Neoliberal globalization’s mission to privatise all areas of life including agriculture and natural resources threatens to condemn a vast part of the world’s population to hunger and poverty. Today it is estimated by the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation that worldwide there are 925 million hungry people at a time when, paradoxically, we produce more food than ever before.
Down with the Gaddafi regime! Stop the imperialist intervention now! Support the Libyan revolution!
23 March 2011, byThe intervention of the western powers in Libya constitutes a turning point in the situation in the Arab region. Since the beginning of the social and political shock wave which covers almost all the countries of the Arab region, the Fourth International has stood on the side of the democratic and social interests of the Arab people against their tyrants. This has led us to full support for the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions alongside the revolutionary socialist militants of these countries. This is why we supported all the democratic demands - right to free expression, trade-union and political organization, pluralism, freedom of the press; and social ones such as job creation, wage increases, fight against high cost of living - of these popular mobilizations, supported the overthrowing of the dictatorships, and the demand for a real break with the former regimes in a democratic and socialist perspective.
Bombs over Libya
21 March 2011, byIs the military action against Libya necessary and helpful in order to stop Gaddafi’s regime’s onslaught on its opponents or is it an imperialist aggression driven by strategical self-interest, which only will make things worse for the Libyan people? The international left is split on this question. And the question is truly complex and cannot be answered by ready made slogans about always being opposed to imperialist aggressions or unconditional support to the rebels. A serious response must be based on a concrete assessment of the situation in Libya, and not on abstract principles or revolutionary rhetoric.
Not in our name!
21 March 2011, byThus, the difficult debate on the introduction of a “no fly zone” in Libya has led to a UN resolution that constitutes a green light for an international military intervention in Libya. Without terrestrial military “occupation”, it is specified. At the same time, the Saudi army and the emirate’s police are disembarking in Bahrain to take part in the crushing of a democratic and peaceful revolution: a military attack was made Wednesday, March 16, 2011 to dismantle the camp in Pearl Square, re-named Tahrir Square in explicit reference to the Egyptian revolution. Helicopters shot at the people: there have deaths, dozens of wounded who cannot reach Manama hospital under siege by the Saudi army and armoured tanks. The regime has decreed martial law and arrested figures from the democratic opposition , both Shiite and Sunni. In Bahrain a protest movement for civile rights has been met by repression under foreign military occupation… and under the surveillance of U.S. 5th fleet which already has a naval base there.
What’s happening in Libya?
20 March 2011, byGilbert Achcar was interviewed by Stephen R. Shalom. This interview was orignally published on ZNet on Saturday March 19th.
The Oil-Food Price Shock
20 March 2011, byWhen future historians attempt to trace the origins of the current turmoil in the Middle East, they will find that one of the earliest of the many explosions of rage occurred in Algeria and was triggered by the rising price of food. On January 5, young protesters in Algiers, Oran and other major cities blocked roads, attacked police stations and burned stores in demonstrations against soaring food prices. Other concerns—high unemployment, pervasive corruption, lack of housing—also aroused their ire, but food costs provided the original impulse.
Bali Seed Declaration
20 March 2011, byFarmers throughout the world are the victims of a war for control over seeds. Our agricultural systems are threatened by industries that seek to control our seeds by all available means. The outcome of this war will determine the future of humanity, as all of us depend on seeds for our daily food.
Japanese organisations call for solidarity
19 March 2011, by ,Appeal for financial solidarity with the victims and evacuees of the worst Northeastern-Japan earthquake/tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster by Japan Revolutionary Communist League (JRCL) and National Council of Internationalist Workers (NCIW), March 17th 2011.
Two oligarchic factions tear the country apart
19 March 2011, byTwo “presidents of the Republic", the outgoing Laurent Koudou Gbagbo and his rival Alassane Dramane Ouattara, are tearing Ivory Coast apart. Each of the “presidents” relies on real support at the national level. This internal virtually balanced “legitimacy”, is combined with an external legitimation — characteristic of the limited sovereignty of the African post-colonial states — by the “international community", which is unbalanced.
Japan’s unecessary and predictable nuclear crisis
19 March 2011, byWhere the first two catastrophes were natural and unpredictable, a nuclear meltdown is entirely unnatural and entirely predictable.
Whereas the 2010 Gulf Oil spill showed the inherent dangers of the oil economy, the current nuclear crisis in Japan shows that nuclear power is not a solution. As we approach the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, it’s time to shift away from both oil and nuclear and towards good green jobs for all.