This piece was written for the UK Stop the War Coalition’s website. It may seem wearily familiar — a rush to war, disputed intelligence dossiers and a determined effort to proceed without even UN Security Council authorisation. There are echoes of Iraq ten years ago, and it casts a long shadow upon the mounting political [...]
01 Aug
Historical analogies can often be misleading, especially when a notable anniversary places them readily to hand. Mohamad Morsi is not Salvador Allende, overthrown in the seminal Chilean coup 40 years ago. But General Abdel Fatah al-Sisi is Egypt’s Augusto Pinochet — complete with military regalia and sunglasses. The response of Western governments betrays all the [...]
22 Jul
One of the most striking things about the mainstream media coverage of Kevin Rudd’s “PNG solution” is how the discussion is mostly framed by ideas, policies and language that are increasingly relics of a past phase of the interminable “border security” debate. By outmanoeuvring opponents to both his Right and Left on this issue, Rudd [...]
09 Jul
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Jacobin magazine has just started their inaugural Book Club seminar on Panitch and Gindin’s The Making of Global Capitalism. Up today is my contribution, ‘Within or Against the State‘, which is chiefly in response to how the authors conceive of the state in relation to class struggle. Also available to be read, with more to follow, [...]
13 Mar
Iraq – 10 years on: Remembering when the world said No to war Monday March 18 at 6-8.30pm — Mitchell Theatre, Sydney Mechanics School of Arts, 240 Pitt Street, Sydney This month marks the tenth anniversary of the Invasion of Iraq. It is a timely reminder not just of the brutality of the war in Iraq, but its length. [...]
30 Dec
Just before 2012 closes out, I’m reposting my last Overland blog of the year, which originally appeared here. In some ways it is a summing up of themes we have developed at Left Flank since we started in mid-2010; chiefly in our attempts to present not just a general ideological or theoretical approach to the [...]
24 Nov
Today we’re posting a follow-up piece by British-based socialist and leading pro-Palestine activist Kevin Ovenden, addressing some of the debates that are beginning to emerge in the wake of the Gaza ceasefire. The Gaza War — initial thoughts on the outcome By KEVIN OVENDEN It is far too early to provide a comprehensive account [...]
22 Nov
Left Flank is very pleased to be able to post this extended analysis of Israel’s war on Gaza by British-based socialist Kevin Ovenden, set in its regional and international context. Kevin has been a leading activist in Viva Palestina and narrowly escaped death at the hands of the IDF as part of the first Gaza [...]
17 Feb
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Palestinians cross over the Syrian-Israeli border, May 2011 I’ve had a chance to look at Norman Finkelstein’s recent controversial statements about Left strategy over the question of the BDS. Finkelstein, a brilliant critic of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians, has for some time been highly critical of the international BDS campaign, in particular because he believes it [...]
01 Feb
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Protesters in Tahrir unfurl the flag of the Syrian rebellion This article first appeared on the ABC Drum website yesterday. One of the abiding images of the Arab Spring has been an aerial view of Tahrir Square in Cairo, brimming with thousands and perhaps hundreds of thousands of protesters. This image has returned most spectacularly on the [...]
30 Aug
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