Relatively Speaking

This article is written by Simon Blackburn and was originally published in the Royal Institute of Philosophy journal, Think.
There are philosophers (‘absolutists’) who like to stress truth, objectivity, rationality, and knowledge. Then there are others (‘relativists’) who like to stress contingency, mutability, culture, historicity, situatedness. The first group think that the second group have no [...]

A Culture of Atrocity

Chris Hedges writes in truthdig:
All troops, when they occupy and battle insurgent forces, as in Iraq, or Gaza or Vietnam, are swiftly placed in what the psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton terms “atrocity-producing situations.” In this environment, surrounded by a hostile population, simple acts such as going to a store to buy a can of Coke [...]

The Implications of Russia-led Gas Cartel

Power and Interest News Report writes:
Russia, Iran, Qatar, Venezuela, and other members of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (G.E.C.F.) met in Doha on April 9 amidst Western fears that Moscow may encourage the birth of a “gas O.P.E.C.” Western decision-makers fear that such a new organization could give producers of natural gas an advantage over [...]

Birth of “The Left” Party in Berlin

Victor Grossman writes in Portside:
Was it a day to go down in German history? The immediate, loud chorus of snarling, barking attacks seems to show that the many foes of this new party, The Left (Die Linke) see its formation as a significant change in the political landscape – and has them worried.
On Friday, [...]

Crocodile Tears

Uri Avnery writes in Gush Shalom:
What happens when one and a half million human beings are imprisoned in a tiny, arid territory, cut off from their compatriots and from any contact with the outside world, starved by an economic blockade and unable to feed their families?
Some months ago, I described this situation as a sociological [...]

The Construction of Alawi Identity in Syria

Tostein S. Worren has recently written a Master’s thesis entitled Fear and Resistance: The Construction of Alawi Identity in Syria. It is a study of human geography and associated with the University of Oslo.
Here is the abstract:
The Alawi minority of Syria – the sect of president Bashar al-Asad and his father and former president Hafiz [...]

Undersecretary General of the UN’s Parting Blast

Alvaro de Soto undersecretary general of the United Nations and its envoy to the Middle East accuses the United States of plotting to depose the Palestinian government at any price. His confidential report on the matter was leaked and published in the Guardian.
Akiva Eldar of Haaretz writes:
It is hard to find a harsher indictment of [...]

News in Brief: 20 June 2007

A brief list of news for the day:
New York’s mayor Bloomberg quits Republican party. “The New York mayor, Michael Bloomberg, is dropping his affiliation with the Republican party, sparking widespread speculation that he intends to run for president.” >> News at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2107248,00.html
US to withhold $200 million of military aid from Egypt. “The Egyptian official response [...]