24 August 2013 — Strategic Culture Foundation
Chemicals Seep Through the Cracks in Western-led Axis Against Syria
24.08.2013 | 09:31 | Finian CUNNINGHAM
A recurring pattern throughout the Syrian crisis is the coincidence of massacres suspiciously at times when there is a shift in the political backdrop. This is important to bear in mind when assessing reports this week of an alleged chemical weapon massacre near Damascus where some reports put the death toll at over 1,100…Previously, when the United Nations Security Council was convening to vote on tougher international sanctions against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, a massacre or bombing atrocity would occur, as in the notorious case of Houla village in May 2012 when more than 100 civilians were slaughtered…
Iran: Will the Image of the New Leadership Become a Reality?
24.08.2013 | 00:00 | Nikolai BOBKIN
The labeling of members of the ruling political elite in Iran as «conservatives» or «reformers» has become commonplace, which seriously hinders understanding of the changes taking place in the leadership of the Islamic Republic after the beginning of Hassan Rouhani’s presidency. Attempts to squeeze this multifaceted political figure into the framework of standard conceptions of Iranian «reformers» are at the least dubious and only serve to multiply the contradictions in assessments of the reasons for his election victory…
The Western Challenge to Eurasian Integration
23.08.2013 | 00:00 | Nikolai MALISHEVSKI
Recently, official Warsaw and not-so-official Stockholm have taken a number of steps to reinforce their successes in the East in order to gain new bargaining chips for the upcoming Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius in November 2013, which will be devoted to developing a unified policy on the East for European countries… The main players in the project are Sweden in the north, Poland in the west, and NATO member Turkey in the south…
Where Is the Real Democracy Here?
23.08.2013 | 00:00 | Rafe MAIR
There are, it scarcely needs saying, many forms of so-called «democracy»… Let’s turn to the USA, the self-proclaimed paragon of democratic virtue… Twice in my lifetime, the presidential election may well have been fraudulent… The American system is simply corrupt from top to bottom. It surely must follow that we have no right to criticize elections elsewhere at least until we start to clean up our own acts…
The West Strikes Back in Syria
22.08.2013 | 09:41 | Melkulangara BHADRAKUMAR
No sooner than the United Nations chemical weapons inspectors arrived in Damascus – within 72 hours, in fact – the Syrian opposition figures based in Istanbul, Turkey, have claimed that up to 1400 people have been killed in chemical weapons attacks by the government forces on the outskirts of the Syrian capital on Wednesday morning. The United States, Britain, France, Germany, the European Union and the Arab League are among those who have demanded for urgent action. Unsurprisingly, the Syrian government itself has strongly refuted the allegation calling it a «dirty» media war… What is the game plan? One vital clue lies in the appointment of the Swedish expert Ake Sellstrom as the head of the UN team that landed in Damascus three days ago. Sellstrom served in the select band of UN weapon inspectors in Iraq…
Will General Al-Sisi Be a New Nasser?
22.08.2013 | 00:00 | Dmitry MININ
Some experts see al-Sisi as a symbol of «reborn Egyptian nationalism» whose roots go back to Nasser. If events confirm such an assessment, it will serve as a historical justification for advancing military men to the center of social change in Egypt… The rebirth of the spirit of Nasserism as an ideological and political foundation for the activities of the new government in a critical moment for the country could also open new opportunities for collaboration between Egypt and Russia. In Moscow, as in Cairo, they remember that in the Nasser era this collaboration was very productive, and Egypt was then an influential factor in world politics, including as part of the Non-Aligned Movement.
The Media Deception About the Bombings in Lebanon
21.08.2013 | 10:55 | Mahdi Darius NAZEMROAYA
There has been an ongoing information war being fought for hearts and minds inside and outside of the Middle East. The war has mostly been tied to Syria. As the US and its allies begin to focus their attention on Hezbollah in Lebanon, the media war now includes the events in Lebanon. This, however, has not stopped the media attempts to depict the fighting in Syria in sectarian terms as a regional war between Shias and Sunnis or to demonize Syria’s allies…
Egypt at Crossroads: Reckoning with Reality
21.08.2013 | 00:00 | Andrei AKULOV
…Egypt is the largest Arab state and has all the resources and opportunities to become the driving force for the economic development of the entire region… The interim government should be given a chance, it does not exclude the Brotherhood from the process (rather the Brotherhood excludes itself) and the international community may and should play a positive role. Egypt is going through hard times and it needs a helping hand, not rebukes and sanctions. It has announced the intention to cede power to elected officials. This option is much more preferable than prolonged chaos and civil war in the country with the population exceeding 80 million people.
Egypt in the Calculations of Regional and Global Political Powers
20.08.2013 | 12:06 | Nikolai MALISHEVSKI
The vivid pictures filling the world media of what has been happening recently in Egypt are very reminiscent of the most critical moments of the «revolution» of 2011. At that time the local and world television channels were also filled with reports in a style very similar to today’s events: a furious, seething mob, bewildered policemen, Western correspondents broadcasting with tense, focused expressions on their faces…
The Escalation of the Crisis in Egypt
20.08.2013 | 00:00 | Boris DOLGOV
…The defeat of Islamists in Egypt is evidence of the collapse of Western policy in the Arab world with its support of Islamism. Such support only seems absurd at first glance; in reality, it is pursuing strategic objectives, including the removal of undesirable regimes and entire state formations. The nationhoods of Iraq and Libya have virtually been destroyed, while attempts to destroy Syria are still going on. The media is reporting on the seizure of maps during searches of a number of Egyptian NGOs financed by the US showing Egypt split into four parts. The old political formula of «divide and rule» is still going strong…
Jacques Vergès: Live History of XX Century. In memoriam
19.08.2013 | 00:00 | Alexander MEZYAEV
Jacques Vergès, the most famous lawyer in the world, died aged 88 in Paris on August 16. These days the world news agencies rush to make reports about his demise either using the sobriquet «Devil’s advocate» or calling him the «Terror Advocate». I had a God-sent unique opportunity to know him personally. Today it’s my duty to tell the world about him and say to media: «No, he was not the Devil’s Advocate. He was the Advocate of the Demonized…» He was frequently asked the very same question «How can you defend indefensible clients?» Slobodan Milosevic and Saddam Hussein were usually set as the examples…
The Great Problems of Greater Europe
19.08.2013 | 00:00 | Nikolai MALISHEVSKI
The problems of the modern European Union are not limited to the growth of separatism in practically half of EU countries, the refusal of European Muslims to integrate into the society in which they live, and the influx of migrants from Asian and African countries. The leading Western media began to write about the fact that the new, greatly expanded European Union will face big problems almost as soon as the expansion took place. Impressive economic figures do not mean that Greater Europe can expect a great future. In fact, united Europe is encountering a large number of serious systemic problems in the most varied spheres of life…
Discord Mounting in the European Union (III)
18.08.2013 | 17:40 | Pyotr ISKENDEROV
…Taking into account the fact that the unemployment level in Bulgaria, even according to official European Union data, is over 12%, and among young people it is 28%, the country has a good chance of becoming a new Greece in the EU. That means repeat elections, fruitless coalition negotiations, a weak government, growth of radical sentiments, and in the end, essentially being controlled by Brussels, as happened in Greece. The refusal of Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev to sign the budget drafted by the acting center-left government, made public on August 7, could be a prologue to this…
Greece: A Social Explosion Is Inevitable
18.08.2013 | 11:59 | Anna FILIMONOVA
…Greece, with its enormous external state debt, is being driven between Scylla and Charybdis: on the one hand, the European Union is threatening Athens with harsh measures if the plan for privatizing large objects of Greek property breaks down; on the other hand, it is hindering privatization deals with the «wrong» partners, first and foremost with Russia, sabotaging possibilities for the recovery of the Greek economy…
Republishing is welcomed with reference to Strategic Culture Foundation on-line journal www.strategic-culture.org.
The New Dark Age 