Why China wants the Ukraine war to drag on: China needs Russian oil and gas for its energy-devouring economy
As a noticeably puffy-faced Vladimir Putin welcomed his “dear friend” Xi Jinping to the Kremlin yesterday, the Russian despot acted as if he was hosting his equal. After all, he no doubt reasoned, China needs Russian oil and gas for its energy-devouring economy. The Kremlin is also a handy ally...
Refugee protection system in US, world is founded colonial and racist; can’t let the displaced lead policy conversations
As the first and only female CEO of an international refugee rights organisation with lived experience of forced displacement, I am painfully aware that colonialism and white supremacy are central to the formation and functioning of the global refugee protection system. Having to continually prove this obvious fact is exhausting,...
Who killed Ouko: 23 years since murder of foreign minister, lawyer warns Kenya is again in a rut
Rising uncertainty and fears that Kenya is sliding back to the dark days of dictatorship, humans rights activists and sticklers for rule of law and constitutionalism have raised the flag that ordinary citizens should be ready to defend freedom of expression and opinion. Human Rights Lawyer and Advocate of the...
Hazy US, Nato policy on Ukraine war sets stage for disruption of world economies and security
One of the most striking aspects about the past year is how little debate we’ve seen over US and Nato policy on Russian-Ukraine war. This is not to say that there is only one right position on Ukraine. Nor does it mean that there are not some deranged people who...
Muting criticism of US stand on Ukraine war encourages nuclear conflict, which Moscow is spoiling for
There is a disturbing aspect to the discourse in Washington DC and European capitals surrounding the war in Ukraine that seeks to quash any dissent from the official narrative surrounding Nato’s military support for Ukraine. As the world was thrust into Cold War 2.0, the Western commentariat dusted off the...
Ukraine reporter’s diary: After all the horror they’d experienced, the desperation I saw was hard to process
I’ve been covering conflict in Ukraine for more than eight years. I was in the country when Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24 last year and have visited several times since. Still, I was shocked by what I saw during my latest reporting trip in January. Before the...
Last year Congress allocated $45 billion more to military although America’s not won a war of faintest significance since 1945
Look, what matters to the American military-industrial complex isn’t either the truth or saving your taxpayer dollars but keeping those weapons programmes going and the money flowing. What matters, above all, is keeping America’s economy on a permanent wartime footing both by buying endless new (and old) weapons systems for...
US’ permanent war economy chokes democracy via its warriors, militarism that kill civil liberties
My name is Bill Astore and I’m a card-carrying member of the military-industrial complex (MIC). Sure, I hung up my military uniform for the last time in 2005. Since 2007, I’ve been writing articles for TomDispatch focused largely on critiquing that same MIC and America’s permanent war economy. I’ve written...
Questions raised about why Africa’s last colony – Western Sahara – is deprived of UN human rights monitoring
Western Sahara is the territory in northwest Africa bordered by Morocco in the north, Algeria and Mauritania in the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. A former Spanish colony, it’s listed by the United Nations as one of only 17 territories that remain without self-government. Since becoming independent...
Guantanamo: While Trump vowed ‘we gonna load it up with some bad dudes’ there’s slim hope Biden will close it
All told, although President Barack Obama’s administration poured far more energy into the effort to close Gitmo than his predecessor George W. Bush’s administration had, Obama failed during his terms in office to do so. In his last year, Obama continued to push hard with the rallying cry, “Let’s go...
