The World

SACSIS seeks to examine global issues, particularly as they relate to South Africa.

Will 2011 Bring the End of the Israeli State as We Know It?

Picture: hoyasmeg Katie Halper - I first heard of Jeff Halper at Israel-Palestine-related events, where people would ask me if I was related to him. It took me 30 seconds of Googling to realize that I’d love to be related to this Minnesotan anthropologist, activist, writer, Nobel Peace Prize nominee, and founder and coordinator of Israeli Committee Against Housing Demolitions (ICAHD). Though kindred spirits, we don’t seem to come from the same Halper stock. But we are Facebook friends, and it was through a...

Leaked 'Palestine Papers' Underscore Weakness of Palestinian Authority and Rejectionism of Israel & US

Picture: Democracy Now Democracy Now - Newly released documents show Palestinian negotiators agreed to give up large tracts of West Bank land, and nearly all of East Jerusalem, in peace talks with the Israeli government. The disclosure is among many contained in what is being called the "Palestine Papers" -  over 1,700 files from inside Israeli-Palestinian negotiations dating from 1999 to 2010. The news network Al Jazeera began publishing details of the documents on Sunday. For more on this latest exposé,...

On South Africa Becoming a BRIC: Don't Get a Brick Thrown at You

Picture: Steve Crane Saliem Fakir - On the international scene South Africa plays diplomacy for high stakes. Often in the name of Africa and for itself, but this may receive some heckles from those who know that the game of diplomacy is mostly about enlightened self-interest, as the WikiLeaks diplomatic cables more than capably demonstrate. South Africa’s joining of the BRICS group (as it will henceforth be known since the announcement of South Africa’s membership to the group on Christmas eve last year),...

America: Empire of Bases 2.0

Picture: Mashley Morgan Nick Turse - Does the Pentagon Really Have 1,180 Foreign Bases? The United States has 460 bases overseas!  It has 507 permanent bases! What is the U.S doing with more than 560 foreign bases? Why does it have 662 bases abroad? Does the United States really have more than 1,000 military bases across the globe? In a world of statistics and precision, a world in which “accountability” is now a Washington buzzword, a world where all information is available at the click of a mouse,...

On Julian Assange, His Rock Star Status, Red Herring Arrest and Duplicitous International Diplomacy

Picture: espenmoe Fazila Farouk - In the social justice universe, Julian Assange is a rock star. You know what I mean. Every profession has its rock stars. There are lawyer rock stars, doctor rock stars, engineer rock stars…I’m not so sure about accountant rock stars, but I think you get my drift. There’s a certain kind of man that is great looking, has a cavalier confidence, superior intellect and is supremely successful in his career. Said man is also followed by a long line of women who succumb to...

Noam Chomsky: WikiLeaks Cables Reveal 'Profound Hatred for Democracy on the Part of U.S. Political Leadership'

Picture: Democracy Now Democracy Now - In an exclusive interview, Democracy Now speaks with world-renowned political dissident and linguist Noam Chomsky about the release of more than 250,000 secret U.S. State Department cables by WikiLeaks. In 1971, Chomsky helped government whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg release the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret internal U.S. account of the Vietnam War. Commenting on the revelations that several Arab leaders are urging the United States to attack Iran, Chomsky says, "latest polls show Arab...