021 by Gustavo Diaz

In May, Chilean citizens flocked to polling stations to participate in an election for an unprecedented four categories of office. On top of the regularly scheduled elections for mayors and city councils, citizens also elected governors for the first time … Continue reading →

29 total views, 2 views today

Posted in Elections, International, International, Latin America | Comments Off

Going Dark in Afghanistan

Posted on May 2021 by Janice Jayes

In April President Biden announced he was “ending America’s longest war” by bringing US troops home from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021. If only this war were that simple. Biden isn’t really ending the war in Afghanistan, of course: he … Continue reading →

Posted in International, International, military, War | Comments Off

Africa and COVID-19 Vaccines: The Politics Surrounding Equitable Access to Vaccines

Posted on April 2021 by Fatou Jobe

Global North countries, including France, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, are hoarding COVID-19 vaccines, leaving countries of the Global South behind in equitable access to vaccines. As COVID-19 vaccines become available, many Global North countries have already purchased half of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, COVID-19, International, International, Women | Comments Off

A Tale of Two Elections

Posted on April 2021 by Mark Weisbrot

This article was first published in The Raw Story on December 21, 2020, under the title “Trump’s Coup is Failing—But a Similar Effort Backed by the US has Already Succeeded.” It has been amended to note the inauguration’s having happened. Reprinted … Continue reading →

Posted in Elections, Foreign Policy, International, Latin America | Comments Off

If You Could Save a Million Lives, Would You Do It?

Posted on February 2021 by Mark Weisbrot

This article was first published in The Hill on October 1, 2020. Reprinted with permission. If you had the opportunity to save a million people from preventable death, would you do it? These are people who would otherwise fall victim … Continue reading →

Posted in COVID-19, Economics, International, International, Politics | Comments Off

“Congo to the Mississippi”: Recent Socially Conscious Music from Africa and the Americas

Posted on February 2021 by Al Kagan

It is wonderful that so much music from around the world is now easily available to us, especially through the Internet and radio. My main source is Songlines magazine, a monthly published in print and online in London. Every print … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Arts, Cuba, International, International, Music, South Africa | Comments Off

Polish Women Take to the Streets

Posted on December 2020 by Richard Esbenshade

Following an October 22 Polish Supreme Court decision cutting off the main route to legal abortion in the country, Polish women, and many supportive men and children, took to the streets in the biggest mass mobilization in Poland in 40 … Continue reading →

Posted in abortion rights, Feminism, International, International, Poland, Women | Comments Off

Struggles against Global Aquaculture: Ongoing Conflict between Coastal Communities and Fishmeal Factories in The Gambia

Posted on June 2020 by Fatou Jobe

In June, 2018, I protested alongside locals to plead with the Gambian government to mitigate the ongoing conflict between a fishmeal factory and Sanyang village residents. The Nassim factory processes sardinella into feed stock, a flour-type material, for the Chinese … Continue reading →

581 total views

Posted in Africa, Food Insecurity, International, International, Section | Comments Off

Homewrecker: Trump, the Kurds, and the Grand Strategy We Have Been Waiting For

Posted on December 2019 by Janice Jayes

Donald Trump’s October decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria took his own advisors by surprise, not to mention the Kurdish military units that were U.S. partners in the war on ISIS during the past five years. Perhaps the only … Continue reading →

Posted in International, International, Middle East, Syria | Comments Off

Anti-Austerity Protesters in Ecuador Win Some Concessions, But Unlikely to Prevent Further Unrest or Repression

Posted on November 2019 by Mark Weisbrot

The government of Ecuador reached an agreement on October 13 with leaders of the protests that had rocked the country for the previous two weeks. The deal, which included the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), is a retreat … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreign Policy, International, International | Comments Off

Bolton is Out! But Imperialist Aggression Against Iran is Still In

Posted on November 2019 by Nick Goodell

On September 10, National Security Advisor John Bolton was fired from his post at the White House. With one of the staunchest advocates for US imperialism now out of the Trump administration, some were optimistic that the warmongering and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreign Policy, Imperialism, International, Middle East, Politics | Comments Off

Vietnam Today: Did Anyone “Win” the Vietnam War?

Posted on April 2019 by Al Kagan

Going to college during the Vietnam War transformed my life. Because of my sheltered upbringing, I was rudely awakened. I learned the meaning of imperialism, and with that the lack of justice at home in a class- and race-based hierarchical … Continue reading →

Posted in International, Vietnam War | Comments Off

Brexit, Regrexit, Lexit: Is Socialism in One (European) Country Possible?

Posted on December 2018 by Richard Esbenshade

On November 25, Great Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May returned from Brussels with approval from the other 27 European Union (EU) member states for a deal on Brexit, the British commitment to exit the EU pursuant to the results of … Continue reading →

Posted in Eastern Europe, European Union, International, International, socialism | Comments Off

Poland: Following in Hungary’s Footsteps

Posted on February 2018 by Richard Esbenshade

Second of two parts. On December 20, the European Commission—the executive arm of the European Union (EU), consisting of one representative from each of the 28 member countries—launched the “nuclear option” of EU politics against Poland: a proposed formal warning … Continue reading →

Posted in International, Poland | Comments Off

The Honduran Crisis: Not Quite Your Father’s Oligarchy…

Posted on January 2018 by Janice Jayes

By Janice Jayes At first glance the political crisis in Honduras seems depressingly familiar: a military coup against a left-leaning President in 2009, continued repression of opposition groups, and now a Presidential election so full of irregularities that demonstrators refuse … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Environment, Honduran Election 2017, Human Rights, International, Land, military | Comments Off

The U.S. Military in Africa: a Workshop for the Militarization of Foreign Policy

Posted on December 2017 by Janice Jayes

By Janice Jayes After four American servicemen were killed in in Niger in October, social media discussion fixated on President Trump’s insensitive remarks to the widow of one of the slain soldiers and questions about the logistics surrounding the unlucky … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Foreign Policy, International, military | Comments Off