Slavoj Žižek: What Lies Ahead?

Philosopher Slavoj Žižek writes in Jacobin that if we are to confront properly the threat of a catastrophe, we must embrace a new notion of time.

Why Arab States Aren’t Using Oil as a Weapon Against Israel

During the Yom Kippur War in 1973, Arab oil producers cut off exports to Israel’s allies. But faced with today’s Israeli war on Gaza, Gulf states dismiss the idea of using the “oil weapon” — an index of how much they have abandoned the Palestinian cause.

Is This a Turning Point for Israel’s Standing in the World?

Writing in Jacobin, Ecuador’s former foreign minister under Rafael Correa analyzes the cracks in Israel’s international standing that seem to be emerging — even in the United States.

A Right-Wing Think Tank Just Named AMLO “Tyrant of the Year.” It’s Absurd.

The Index on Censorship, a right-wing nonprofit led by a vicious Jeremy Corbyn opponent that receives funding from the US government, has named Mexican president AMLO its annual “Tyrant of the Year.” Come on.

Joe Biden’s Pivot to a “Law-and-Order” Approach to Crime Is a Return to Form

Voters aren’t even telling pollsters that crime is a top issue for them. That isn’t stopping President Joe Biden from shifting to the right on crime anyway.

Ilhan Omar Should Wear Her Expulsion From the House Foreign Affairs Committee as a Badge of Honor

Ilhan Omar has been kicked off the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The move is a backhanded acknowledgment by her enemies of her unusual effectiveness as a critic of the hypocrisies of US foreign policy.

The Rod Dreher Reality Show Is Hard to Look Away From

Following every juicy, unhinged twist and turn of Rod Dreher’s writing is trash TV for leftist intellectuals.

The Global South Must Be at the Center of the Making of a Just Global Economic Order

The US-dominated economic order constructed after Bretton Woods did not take the Global South into consideration. A new, just system will have to change that.

Nikki Haley Is an Out-of-Touch Politician Who Thinks Life Is Too Hard for the Rich

Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, is expected to announce her bid for president this month. As a South Carolinian, I can tell you that having her in the White House would be a disaster for workers and their families.

You Can Thank George W. Bush’s War on Terror for Donald Trump

The Bush administration’s war on terror meted out unthinkable violence in the Middle East while imposing an atmosphere of repression and nativism at home. It was the perfectly malignant petri dish for helping produce Donald Trump.

For the GOP in 2024, It’s Still Trump

Since he first ran for president, Donald Trump has not only become the dominant figure in Republican politics — he’s embedded his own priorities and personal style deep in the GOP base. They’ll accept no substitutes for the real thing at this point.

An Empty Tale

The foreign policy establishment is responding to Trump-era brutalities by demanding more, not less, aggression and empire.

The Imperial Plunder of Cuba Has Begun

The Trump administration distressed one of Canada’s oldest mining firms, which operates a joint venture in Cuba, through blatant lawfare, apparently so a Trump-aligned oligarch could snatch up a majority stake for pennies on the dollar.

Brazilian Agribusiness Seeks Revenge

Brazil’s powerful agribusiness lobby advanced a raft of bills last month in a legislative shock-and-awe campaign. The most consequential would make Amazon deforestation — sharply reduced under Lula — virtually impossible to monitor and sanction.

Some Vets on the Ballot Defend the VA. Others, Not So Much.

Many candidates for public office in the US tout their status as military veterans. Yet many of those same candidates, like US Senate hopeful Seth Moulton, want to privatize and undermine veterans’ health care.

Peace in Ukraine Isn’t Coming Soon

Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine one year ago today hoping to capture it in a few days — then spent the last year turning its southeast into a bloodbath. Even if the current military stalemate is broken, the divides created by the war won’t heal soon.

The Kurds Aren’t a “Security Threat” — They’re the Ones Being Attacked

Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has pushed Sweden and Finland to crack down on Kurdish groups in exchange for NATO membership. He cites his country’s “legitimate security concerns” — but it’s the long-oppressed Kurds who have most to fear.

The Left Needs Its Own Foreign Policy

Outrage at US complicity in the war on Gaza has pushed many Americans to think about international politics for the first time. The Left should seize this moment to push its vision of how the global order should run.

Imperiled Revolutions

Book-Marx #10

Seasons change, mad things rearrange . . .