Articles
Friday, May 27, 2022
Whilst we are used to the fiction that NATO is a defensive alliance, NATO has been busy dabbling in writing fiction as an ideological exercise in influencing opinion. It regards this as the 6th domain of warfare and demonstrates the importance of cultural struggle.
Thursday, May 26, 2022
Whilst the war in Ukraine is having an impact across the globe those who will be hardest hit are in the developing world which relies on food and fertiliser supplies from Russia and Ukraine. A real possibility of mass hunger looms.
Wednesday, May 25, 2022
The Covid pandemic brought to light problems with South African health care which is plagued by weaknesses in the system and corruption. Despite this frontline workers showed their care and dedication to their jobs and there have been some positives. Wider lessons, however, can be learned from this experience about the need to combat corruption and building a developmental state, much closer to the needs of the grassroots population.
Thursday, March 24, 2022
Venezuela has a robust and accountable voting system yet the results of its elections are constantly declared illegitimate by the enemies of of the Bolivarian revolution at home and abroad. With the fake president Juan Guaido now totally discredited the West is having to deal with the political realities in Venezuela, including the recent electoral victories of the United Socialist Party.
Wednesday, March 23, 2022
The UN Conference on Climate Change, COP26, took place in Glasgow 31st October – 13th November 2021, but it failed to tackle the fundamental issues which need to be addressed to halt climate change. Left alone, the vested interests of fossil capital will continue to block decarbonisation. State intervention is needed and governments must be forced to act. To this end, attention must be focused specifically on the owners and supporters of fossil capital.
Tuesday, March 22, 2022
Blackrock is the biggest finance company in the world yet few will have heard of it and its trillions of dollars of assets. The immense power of this ‘shadow bank’ is based on its control over a vast network of interests, giving it a hold over almost every sector of the economy. In the US, BlackRock is the controlling shareholder of all the major banks, big pharma, oil and tech giants, agribusiness, airlines, automotive companies, arms manufacturers and the media. It represents a dangerous new stage in the monopolisation of finance capital, the high degree of which makes for tremendous instability.
Wednesday, February 2, 2022
Although the United States has managed to pull other Western countries into line, prior to the war the developing crisis in Ukraine exposed the differences between them. Differences which have not gone away but which have been submerged for the time being. Western tensions have an economic as well as a geopolitical dimension. Of central importance was the Nord Stream 2 pipeline which would have brought natural gas from Russia to Germany. The US did not want to see this level of collaboration between the two countries and sought markets for its own gas. Part of the US strategy was to to provoke Russia into armed conflict, forcing European countries into line and killing off Nord Stream 2.
Tuesday, November 30, 2021
The United States’ world role under Biden has been different from Donald Trump only in that has been more effective in asserting US dominance, and bullying other countries. However, it is also causing consternation among US allies which are increasingly unhappy about its actions.
The withdrawal from Afghanistan was a shock. Previously Trump and Obama had talked about “ending the forever wars” and “pivoting to Asia”, but they had never taken the final step of pulling out of Afghanistan. However, it was not just that Biden did it, but the manner of the departure – hurried and without consultation – that bothered allies.
There were huge ramifications arising from this, not only making allies wary, but also changing the power relationships in the region and beyond, involving China, Russia, Pakistan, Turkey, India and others. Although the United States remains the world’s preeminent power it has damaged its reputation and emboldened voices among US allies who want their nations to be less dependent on an unreliable partner. This is particularly evident in the European Union with strengthened calls from many leading politicians, like Emmanuel Macron, for EU “strategic autonomy”.