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.
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El Salvador’s Historic Metal Mining Ban Is in Danger
Following its failed crypto scheme, authoritarian president Nayib Bukele’s cash-strapped government is making moves to reverse El Salvador’s metal mining ban. Its reintroduction would be a disaster for the nation’s already contaminated water supply.
Crimea Is a Powder Keg
Whether the Ukraine war brings on a global catastrophe will hinge in large part on whether Washington decides to back a Ukrainian effort to retake the Crimean peninsula.
The Global Exploitation of Congo Must End
Pope Francis’s recent visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo has focused world attention on a region long exploited by outsiders. But it should not require a visit from the pope for the ravages of colonialism and war to be taken seriously.
The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Still Casts a Shadow Over Japan
Twelve years after the Fukushima disaster, Japanese authorities have started pumping wastewater from the plant into the ocean. They insist there’s no danger to public health, but Japan’s neighbors are up in arms about the controversial plan.
Gustavo Petro’s Last Push to Phase Out Fossil Fuels
Colombia hosted a global summit on phasing out fossil fuels last month. Gustavo Petro’s left-wing government is confronting powerful oil and mining interests, but making Western countries follow suit is not easy.
COP30 Kicked the Climate Can Down the Road Once Again
The US didn’t send a delegation to the COP30 conference in Brazil, reflecting the Trump administration’s nihilistic attitude to the climate crisis. In its absence, the other big industrial powers once again postponed making hard but essential choices.
The Edwardian Baroque Anticipated the Architecture of Global Capitalism
A new book shows how the grand designs of Edwardian architects expressed the anxieties and illusions of their time. Imperial confidence in the peaceful integration of the world ran alongside fears of decline and collapse, echoing the dilemmas of our own age.
We Can’t Understand Islamophobia Without Recognizing Its Roots in Imperialism
Anti-Muslim racism has become a central theme for right-wing demagogues in Europe and the US. Islamophobia isn’t just a bad set of ideas: it’s a product of imperialism and the destructive wars waged by the US and its allies in the Middle East.
Kenyon Student Workers Are Unionizing. They Say the College Is Fighting Them.
Since 2020, undergraduate student workers at Kenyon College have been trying to unionize. We spoke with workers about what they say are the college’s union-busting tactics and NLRB delays preventing the union election process from moving forward.
Germany Had Its Debts Written Off. Today, We Should Do the Same for the Global South.
Seventy years ago today, Germany’s debts from World War II were written off. Today climate activists around the world are protesting in front of German embassies to demand the cancellation of the debt of the Global South.
South Korean Truckers Provide a Model for Labor Organizing Among Independent Contractors
In December 2022, TruckSol, a trade union of South Korean truck drivers, waged a massive 16-day strike that cost employers over $2 billion. The union’s history and organizing strategy have lessons for precariously employed workers around the world.
Socialism Means Expanding Democracy to All of Society
Socialism is again a major current in American life, and the Right has been freaking out over it nonstop. Socialists have to explain what we’re really for: giving people a say in how every aspect of their lives is run.
The Ghost of Stalin Still Hasn’t Been Laid to Rest
Joseph Stalin died 70 years ago today, having stamped his indelible mark upon the Soviet system. Stalin’s legacy continues to haunt the post-Soviet landscape, right up to the present war with Ukraine.
Hindu Nationalist Lobbyists on Capitol Hill Are Growing in Influence
Right-wing lobby groups that claim to speak on behalf of Indian Americans are trying to stifle criticism of Narendra Modi’s Hindu chauvinist agenda. They’ve modeled themselves on pro-Israel groups like AIPAC and forged alliances around Islamophobic bigotry.
From Slavery Abolition to Public Education, German Radicals Made American History
The United States has forgotten the radical German American immigrant socialists who spilled blood for antislavery and other liberatory causes.
No, AMLO Is Not Undermining Mexican Democracy
The international press is again bludgeoning Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, this time accusing him of attacking the country’s democratic institutions. It’s a baseless charge intended to undermine a government that refuses total obedience to US hegemony.
The Biggest Annual Right-Wing Conference Was a Flop This Year
CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, is usually one of the biggest events of the year for conservatives, but this year it was a huge flop. Has the Right given up trying to speak to anyone beyond its most unhinged followers?
Twenty Years Ago, the Iraq War Changed Everything — and Taught Elites Nothing
The ripple effects of the disastrous Iraq invasion still course through the Middle East and domestic US politics decades later. Yet there’s little evidence those in power have learned anything from it.
Diplomat Richard Haass’s Shallow Centrism Has No Answers to the Problems America Faces
In The Bill of Obligations, Council on Foreign Relations president and MSNBC stalwart Richard Haass offers solutions to America’s democratic crisis. The book, littered with vacuous bromides, is proof that liberals are all out of ideas.