Day: August 29, 2019

Kashmir’s New Status: Why the West Turns a Blind Eye to Democracy Deficit in India

August 29, 2019 Opinion

On August 23 the New York Timesreported that the Indian Ministry of External Affairs “won’t say why foreign journalists continue to be blocked from setting foot in Kashmir” but managed to obtain a com…

The Putin-Erdogan Summit Will Influence the Syrian End Game

August 29, 2019 Opinion

Turkish President Erdogan’s visit to Moscow on 27 August will see him and his Russian counterpart hashing out the details of the Syrian end game. The kinetic (military) phase of the War on Syria is ra…

Israel Now Visibly in the Mix?

August 29, 2019 Opinion

Take it as given that Israel tends to operate behind the scenes and would prefer to influence affairs covertly rather than overtly, so when Israel admits to resuming air strikes vs Syria and Iraq that…

Brazil: Lula Tells World He’s Back in the Game from Jail

August 29, 2019 Opinion

Brazil has always been a land of superlatives. Yet nothing beats the current, perverse configuration: a world statesman lingers in jail while a clownish thug is in power, his antics now considered a t…

How Did Antisemitism Become Conflated with anti-Zionism?

August 29, 2019 Opinion

The furore over antisemitism that has gripped Western countries in the last few years continues relentlessly. Its consequences can already be seen in the anti-BDS (boycott, divestment and s…

Should We Fight a War on White Terrorism?

August 29, 2019 Opinion

Although its precise scale is hard to measure, violent white supremacy is clearly a problem in the United States. From El Paso to Pittsburgh, the fears and fantasies of an immigrant invasion, a libera…

Revival of Shintoism in Abe’s Japan: Why? Another Holy War?

August 29, 2019 Opinion

It is possible that Abe’s Korea bashing is a part of his ambition of restoring the pre-1945 Japan where Shintoism ruled the body and the mind of the Japanese people. Under Shintoism, the Japanese were…

The Naming Industrial Complex: The Stupidity of Smart Devices and Smart Cities

August 29, 2019 Opinion

Insentience cannot have intelligence, but the modern public relations revolution would have you think otherwise. Smart phones, smart bombs, and, it follows, Smart Cities (capitalising such terms impli…