The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
Alex Kane -
Vijay Prashad talks neoliberal economics, the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia and why NATO's intervention in Libya marked a new chapter in the story of the Arab revolts.
At first glance, the revolt in Libya against Muammar Gaddafi seemed to be a continuation of the Arab uprisings that began in Tunisia in late 2010. But when NATO forces began to fly sorties over Libya, bombing Gaddafi’s fighters, it became absolutely clear this was no Egypt or Tunisia.
Instead, argues Vijay Prashad...
On 18 October 2011, Hilary Clinton was in Tripoli, Libya, and according to the Associated Press, said in unusually blunt terms, that the United States would like to see Muammar Gaddafi dead. "Well, two days later, they got their wish," says Paul Jay of The Real News Network.
Jay talks to Firoze Manji, editor-in-chief of Pambazuka News about the significance of Gaddafi's death. "This was an extrajudicial killing supported by Hilary Clinton," says Manji.
Conn Hallinan -
Is current U.S. foreign policy in Africa following a blueprint drawn up almost eight years ago by the right-wing Heritage Foundation, one of the most conservative think tanks in the world? Although it seems odd that a Democratic administration would have anything in common with the extremists at Heritage, the convergence in policy and practice between the two is disturbing.
Heritage, with help from Joseph Coors and the Scaife Foundations, was founded in 1973 by the late Paul Weyrich, one of...
The NATO intervention in Libya has been a huge blow to international law, says Phyllis Bennis of Washington DC based, Institute for Policy Studies. The legitimacy of the United Nations as well as the legitimacy of any idea of international responsibility has been shredded through this Libyan intervention, she contends.
Editor's Note: You might also be interested in additional reporting from the The Real News Network, NATO Tries to Control Libyan Revolution and "Boots on the Ground"...
Glen Ford -
The African Union found the spine to reject execution of an arrest warrant against Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi issued by the International Criminal Court, which appears to have an “Africans only” indictment policy. The AU’s chairman calls the court’s prosecutions “discriminatory” because they ignore the West’s crimes in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. China has hosted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, another ICC arrest target.
The African Union...
Investment bank, Goldman Sachs gambled away more than a billion dollars that Libya had invested in it. The company and the dictator Muammar Gaddafi were firm financial friends in 2008. Goldman offered Gaddafi the chance to become a huge shareholder in the company - but only after losing US$1.3bn of Libya's sovereign wealth fund in just a few months in a bet on European banks and energy companies whose stocks plunged.
When the fund nearly emptied, Goldman offered to recoup losses in...
