May 2011

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Egypt Shakes up Middle Eastern Order

Picture: NixBC M K Bhadrakumar - The thesis was just about gaining ground that the bitter legacy of the Arab spring is going to be the reawakening of the rough beast of sectarianism in the Muslim Middle East. Sectarian strife, it was prophesied, would lead to a Sunni-Shi'ite confrontation involving Saudi Arabia and Iran.  That specter helped deflect attention momentarily from the existential threat posed by the Arab spring to the authoritarian regimes of the Middle East. It also helped the United States to distract the...

'One Killer Killing Another': Journalist and Activist Allan Nairn on Obama's Targeted Killing of Bin Laden

Video "Bin Laden is dead, but the world is still governed by bin Ladens. People cheer because they thought they saw justice, but this was not justice delivered by victims. This was one killer killing another," says American activist and journalist, Allan Nairn.  “I think we need an American uprising, if we’re to put a stop to this kind of killing of innocent people," argues Nairn. Find more coverage on the Killing of Osamam Bin Laden on Democracy Now. 10...

Doha Trade Talks Grinding to a Slow Halt

Picture: Reuters Liepollo Pheko - In April this year, it was widely reported that agricultural talks for the Doha Round had yet again failed to advance. After a decade of unproductive negotiations to conclude the World Trade Organisations (WTOs) Doha Development Round of multilateral trade talks, the recent failure of talks on agriculture appears set to push the entire Doha talks over the edge. Recent media reports suggest that the “Doha Round is Doomed.” Its failure to emerge with a common vision for global...

Johann Hari: Frenzy around Britain's Royal Wedding 'Should Embarrass Us All'

Video Up to two billion people around the world tuned in to watch the British royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, a story which has dominated TV news for weeks. The wedding buzz offered a chance to look at the monarchy, Britain’s domestic policy, and how its colonial legacy around the world affects foreign affairs today. While all eyes were on the wedding procession and the first kiss, Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez of Democracy Now spoke with Johann Hari, a columnist at The...

Obama/Osama Rock the Casbah

Picture: k-ideas & US Embassy of New Zealand Pepe Escobar - The Sheikh he drove his Cadillac  He went a-cruisin' down the ville The Muezzin was a-standin' On the radiator grill The Clash, Rock the Casbah  It's irrelevant. It may be a rockin' Hollywood thriller - an Osama/Obama double bill (directed by Kathryn "Hurt Locker" Bigelow). But the targeted assassination - allegedly with an iconic American bullet to the head - of Osama bin Laden on Monday in fact only matches the irrelevancy the larger than life jihadi Godfather had...