oD Plugs

Following up on this previous post, here is part two of the series "The War on Terror, Seven years On":The war on terror: seven years on (part two)By Paul Rogers

Herbert Bix: The Russo-Georgia War and the Challenge to American Global DominanceSource: Japan Focus (Click here to see pictures accompanying this article.) (10-10-08)[Herbert Bix, author of Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan, which won the Pulitzer Prize, teaches at Binghamton University, New York, and writes on issues of war and empire. He is a Japan Focus associate.]

Returning to a one of the main themes of this blog, read here an excerpt from an interview with Elena Panfilova published at openDemocracy:  High stakes in Russia’s corruption battle.

Founder Editor/Publisher:LATE ISFAQUL MOJID THE MONTHLY MUKTIDOOTH, a monthly new magazine approved by the govt. of the peoples republic of Bangladesh, former sister concern of EASTERN NEWS AGENCY (ENA),online and information services. Present Editor/Publisher/president:MUKTI M MAJID Established:1993 Addres:MUKTI INTERNATIONAL, 38 and 38/H Enayetganj,Peelkhana, Dhaka 1205,Bangladesh.

The Left Should Not Be Allied with Islamic Extremists Posted Monday, October 06 2008 @ 09:05 PM PDT Left Progressive Social Theorist Fred Halliday criticizes the tendency of some on the Left to become apologists for forms of Islamic extremism that are quite regressive. [At a time when Muslims are subject to discrimination and attack in the U.S., it's natural for many of us to want to protect the Islamic community. Fred Halliday's piece does not in any way challenge that instinct to side with those who are facing discrimination based on race, religion or national origin, but only insists that we distinguish between our opposition to discrimination and opposition to American imperialism in the world, on the one hand, and on the other hand the mistaken policy of being supportive of reactionary and violent tendencies in the Islamic world (just as we at Tikkun insist on distnguishing between forms of Judaism and Chrisitianity that preach love and forms that teach hatred or ultra chauvinst nationalism).]

The anti-democratic sentiment wasn't just confined to superstar American columnists. At the ironically-named OpenDemocracy, a British site funded by the Ford Foundation, the editor-in-chief patronized the bailout objectors by calling them "principled but mad." See how you're not permitted to both rational and disagree? (The site has argued before that people are too stupid to be trusted with democracy).

COLOMBIA'S GUERRILLAS Colombia's guerrillas: between past and future Ana Carrigan The struggle of Colombia's Farc guerrillas has lasted more than four decades. But the pressures the movement is now facing - symbolised by the death of its legendary co-founder Manuel Marulanda - present the Farc with a historic choice, says Ana Carrigan. (This article was first published on 16 June 2008)

An essay from Tom Nairn. Wouldn't it be refreshing to see some of our Cornish academics producing similar literary dynamite? More of his work can be found here on the Open Democracy website.

Clothed in Shame  page 1 of 2    by TOL 3 October 2008Uzbekistan has always shooed away critics of forced child labor, but now faces the massed ranks of major retailers.

The war on terror: seven years on The George W Bush administration's answer to the attacks of 11 September 2001 was to launch a global "war on terror". Two weeks after 9/11, Paul Rogers began to track that war in a weekly openDemocracy column. In the second of a two-part retrospective, the author reflects on the last seven years and assesses the prospects for change in the next

"If the third week of September 2008 was (as Ann Pettifor described it in openDemocracy) 'the week that changed everything', the fourth was the week when Wall Street met democracy. What is remarkable is that, after a fashion, democracy has won.

The people of Ecuador are rising up to refound their country as a pluri-national homeland for all. This inspiring movement, with Ecuador's indigenous peoples at its heart, is part of the revolution spreading across the Americas, laying the groundwork for a new, fairer, world. Ecuador Rising aims to bring news and analysis of events unfolding in Ecuador to english speakers.

Another Good Article on the Return to Traditional Catholicism Rediscovering TraditionalismOne year after re-introducing the Tridentine Mass and two years after the Regensburg address, Benedict XVI's popular new traditionalism has re-ignited the Catholic culture wars.

Reading matters The revenge of ideas: Karl Polanyi and Susan Strange, by Fred Halliday: Open Democracy

When fact and fiction get it on and do the nastee OpenDemocracy's SWISH reports are often remarkably prescient wrt Iraq & Afghanistan. Here's the latest.

Hakan Altinay is the president of the Open Society Institute, Istanbul. Kalypso Nicolaïdis is chair of south European studies at Oxford, and professorial chair on visions of Europe at the College of Europe in Bruges. This piece is a concise version of a longer article that originally appeared in Open Democracy (www.opendemocracy.net).

Saturday, September 06, 2008 What the Russian-Georgian War Means Rein Mullerson explains why the Chinese may be the winners, on OpenDemocracy.net:By formally recognising the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Russia acted as rashly as those western states which recognised Kosovo; both sides thus further opened the Pandora's box of territorial disputes. The Kremlin's decision involved two big mistakes. First, Moscow cannot now expect support from many of the states which otherwise would have understood or even welcomed Russia's grandstanding against Nato. China, India and a host of other states are extremely nervous about any encouragement their "own" minorities may have for independence claims.

The media today is a little worse than previous - but that isn't what people are frustrated with. The frustration exhibited in Dad's post is that of a wasted opportunity. The media is everywhere and screaming - but it's nothing but the usual nonsense. Other forms of communications have progressed: advertising has become more subtle, music has become more diverse and interesting, the internet. Even PowerPoint has produced an Academy Award. Yet news and journalism has only become louder and more arrogant. However, the good news is that it is hardly the only show in town. Contrast the "usual MSM nonsense" on Georgia to Fred Halliday's piece on the conflict in OpenDemocracy and you will find the MSM falling short. However, this is no real surprise. The problem with the Mainstream Media is not the quality or quantity, but its purpose. The MSM isn't built to deal with a crisis like Georgia. The complexities and sophistication of the ideas cannot be communicated, assuming zero prior knowledge, in a two minute slot by someone living in New York. Especially when that person will transition on the camera change to a new story about siamese cats in Witchita. Its not fit for purpose.

  --SUPPORT FROM EUROPE TO SECULAR TURKS A group of European intellectuals called on the European Union (EU) to support secularism in Turkey. In a statement posted on a web site called "open democracy", the group said that the EU could strengthen secularism on seven points: modernization, socialization, women, anti-discrimination, competition, trans-European politics and the democratic core.

The neighbor in the self Written on August 30th, 2008 in Humanitarian text Published on openDemocracy, by James R. Mensch, Aug 28, 2008. (Religions and States, even when apparently open, are subject to “auto-immune” reactions which make them turn against the other within. They need to make the effort to recognise the other as a constituent of themselves).