World

Stan Goff, North Carolina Two hot little controversies are brewing among progressive and anti-war Americans. One is the question of how much energy we — if there is a "we" — put into the 2004 US elections, and in what way. The other is the

Matthew Cookson A successful and important conference took place in Cairo in Egypt on the December 13-14 weekend. The Second Cairo Conference Against Capitalist Globalisation and US Hegemony brought together anti-war activists from across the

Raul Bassi, Sydney Many times, we will read in newspapers, or hear on the radio or TV, of Palestinians killed by the Israeli army. Sometimes, these killings are "explained" by the claim that the victims were militants, or "didn't follow soldiers

Rohan Pearce On January 12, US-based Human Rights Watch criticised house demolitions carried out by US forces occupying Iraq. According to HRW, at least four houses have been demolished by US forces over the past two months to punish relatives of

David Bacon The free trade ideologues of the Bush administration see the occupation of Iraq as a beachhead into the Middle East and south Asia. Their first objective is the transformation of the state-dominated economy of what was once one of the

Farooq Tariq, Lahore The Pakistan Social Forum (PSF) was held on January 12 at Lahore Alhumra halls. More than 5000 people participated in the event, making it one of the largest gatherings of progressive forces in Pakistan in recent times. A rally

Marcus Greville, London "The greatest mass movement of our age has brought us together." This is the start of the draft declaration of RESPECT — the Unity Coalition, a new electoral alliance to be launched on January 25. The initial call for the

Doug Lorimer The December 5 directive issued by US deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz provided a clear indication of what the Bush Doctrine is all about. It barred French and German companies from competing for US$18.7 billion in contracts for

Brett Prowse, Sanaa As the first day of the European Union-sponsored Arab Regional Conference on Human Rights and the Role of the International Criminal Court got underway here on January 10, Yemeni activists outside were being intimidated and

Leslie Feinberg An inordinate amount of imperialist media attention on Afghanistan has focused on the wording of a new constitution approved by the Loya Jirga, or grand assembly. Like a huckster at a carnival shell game, the more the big-money

Ahmad Nimer The Geneva Accords, an unofficial framework for negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis, were released in mid-October 2003. Despite a relative lull in media attention, the accords are an extremely significant development. Top

Norm Dixon On January 4, while addressing British troops in Basra, British Prime Minister Tony Blair attempted to defend his government's participation in the US-led war against Iraq. In an embarrassing Freudian slip, Blair referred to "weapons of