Author:“James Petras ”
US Provocation and North Korea: Pretext for War with China
04.24.2017 :: AnalysisIntroduction: US Empire building on a world-scale began during and shortly after WWII. Washington intervened directly in the Chinese civil war (providing arms to Chiang Kai Shek’s army while the Red Army battled the Japanese), backed France’s re-colonization war against the Viet Minh in Indo-China and installed Japanese imperial collaborator-puppet regimes in South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.
Judeo-Centrism: Myths and Mania
04.17.2017 :: AnalysisIntroduction: Ethno-religious (ER) beliefs and practices have been harmless when individuals or groups linked to those practices have limited influence over the state and economy. In contrast, when such groups exercise a disproportionately powerful influence over the state and economy, they dominate and exploit majorities while forming closed self-replicating networks.
Global Turmoil: Flatulence or Substance
04.10.2017 :: AnalysisEvery day and throughout the world we read and hear of turmoil, of threats, violence, divisions, wars for peace and peace for wars, freedom as oppression and oppression as freedom. In a world where words have lost their meanings and meanings have no words, how do we go about understanding turmoil?
Death on the Prescription Plan. The ‘White Plague’ of the 21st Century
04.06.2017 :: United StatesOver the past two decades hundreds of thousands of Americans have died prematurely because of irresponsibly prescribed narcotic ‘pain killers’ and other central nervous system depressants, like tranquillizers and their deadly interactions.
Immigration: No Easy Answers
03.24.2017 :: AnalysisIntroduction: The cross border flood of millions of immigrants provokes profound political divisions, violence and the rise of mass movements challenging the unity of the European Union (EU) and the survival of the dominant political parties in the US and Europe.
China’s Great Leap Forward: Western Frogs Croak Dismay
03.23.2017 :: AnalysisIntroduction: From their dismal swamps, US academic and financial journal editorialists, the mass media and contemporary ‘Asia experts’, Western progressive and conservative politicians croak in unison about China’s environmental and impending collapse.
Peace Accords or Political Surrender? Latin America, the Middle East and Ukraine
03.18.2017 :: Latin America - AnalysisIntroduction: Over thirty year ago a savvy Colombian peasant leader told me, “Whenever I read the word ‘peace accords’ I hear the government sharpening its knives”.
The Rising Tide of Militarism in the 21st Century: From Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump
03.11.2017 :: United StatesIntroduction: US militarism expanded exponentially through the first two decades of the Twenty-First Century, and was embraced by both Democratic and Republican Presidents. The mass media’s hysteria towards President Trump’s increase in military spending deliberately ignores the vast expansion of militarism, in all its facets, under President Obama and his two predecessors, Presidents ‘Bill’ Clinton and George Bush, Jr.
Artificial Intelligence: ‘Frankenstein’ or Capitalist Money Machine
02.21.2017 :: AnalysisIntroduction: The Financial Times’ Special Report (2/16/2017) published a four-page spread on the ‘use and possible dangers of artificial intelligence (AI)’. Unlike the usual trash journalists who serve as Washington’s megaphones on the editorial pages and political columns, the Special Report is a thoughtful essay that raises many important issues, even as it is fundamentally flawed.
President Trump: Diplomacy and Democracy in America
02.16.2017 :: United StatesIntroduction: By the end of the first month of President Trump’s Administration we are in a better position to evaluate the policies and direction of the new President. An examination of foreign and domestic policy, particularly from a historical and comparative perspective will provide insights about whether America is heading for a catastrophe as the mass media claim or toward greater realism and rationality.
Trump’s Ties to the Past and the Resurrection of the Left
02.09.2017 :: United States‘De Omnibus Dubitandum’
Everything is to be Doubted
President Trump: Nationalist Capitalism, An Alternative to Globalization
01.27.2017 :: United StatesIntroduction: During his inaugural speech, President Trump clearly and forcefully outlined the strategic political-economic policies he will pursue over the next four years. Anti-Trump journalist, editorialists, academics and experts, who appear in the Financial Times, New York Times, Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal have repeatedly distorted and lied about the President’s program as well as his critique of existing and past policies.
Obama’s Political Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy: Chelsea Manning as Bait
01.23.2017 :: United StatesIntroduction: The malady, common among political leaders who commit heartless crimes while craving popular adulation as heroes and misunderstood saints, is ‘Political Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy’ (PMSP).
Regime Change Comes Home: The CIA’s Overt Threats against Trump
01.17.2017 :: United StatesIntroduction: The norms of US capitalist democracy include the election of presidential candidates through competitive elections, unimpeded by force and violence by the permanent institutions of the state. Voter manipulation has occurred during the recent elections, as in the case of the John F. Kennedy victory in 1960 and the George W. Bush victory over ‘Al’ Gore in 2000.
ISIS: Not by Terrorism Alone
01.07.2017 :: Middle EastThe global growth and survival of ISIS, in the face of opposition by governments, armies, intelligence agencies and police forces from nearly a hundred countries, requires analysis.
Laurence Fink: The Trillion-Dollar Deadhead
01.03.2017 :: United StatesAmong the current crop of Wall Street financiers, Laurence “Larry” Fink has received the greatest number of awards and plaudits. He is the CEO and Chairman of Black Rock (BR), the world’s largest multinational investment management corporation. By 2016, BR had over $5 trillion dollars under management with over 12,000 employees in 70 offices in 30 countries serving clients in 100 countries.
The Anti-Trump Institutional Coup and the Visible Operatives
12.30.2016 :: United StatesThere are various types of coups: the seizure of executive power by military officials who disband the elected legislature, judiciary and executive, shut-down the media that criticizes the military take- over and and outlaws’ independent social movements.
Portrait of an Assassin: Obama’s Revenge
12.30.2016 :: Middle EastThe events leading to the assassination of the Russian Ambassador to Turkey has a long and torturous trail. The beginning and end are found in President Obama’s attempt to militarily encircle and discredit Russia through massive propaganda and sanctions. Obama built military bases on Russia’s borders; organized a putsch in the Ukraine; launched violent attacks on Russian allies in Libya and Syria; and encircled China, Russia’s ally in Asia.
False Prophets and False News: Time for New Beginnings
12.30.2016 :: AnalysisIntroduction: There are deep flaws in the blogs, media reports, and official statements, which purport to describe world historic events and changes.
The Coup against Trump and His Military - Wall Street Defense
12.28.2016 :: United StatesIntroduction: A coup has been underway to prevent President-Elect Donald Trump from taking office and fulfilling his campaign promise to improve US-Russia relations. This ‘palace coup’ is not a secret conspiracy, but an open, loud attack on the election.
Broken Promises: The Structural Legacy of Capitalist Democracies
12.12.2016 :: United StatesIn recent times, and probably since the establishment of universal voting, presidents- elect have systematically violated or broken their promises to their supporters.
Chosen Leaders, Proven Failures and Political Debacles
12.05.2016 :: AnalysisWith a few notable exceptions, political leaders are chosen by political leaders, and not by electorates or community-based organizations or popular assemblies. Popular media figures and the so-called ‘pundits’, including academics and self-declared experts and ‘think-tank’ analysts reinforce and propagate these choices.