James Petras
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Obama’s Politics of War and US Public Opinion: The Great Divergence By James Petras
Introduction: As President Obama announces plans for another war, adding Syria to the ongoing and recent wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and elsewhere, a profound gap has emerged between the highly militarized state and US public opinion. Continue reading
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Building Israel: The Start-Up Nation By James Petras
The company, cleverly named ‘Two Commandments’, ( as in ‘Ye shall make money’ and ‘Ye shall not get caught’), a Tel Aviv based marketing and private government subcontractor, developed ‘smart pods’ to capture smells, color, expulsive energy and volatile gases. One of the owners, Bibby Dershitz, (a ‘21st century Moses’, according to the Wall Street… Continue reading
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The Obama Regime’s Fabricated “Terror Conspiracy” in Defense of the Police State By Prof. James Petras
Representative democracies and autocratic dictatorships respond to profound internal crises in very distinctive ways: the former attempts to reason with citizens, explaining the causes, consequences and alternatives; dictatorships attempt to terrorize, intimidate and distract the public by evoking bogus external threats, to perpetuate and justify rule by police state methods and avoid facing up to… Continue reading
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Ireland and the Basque Country By James Petras
Many billions of Euros are being extracted from Europe’s vassal-debtor nations – Spain, Greece, Portugal and Ireland –and transferred to the creditor banks, financial speculators and swindlers located in the City of London, Wall Street, Geneva and Frankfort. Under what has been termed ‘austerity’ programs vast tributary payments are amassed by ruling Conservative and Social… Continue reading
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Boston Bombings: Detonator to Mobilize the Entire US Security Apparatus. May Change the World for the Worse! By Prof. James Petras
The official government and corporate media versions claim the FBI may have ‘over-looked’ the security risk posed by Tsarnaev. Congressional critics argue that the FBI was ‘negligent’ in following up leads provided by the Russians and the CIA. A more likely explanation is that the FBI was actively engaged with Tsarnaev and deliberately encouraged the… Continue reading
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The Obama Kerry Hagel Regime: Selling Death and Buying Assassins in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia By Prof. James Petras
As President Obama enters his second term with a new Cabinet, the foreign policy legacy of the past four years weighs heavily on their strategic decisions and their empire-building efforts. Central to the analysis of the next period is an evaluation of the past policies especially in regions where Washington expended its greatest financial and… Continue reading
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The Religious and Social Crisis in America. Political Consequences By Prof. James Petras
The opening long decade of the 21st century (2000-2012) has been a period of repeated and profound economic and social crises, of serial and prolonged wars and declining living standards for the vast majority of Americans. How have people responded to this crisis? No large scale, long term, socio-political movements have emerged to challenge the… Continue reading
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Legal Imperialism” and International Law: Legal Foundations for War Crimes, Debt Collection and Colonization By Prof. James Petras
By now we are familiar with imperial states using their military power to attack, destroy and occupy independent countries. Boatloads of important studies have documented how imperial countries have seized and pillaged the resources of mineral-rich and agriculturally productive countries, in consort with multi-national corporations. Financial critics have provided abundant data on the ways in… Continue reading
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Israeli Terror: The “Final Solution” to the Palestine Question By Prof. James Petras
For the past forty-five years the state of Israel has been dispossessing millions of Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories, confiscating their lands, destroying homes, bulldozing orchards and setting-up ‘Jews-only’ colonial settlements serviced by highways, electrical systems and water works for the exclusive use of the settlers and occupying soldiers. Continue reading
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London: Parasites’ Paradise (Or the Best Criminal Sanctuary Money Can Buy) By Prof. James Petras
Whenever financial swindlers prosper at the expense of investors or bank jiggers interest rates to bugger their competitors or tax evaders flee fiscal crises or rent gouging petrol monarchies recycle profits or oligarchs pillage economies and drive millions to drink, drugs and destitution they find a suitable secure sanctuary in London. Continue reading
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The Summer of Muslim Discontent: It’s Not “The Amateur Film” Stupid! By James Petras
The legacy of imperial intervention in the Muslim world during the first decade of the 21st century, in terms of lives lost, in people displaced, in economies destroyed, in perpetual warfare, exceeds any previous decade, including 19th and 20th century colonial conquests. Continue reading
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Columbia’s Quest for Peace & Justice: The International & National Contexts By Professor James Petras
Between April 21-23, thousands of activists from most of the major urban and rural social movements and trade unions, human rights groups and indigenous, afro-Colombian movements will meet to unify forces and launch, what promises to be the most significant new political movement in recent history. Continue reading
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Argentina: Why President Fernandez Wins and Obama Loses By James Petras
The most popular slogan of the multitudinous movements occupying the financial districts factories, public buildings and the streets was ‘Que se vayan todos’ (‘All politicians get out’). The entire political class, parties and leaders, Congress and presidents were rejected outright. But while the movements were vast, militant and united in what they rejected, they had… Continue reading
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Multi-Billion-Dollar Terrorists and the Disappearing Middle Class By James Petras
During Obama’s Presidency, Social Security’s cost-of-living adjustment has been frozen, resulting in a net decrease of over 8 percent, which is exactly the amount spent chasing just 5 dozen ‘Al Qaeda terrorists’ in the mountains bordering Pakistan. Continue reading
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Empire or Republic. How the Empire Destroys its Own People By Prof. James Petras
On May 29, 2011, President Obama visited Joplin, Missouri , the site of a devastating tornado that killed 140 and pronounced it a terrible “tragedy”. But were the deaths the inevitable result of ‘natural events’ beyond the human intervention? Coincidentally the same week Afghan President Karzai condemned the killing of a family of 14 by… Continue reading
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The Euro-US War on Libya: Official Lies and Misconceptions of Critics By James Petras and Robin Eastman-Abaya
Following the lead of their imperial powers, most of what passes for the Left in the US and Europe, ranging from Social Democrats, Marxists, Trotskyists,Greens and other assorted progressives, claim they see and support a revolutionary mass uprising of the Libyan people, and not a few have called for military intervention by the imperial powers,… Continue reading
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The Ecuadorian Coup: Its Larger Meaning By James Petras
The abortive military-police coup in Ecuador, which took place on September 30, has raised numerous questions about the role of the US and its allies among the traditional oligarchy and the leftist social movements, Indian organizations and their political parties. Continue reading
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Strained US ‘ China Relations: China’s Crucial Role as America’s Creditor By Prof. James Petras
The Obama Administration has heightened tensions with China through a series of measures which can only be characterized as major provocations designed to undermine relations between the two countries. These provocations include political support for separatist movements, such as the US-funded theocratic-monk led Tibetan secessionists and the Washington-based Uyghur secessionists, as well as through the… Continue reading
The New Dark Age 