by Ramin Mazaheri for The Saker Blog Allow me to give a summary of my conversations with well-meaning Westerners since at least 9/11. Everyone: “Ramin, I’m so worried about Iran! I expect US troops to land in Tehran every time I turn on the news!” Me: “The Basij.” Everyone: “Ramin, the US invaded Afghanistan and Iraq – Iran is obviously next!” Me: “Yawn…the Basij.” Everyone: “Dubya Bush…no, wait – Barry
The Globalization of “Lifelong” Corporate-Technocratic Education: “Classrooms without Walls,” Teachers without Degrees by John Klyczek for The Saker Blog Throughout candidate Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, The Donald spewed slogans of “America First” nationalism that were the bedrock of his electioneering rhetoric. But apparently, this was all just con-game carnival barking because Trump’s choice for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, has announced that the fascistic merger of the United States Department
By Amir NOUR[1] for The Saker Blog “I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones” (Albert Einstein)[2] A red alert in an age of fear, anger and extremes In anticipation of its 2018 edition, the well-regarded Munich Security Conference issued a report which aimed to serve as a useful compilation for an impressive gathering of
by Gary Littlejohn for The Saker Blog Part 1: Divergent views on the Russian Economy While there is widespread consensus in the West about the nature of Russian politics and the Russian economy, my own view is that the Western consensus is wide of the mark, being based on a naive acceptance of stereotypes that are at best outdated, originating as they do from either the Yeltsin years or the
by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with the Asia Times by special agreement with the author) The tariff tussle that began today is linked to Beijing’s ambitious ‘Made in China 2025’ and Belt and Road strategies, which will transform the global economic and geopolitical landscape; this rivalry could last for decades, some experts have said Way beyond the first midnight shot in what could possibly turn into a vicious trade war, the
by Peter Koenig for The Saker Blog In June 2018 alone, more than 500 refugees drowned in the Mediterranean Sea. Their boats were refused access to land in either Malta, or Italy. They were force-driven back by gun-boats to the North African shores they came from, mostly Libya, but many boats capsized and countless refugees didn’t make it. These are de facto murders, high crimes against humanity, committed by the
by Peter Koenig for The Saker blog During the recent meeting in Caracas of the Venezuelan Presidential Economic Advisory Commission, in mid-June 2018, President Maduro said something extremely interesting, but also extremely disturbing – nonetheless highly important for the region to be aware of. Mr. Maduro mentioned Yugoslavia, the foreign induced local conflicts, the breakup and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, starting with the “Ten Days War” on Slovenia in 1991, the
By Saker Latinamerican Community for the Saker blog A few days ago, we had access to the video we share below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=8WLIunFd3vE The video is self-explanatory, and it makes it hard to avoid seeing what’s undeniable. There is a fifth column within the revolutionary government that threatens the Revolution from within. This phenomenon, certainly not exclusive to Venezuela, has been taking shape and expanding dramatically in recent years, since the
by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with the Asia Times by special agreement with the author) Major states buying oil from Iran are unlikely to heed the US call to drop imports; key allies want a waiver to avoid sanctions; OPEC, meanwhile, will have trouble boosting output in the short-term; the puzzle is not solved, but there are dark clouds History may have registered stranger geoeconomic bedfellows. But in the current OPEC-plus
by Ramin Mazaheri for The Saker Blog As every journalist and critic knows, the laziest (and fastest) way to describe something is to present it in terms of something else. This is the “new that”, or this is similar to “that combined with this”. This article, which is part of an 11-part series on Iran written in response to the World Socialist Web Site’s “A reply to a proponent of
by John Bull, England for The Saker Blog I’m an ordinary member of the British public concerned about the consequences of the Salisbury poisoning. My contribution to the debate is modest and mainly in the public domain, but I do have some personal snippets which may be relevant. Where I have indulged in conjecture, I have made this obvious. I am not a ‘conspiracy theorist’ nor a Kremlin stooge. I
by Paul Craig Roberts (cross-posted with PCR’s website with his special agreement) Among the ruling interests in the US, one interest even more powerful than the Israel Lobby—the Deep State of the military/security complex— there is enormous fear that an uncontrollable President Trump at the upcoming Putin/Trump summit will make an agreement that will bring to an end the demonizing of Russia that serves to protect the enormous budget and
by Peter Koenig for The Saker Blog The Government of Venezuela called an international Presidential Economic Advisory Commission, 14-16 June, 2018 – to debate the current foreign injected economic disturbances and seeking solutions to overcome them. I was privileged and honored to be part of this commission. Venezuela is literally being strangled by economic sanctions, by infiltrated elements of unrest, foreign trained opposition leaders, trained to disrupt distribution of food,
by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with the Asia Times by special agreement with the author) Erdogan has lost his parliamentary majority and must now establish a coalition with the far-right Nationalist Action Party; given the latter is anti-Western, the road ahead points in only one direction: Eurasian integration To the utter despair of stoic defenders of “Western values,” Europe is now condemned to suffer two populist autocracies on its eastern borders:
by Ramin Mazaheri for The Saker Blog Just as everyone falsely assumes that Iran’s economic history followed the standard colonial model (it didn’t), that their political cleavages are the same as the West’s (they aren’t) and that Iran trails the West in modern political thought & democratic structure (they don’t), it is little wonder that Westerners assume that “privatisation” simply must be the same as in the West (it isn’t).
by Jeff J. Brown for The Saker Blog Crosslinked with: http://chinarising.puntopress.com/2018/06/22/100000-chinese-going-to-the-world-cup-in-russia-with-no-team-to-cheer-for-china-rising-radio-sinoland-180622/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1GCScchR_w https://soundcloud.com/44-days/100000-chinese-going-to-the-world-cup-in-russia-with-no-team-to-cheer-for-c-rising-radio-sinoland Inconsolable Chinese football fans, who, in spite of not having a national team to root for, are going to the World Cup in Russia by the tens of thousands. The traditional Chinese drums say, China Power. No team, no national glory, no nothing, yet for this year’s Football World Cup tournament in Russia, 100,000 Chinese still traveled
by Ghassan and Intibah Kadi for The Saker Blog The recent developments following the 12th of May 2018 elections in Iraq put the country on a potential new course. What nature and direction of this course is the big question. The now 44 years old, Muqtada Al-Sadr was only 25 years old when his father Ayatollah Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq Al-Sadr was ambushed and killed together with two of his sons,
by Ghassan Kadi for the Saker Blog If my previous article (http://10.16.86.131/the-lebanese-style-of-democracy-of-no-winners-or-losers/) dissected Lebanese style democracy and mentioned Western style democracy in passing, then we should perhaps have a closer look at Western democracy; or what is left of it. The word “democracy’ comes from the Greek word demokratia; from demos ‘the people’ and kratia ‘power’. In other words, it means the power of the people. Different dictionaries give slightly
by Pepe Escobar (cross-posted with the Asia Times by special agreement with the author) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo knows the importance of rare earth elements, and North Korea has reportedly found one of the world’s biggest deposits 150km from Pyongyang; is this another factor behind the recent thaw with the US? This may not be about condos on North Korean beaches after all. Arguably, the heart of the matter
by Ramin Mazaheri for the The Saker blog “Ramin Mazaheri, a foreign correspondent for Iran’s Press TV, posted a blog accusing the World Socialist Web Site of betraying its ‘socialist principles’ and aiding imperialism, because we welcomed the working-class opposition to Iran’s capitalist government…” From nearly the beginning of the WSWS’s 3-part rebuttal to my criticism of them is the refusal, or inability, to understand that Iran’s government cannot accurately qualify as “capitalist”. I
