InternationalAll the biggest challenges of our time are transnational: mass migration, growing wealth inequality, [inflation,] the onset of ecological Armageddon. It's arguable that the politics of the nation state have become at best irrelevant, and at worst a hindrance, to tackling such global challenges. The outlook is grim. Democracy and Truth, A Short History: Sophia Rosenfeld In every region of the world, democracy is under attack by populist leaders and groups that reject pluralism and demand unchecked power to advance the particular interests of their supporters, usually at the expense of minorities and other perceived foes. Freedom House ... the alignment of Republican support behind autocratic right-wing leaders across the globe long predates Trump’s elevation to the presidency, an investigation in partnership with Type Investigations reveals. For years, Republican members of Congress, lobbyists, and political consultants have worked to forge bonds with far-right leaders across Europe—in Hungary, Germany, Austria, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Macedonia, and beyond. You might call this loose federation of fellow travelers for the nativist global right the strongman caucus. Sarah Posner in the New Republic (3/25/2019) A rich country with millions of poor people. A country that prides itself on being the land of opportunity, but in which a child’s prospects are more dependent on the income and education of his or her parents than in other advanced countries. A country that believes in fair play, but in which the richest often pay a smaller percentage of their income in taxes than those less well off. A country in which children every day pledge allegiance to the flag, asserting that there is “justice for all,” but in which, increasingly, there is only justice for those who can afford it. These are the contradictions that the United States is gradually and painfully struggling to come to terms with as it begins to comprehend the enormity of the inequalities that mark its society—inequities that are greater than in any other advanced country. Joseph Stiglitz Years from now, the Trump administration’s wholesale withdrawal from international agreements, its “unsigning” of treaties, and its weakening of international organizations will stand out from the lies, the corruption, the incompetence, and the breaking of norms as one of its most damaging features. A partial list includes the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, NAFTA, the Paris Climate Accord, the Iran nuclear deal, the Arms Trade Treaty, and, most recently, the World Health Organization. Among these, withdrawals in the nuclear arena may prove to be especially harmful. The New Nuclear Threat Having a leader who is neither trusted by our erstwhile friends nor feared by our foreign rivals reduces our global influence in ways we’re just starting to see. Trump’s trade war didn’t achieve any of its goals, but it did succeed in making America weak again. How Trump Lost His Trade War, On speaking loudly and carrying a small stick. Paul Krugman (12/16/2019) The pro-Putin far right is on the march across Europe – and it could spell tragedy for Ukraine (4/12/2024)Examining U.S. Relations With Authoritarian Countries (12/13/2023)Rules of Order: Assessing the State of Global Governance (9/12/2023) Stewart Patrick PaperThe Elite Plan for a New World Social OrderCarnegie Endowment for International Peace Chile * Iran *
Guess How Much Of Uncle Sam's Money Goes To Foreign Aid. Guess Again! (2/10/2015)How Democracy Is Under Threat Across the Globe (8/19/2022) NYTThe American polity is cracked, and might collapse. Canada must prepare (1/2/2022)Principles of a Progressive Foreign Policy for the United StatesUnderstanding the Global Rise of Authoritarianism (11/8/2021)First Virtual World Social Forum 2021 Kicks off in Mexico (1/23/2021)Don’t Leave the W.H.O. Strengthen It. (6/13/2020)How We Broke the World (5/30/2020)The ‘Liberal World Order’ Was Built With Blood (5/29/2020)Towards A New World Order? The Global Debt Crisis and the Privatization of the State (4/17/2020)Despotism and Democracy in the Age of the Virus (4/24/2020)
When Climate Activism and Nationalism Collide (1/6/2020)
The Trump Effect, A new global poll finds that the widely disliked Donald Trump is bringing down world views of the U.S. (1/23/2018)
Trump Takes Incoherence and Inhumanity and Calls It Foreign Policy (10/19/2019)
The most powerful country in the world is being run by a sundowning demagogue whose oceanic ignorance is matched only by his gargantuan ego. The United States has been lucky that things have hung together as much as they have, save the odd government shutdown or white nationalist terrorist attack. But now, in foreign affairs as in the economy, the consequences of not having a functioning American administration are coming into focus. Michelle Goldberg (8/16/2019)
"America's relations with the 1.2 billion Muslims in the world are clearly in trouble. If America is not careful, its relations with 1.3 billion Chinese could be heading the same way. In strategic terms, it would be unwise for the 290 million Americans to have a difficult relationship simultaneously with two groups of people who, combined, have a population almost ten times that of America's. Their minds enveloped in the current mood of hubris, it is difficult for some key American thinkers to accept the suggestion that a little bit of prudence should be injected into American policies." Kishore Mahbubani: Beyond the Age of Innocence pg 95. “ in the eyes of much of the world, in fact, the prime rogue state today is the United States. ” Robert Jarvis “From 1945 to 2003, the United States attempted to overthrow more than forty foreign governments and to crush more than thirty populist-nationalist movements fighting against intolerable regimes. In the process, the U.S. bombed some twenty-five countries, caused the end of life for several million people and condemned many millions more to a life of agony and despair.” William Blum, former State Department employee. "TeleSur" - An international poll found that the United States is ranked far in the lead as “the biggest threat to world peace today,” far ahead of second-place Pakistan, with no one else even close. (1/17/2015) or (10/21/2014) Senator Chris Murphy's Principles for a forward-looking foreign policy
Trump Takes Incoherence and Inhumanity and Calls It Foreign Policy (10/19/2019)Noam Chomsky: Trump Is Consolidating Far-Right Power Globally (7/3/2019)With Trump as President, the World Is Spiraling Into Chaos (8/16/2019)You Can’t Trust the Far Right (5/20/2019)The Deep Hurt: Lessons From American Coups (2/13/2019)Leaked Wikileaks Doc Reveals US Military Use of IMF, World Bank as “Unconventional” Weapons (2/6/2019)Enemy of Our Future (10/1/2018)The Koch Brothers Get Their Very Own Secretary of State (3/13/2018)Steve Bannon Is Done Wrecking the American Establishment. Now He Wants to Destroy Europe’s. (3/9/2018)Oh, What a Trumpy Trade War! (3/9/2018)How to Engineer a Crisis (2/5/2018)Gallup: Global disapproval of U.S. leadership has soared under Trump (1/23/2018)Fractures, Fears and Failures,” the WEF’s 2018 Global Risks ReportWorld's Approval of U.S. Leadership Drops to New Low (1/18/2018)America’s diplomacy power is being completely destroyed, ambassador warns (11/8/2017)Mr. Trump Squanders the World’s Trust (9/23/2017)The Global 1%: Exposing the Transnational Ruling Class (8/14/2012)The top White House official responsible for leading the U.S. response in the event of a deadly pandemic has left the administration, and the global health security team he oversaw has been disbanded under a reorganization by national security adviser John Bolton. The abrupt departure of Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer from the National Security Council means no senior administration official is now focused solely on global health security. Ziemer’s departure, along with the breakup of his team, comes at a time when many experts say the country is already underprepared for the increasing risks of a pandemic or bioterrorism attack. Washington Post (5/11/2018)
" ...since work at the United Nations began in 1985 on a treaty seeking, as its title declares, the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space, the U.S. has not supported it. Canada, Russia and China have been leaders in urging passage of this PAROS treaty, and there has been virtually universal backing from nations around the world. But by balking, U.S. administration after administration has prevented its passage. With the Trump administration, more than non-support of the PAROS treaty is probable. A drive by the U.S. to weaponize space appears in the offing." CounterpunchCountries with a high percentage of nonbelievers are among the freest, most stable, best-educated, and healthiest nations on earth. When nations are ranked according to a human-development index, which measures such factors as life expectancy, literacy rates, and educational attainment, the five highest-ranked countries --- Norway, Sweden, Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands -- all have high degrees of nonbelief. Of the fifty countries at the bottom of the index, all are intensely religious." Greg Graffin and Steve Olson: Anarchy, Evolution, Faith, Science and Bad Religion in a World Without God |