International

Eric London THE mounting scale of the US government’s attack on immigrants is a warning that the Trump administration, without opposition from the Democratic Party, is adopting an official state policy of physical violence and mass, indefinite detention. The US government arrested 144,000 immigrants in the month of May and is detaining 400,000 people per […]

Li Ruohan AS CHINA called on joint efforts to promote free trade at the G20 Summit to be held later this month, observers noted that the summit, where leaders from China and the US are likely to meet, is also a chance to restart the stalled trade negotiations and save the global market from more […]

Bill Van Auken THE THREAT of all-out war in the Middle East is greater today than at any time since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, and the potential consequences are far graver. The report that the Pentagon has drawn up plans for dispatching 120,000 US soldiers and Marines to the region in preparation for […]

Nick BeamsWALL STREET had a sharp fall on 23 May, and the yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond dropped to its lowest level since 2017, amid concerns over the increasing tensions between the US and China, and indications of slowing global growth. The Dow Jones index finished the day 286 points down, a decline […]

Bill Van Auken JUST days after President Donald Trump threatened to put an “official end” to Iran, Washington has threatened renewed military aggression against Syria based on unsubstantiated charges of the use of chemical weapons in the military campaign being waged by Damascus against Al Qaeda-linked militias in the north-western province of Idlib. The new […]

UN investigators call for arrests over Gaza war crimes Maureen Clare Murphy ISRAELI forces may have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity by using lethal military force against unarmed protesters in Gaza, a United Nations independent commission of inquiry has found. “Israeli security forces committed serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law,” […]

Dr. Binoy Kampmark HEGEMONS are never going to sound too sensible when they lock horns or joust in spats of childish anger. Power corrupts, not merely in terms of perspective but language, and making sense about the next move, the next statement, is bound to be challenging. Otherwise justified behaviour can be read as provocative; […]

Crucial to the convergence of civilizations? Andrew Korybko THE Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations (CDAC) opens in Beijing will be graced by a keynote speech from President Xi about the importance of civilizational harmony. China envisages a community of shared destiny where the world’s diverse civilizations are connected through the Belt and Road Initiative […]

Peter Schwarz FORECASTS predict that far-right parties will make considerable gains in this month’s European elections. According to opinion polls, the right-wing extremist group in the European parliament, Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF), could increase its seats from 37 to 63. The Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) group could win around 40 […]

Masud Wadan WHILE the national debt of the United States was recorded at 22.03 trillion as of April 2019, Washington’s going ahead with its hawkish policies worldwide with recent NATO summit pushing for further unity against China, Russia and Iran. NATO’s annual overall military budget was US$ 957 billion in 2017 where the US’s share […]