If Syria is to Fall, others will Follow: The Pandora’s Box of Federalism

By Ramzy Baroud, PhD.

The apparent sudden Russian military withdrawal from Syria, starting on March 15 left political commentators puzzled. Few of the analyses offered should be taken seriously. There is little solid information as of why the Russian leader decided to end his country’s military push in Syria. The intervention, which began last September, was enough to change the direction of the war on many fronts. However, one thing is for sure: the Russian withdrawal is reversible, as indicated by Vladimir Putin himself. “If necessary, literally within a few hours, Russia can build up its contingent in the region to a size proportionate to the situation developing there and use the entire arsenal of capabilities at our disposal,” he said at the Kremlin on March 17.

Category: Politics, Ramzy Baroud, War and Conflict | Comments Off

March 25 2016

After Nuclear Deal Wall Street Still Wants Iranian Blood

By Caleb Maupin

When the P5+1 Nuclear Talks were completed, and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was put into practice, jubilant words resounded from many places. The “reformist movement” within Iranian politics used the nuclear deal as a campaign issue and swept up victories in the recent parliamentary elections. Meanwhile, the Republican Party writhed with the anger of defeat, inviting Netanyahu to address Congress against Obama’s wishes, and screaming doomsday predictions about a “nuclear-armed Iran” after the deal was signed.

Category: Featured, Guest, Hegemony, Lies Damn Lies, War and Conflict | Comments Off

March 24 2016

Pakistan: March 23 Resolution – Forgotten Imperatives of a Progressive Nation

By Mahboob A. Khawaja, PhD.

If you wish to view the screen of virtual reality of Pakistan’s politics – come and see the mirror – how Pakistan is being governed by the wrong people, with wrong thinking and doing the wrong things. Continued daily bloodbaths of innocent civilians triggered by terrorism, overwhelming militarization of the public institutions, destroyed commerce and trades and non-productive economic culture have incapacitated the operational body of Pakistan. Its existence and freedom are challenged by its own political rulers. The thinking hubs of the nation must initiate planned steps and organize revolutionary collective ideas and ideals to deter threats to the national freedom, integrity and future of Pakistan. Those who embrace power through intrigue, gangesterism, political killings, military coups and backdoor conspiracies are not the legitimate rulers, nor do they answer to the aims of the peoples’ aspirations for a strong Pakistan. The priorities must be focused on developing a new system of economic and political governance by disconnecting the interdependence on foreign aid, debts and dictates. The nation has been dehumanized to its critical and painful juncture of very survival. Under the circumstances, what is there to celebrate a Pakistan Day of March 23? The symbolic Pakistan Day celebrations will remain devoid of much needed change and reformation goal of the institutionalized corrupt system of governance. Pakistan is in desperate need of political change and a new political system of governance to safeguard its national freedom and a sustainable future.

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Category: Hegemony, Lies Damn Lies, Mahboob A. Khawaja, Ph.D. | Comments Off

March 23 2016

Zero-Sum in Brussels: the Savage Vision Driving a Terror-Ridden World

Afghan immigrant in Paris eating a meal from the Red Cross on the street

By Chris Floyd

The atrocities in Brussels — and they are horrific, criminal atrocities — are not occurring in a vacuum. They are not springing from some unfathomable abyss of motiveless malevolence. They are a response, in kind, to the atrocious violence being committed by Western powers on a regular basis in many countries around the world. And just as there is no justification for the acts of carnage in Brussels (and Paris and Turkey and elsewhere), there is likewise no justification for the much larger and more murderous acts of carnage being carried out by the most powerful and prosperous nations on earth, day after day, year after year.

Category: Featured, Guest, Hegemony, War and Conflict | Comments Off

March 19 2016

Remembering the Dead

By Murray Polner

I used to commute to work by rail with a neighbor. One day I learned that we were both veterans, me a Korean War draftee and he an officer in the Vietnam War. One of his military jobs was, to say the least, a bit unusual. For a time he was assigned to visit families of the dead to inform them their husband, son, grandson, nephew had been killed in the war.

Category: Activists, Murray Polner, The Troops, War and Conflict | Comments Off

March 18 2016

The rise of American authoritarianism

Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump Campaigns Throughout Iowa

By Amanda Taub

The American media, over the past year, has been trying to work out something of a mystery: Why is the Republican electorate supporting a far-right, orange-toned populist with no real political experience, who espouses extreme and often bizarre views? How has Donald Trump, seemingly out of nowhere, suddenly become so popular?

Category: Campaigns, Culture, Featured, Guest, Politics | Comments Off

March 16 2016

The Complexity of Simple

By TdOs

Winter came as ice. The slightest threadbare twigs on every bush and tree wrapped in crystal and then dusted with snow like confectioner’s sugar. The entirety of the forest frosted, white outlines tracing contours until the fingers of every brach blended into every other masking the separation of individual trees, and the whole landscape was without depth or form, an unbroken line tracing itself eternally. Time itself slowed, my breath stands still before me while the land begs, “Slow down. Be.”

Category: Environment, Guest, Ideology | Comments Off

March 15 2016

Why India’s first 100% organic state matters for the future of organic food

Though we might wish otherwise, progress often starts small and takes time. An organic country and an organic world are inspiring visions for our health, our environment, our climate, and our animals. But to get there, we have to keep taking steps, learning lessons, and celebrating good news and developments as they come.

Category: Activists, Environment, Guest | Comments Off

Uncommon Thought Journal

Analysis of the critical issues of our times