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Struggle For Liberation Of Western Sahara Intensifies

January 4, 2023 Pavan Kulkarni, People's Dispatch. , , , , ,
Morocco, Western Sahara - Moroccan forces illegally occupying the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) have come under repeated bombardment by the Sahrawi People’s Liberation Army (SPLA). Moroccan forces currently occupy over 80% of SADR, also known as Western Sahara, which remains classified by the UN as among the last countries still awaiting decolonization. On Friday, December 30, according to a statement by the Ministry of Defense of SADR, the SPLA “targeted the trenches of the occupation soldiers in several areas of the Mahbas sector.” The SPLA bombarded the positions of occupation forces in this region, in the northwest of occupied territory, for the third consecutive day on Friday. Attacks were also reported on December 28 and 29, inflicting “heavy losses in lives and equipment along the wall of humiliation and shame.”

Europe’s Surprising Record Of Dam Removals

December 1, 2022 Tara Lohan, Resilience. , ,
The 1999 demolition of the Edwards Dam on Maine’s Kennebec River set off a wave of dam removals across the United States. Since then some 1,200 dams have come down to help restore rivers and aquatic animals, improve water quality, and boost public safety — among other benefits. Across the Atlantic, European nations have been busy removing thousands of river barriers, too. But until recently the efforts have gone largely unnoticed, even among experts. Pao Fernández Garrido can attest to that. An engineer and expert in ecosystem restoration from Spain, Fernández Garrido was finishing her master’s thesis in 2012 when she attend a dam-removal training in Massachusetts that was part of a conference on fish passage.

EU Admits New Cold War Is Not ‘Democracy Vs. Autocracy’

October 28, 2022 Ben Norton, Multipolarista. , , ,
The European Union’s top foreign-policy official, Josep Borrell, admitted that the new cold war that the West is waging on China and Russia is not a conflict of “democracies vs. authoritarians.” “On our side, there are a lot of authoritarian regimes,” the EU’s de facto foreign minister conceded. Borrell’s comments directly contradicted those of US President Joe Biden, who claimed in his first State of the Union address in March that the new cold war is a “battle between democracy and autocracies.” The top EU diplomat instead recognized that the new cold war is a struggle in which economic “systems are in rivalry,” and that most of the Global South “do not want to be forced to take sides in this geopolitical competition,” because “they feel that the global system does not deliver,” and “because they blame us.”

EU Confesses ‘Our Prosperity Was Based On China And Russia’

October 20, 2022 Ben Norton, Multipolarista. , , , , , , , ,
The West’s economic prosperity following the end of the first cold war in 1991 was built on a neoliberal capitalist economic model that was only made possible due to the extraction of wealth from China and Russia, the European Union’s top foreign-policy official, Josep Borrell, has confessed. “Our prosperity was based on China and Russia – energy and market,” Borrell said. China provided the US and EU with a massive market, low-paid labor, and cheap consumer goods. And after the Soviet Union was overthrown, mass privatizations in Russia and steps at integrating it into the West helped Europe secure huge amounts of inexpensive energy. But the significant rise in workers’ living standards in China, as well as the proxy war in Ukraine and the EU’s corresponding pledge to boycott Russian gas and oil, have greatly increased the cost of living and doing business in Europe, making its products uncompetitive in global markets.

EU Says Europe Is ‘Garden’ Superior To Rest Of World’s Barbaric ‘Jungle’

October 17, 2022 Ben Norton, Multipolarista. , , ,
The European Union’s top foreign-policy official showed how the colonialist mentality is still very much alive on the continent. EU foreign-policy chief Josep Borrell said “Europe is a garden,” which is “beautiful” and superior to the vast majority of the countries on Earth. On the other hand, he claimed, “Most of the rest of the world is a jungle, and the jungle could invade the garden.” Borrell argued that “the world needs Europe,” because it is a “beacon” that must civilize the rest of the world. The enlightened Western “gardeners have to go to the jungle,” he insisted, because if the supposed barbarians are not tamed, “the rest of the world will invade us.” Borrell delivered this overtly racist rant at the inauguration of the European Diplomatic Academy in Brussels on October 13.

The Specter Of Germany Is Rising

September 13, 2022 Diana Johnstone, Consortium News. , , ,
The European Union is girding for a long war against Russia that appears clearly contrary to European economic interests and social stability. A war that is apparently irrational – as many are – has deep emotional roots and claims ideological justification. Such wars are hard to end because they extend outside the range of rationality. For decades after the Soviet Union entered Berlin and decisively defeated the Third Reich, Soviet leaders worried about the threat of “German revanchism.” Since World War II could be seen as German revenge for being deprived of victory in World War I, couldn’t aggressive German Drang nach Osten be **revived, especially if it enjoyed Anglo-American support?

Ukraine Loses Soldiers – Europe Its Economies – All For No Gain

September 8, 2022 Moon of Alabama. , , ,
When the Ukraine launched its Kherson 'counteroffensive' on August 29 I was pretty aghast and judged that it was destined to fail: To break the reinforced Russian lines now would have taken more troops than were available.I am sure that the Ukrainian military knew that this offensive would fail. For political reasons Zelenski ordered them to launch it anyway. There are now another 1,000+ Ukrainian and Russian lives lost for nothing other then some sensational headlines and political optics. More than 3,000 Ukrainians have died by now in the Kherson offensive without having made any significant progress. Hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles were lost. A dozen Ukrainian planes and helicopters have been shot down.

Time To Blow Up Electricity Markets

September 6, 2022 Yanis Varoufakis, Project Syndicate. , , ,
Athens, Greece – The blades of the wind turbines on the mountain range opposite my window are turning especially energetically today. Last night’s storm has abated but high winds continue, contributing extra kilowatts to the electricity grid at precisely zero additional cost (or marginal cost, in the language of the economists). But the people struggling to make ends meet during a dreadful cost-of-living crisis must pay for these kilowatts as if they were produced by the most expensive liquefied natural gas transported to Greece’s shores from Texas. This absurdity, which prevails well beyond Greece and Europe, must end.

Europe Faces ‘Winter Of Discontent’ As US Profits From Energy Crisis

September 5, 2022 James Smith, Global Times. , , , , ,
The European Union has collectively committed itself to a long proxy conflict against Russia in Ukraine, despite being critically energy dependent on oil and gas imports from Russia. If however, you listened to the words of their top bureaucrats, such as Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, one might never believe there is any problem. They talk about reducing energy dependency on Moscow as a quick and painless process, and vowed multiple times to "cripple Putin's war machine," determined no matter what to return a "European path" to Ukraine. But things haven't been going to plan.

Rift Emerges Between The US And EU Over Fate Of Iran Nuclear Deal

August 1, 2022 People's Dispatch. , , , ,
When Iran is reportedly considering the draft proposal for the revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the Iran nuclear deal is officially known, that Josep Borrell, European Union’s high representative of foreign affairs and security policy, submitted earlier this week, Brett McGurk, US President Joe Biden’s advisor on the Middle East, asserted on Wednesday, July 27, that revival of the deal is “highly unlikely.” According to a report in Axios on Wednesday, McGurk blamed Iran for stalling the finalization of the deal by asking the US to “add something to the pot” before accepting it. Without clarifying what he meant, he said that the US is not going to do such a thing and instead is planning to impose more sanctions on Iran in order to ensure its “diplomatic isolation.”

Young Victims Of Climate Disasters Sue EU States Over Energy Treaty

June 23, 2022 Olivia Rosane, EcoWatch. , , ,
In the latest attempt to use the courts to address the climate crisis, five young people are suing 12 EU countries over membership in a treaty that they argue puts the needs of fossil fuel companies above climate action. The young people brought their case before the European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday, as Euractiv reported. The lawsuit targets the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), which gives energy companies the right to sue governments for compensation when their policies threaten profits. “Governments are still putting profits of the fossil fuel industry over human rights. But climate change is escalating and demanding more and more lives every day,” a plaintiff named Julia, who is 17, said in a statement reported by Reuters.

Extinction Rebellion Activists Glue Themselves To European Commission HQ

June 20, 2022 Louise Guillot, Politico. , , ,
A group of 10 Extinction Rebellion climate activists on Monday glued themselves to the entrance doors of the European Commission's Berlaymont building in Brussels. Around 25 activists in total, coming from Germany, Austria, France, the Netherlands and Italy among others, were present to call on the EU to do more against environmental damage and to criminalize ecocide — the deliberate and systematic destruction of ecosystems. "We want [EU countries] to criminalize ecocide and the Commission could start doing that," said Amelie, a member of Extinction Rebellion Berlin, while her hand was glued to the Commission's building. "We don't have time to wait because biodiversity loss is going on and on ... we need to start acting."

New ‘Compromise’ On IP Waiver For Covid Vaccines Is Worse Than No Deal

March 18, 2022 Sarah Lazare, In These Times. , , , , ,
On Tuesday, after a year and a half of negotiations over an intellectual property waiver for Covid-related products, the United States, European Union, India and South Africa reportedly reached agreement on a temporary waiver of patent rules for Covid vaccines. “The difficult and protracted process has resulted in a compromise outcome that offers the most promising path toward achieving a concrete and meaningful outcome,” said U.S. Trade Representative spokesperson Adam Hodge in a statement. Global health activists, however, are slamming the tentative deal as not only insufficient, but a potential setback, because it excludes tests and treatments, includes a carveout for China, and introduces new barriers for the production of generic treatments that could have implications far beyond the Covid crisis.

Some Economic Consequences Of The War In Ukraine

March 2, 2022 Jack Rasmus, Counter Punch. , , , ,
The global capitalist economy today is highly integrated: In the flow of real goods and services; in money capital flows between financial markets; in currency relative exchange rates; and in banking systems and interest rates—to name but the most obvious. The Ukraine war’s economic consequences will impact all the three economies—Russia’s, Europe’s and America’s.  The impacts may be relatively different qualitatively and quantitatively. But actions taken against one have their inevitable economic reverberations on all. Inflation due to escalating oil and commodity price inflation will negatively impact all.  Central bank policy responses will be weaker across the board.  Slower economic growth will result as goods and services flows are interrupted and global supply chain problems continue and perhaps even worsen.

For African And Colonized Peoples, To Understand Ukraine: De-Center Europe And Focus On Imperialism

March 1, 2022 Black Alliance for Peace. , , , , ,
The Black Alliance for Peace emphatically declares that the conflict in the Ukraine emerges from the ceaseless and single-minded drive of the U.S., NATO, and the European Union for global economic and political dominance. The genesis of the current crisis, as BAP has previously asserted, is in the 2014 US-backed coup of Ukraine’s democratically elected government – and in the determination of the U.S./EU/NATO “axis of domination” to convert Ukraine into a heavily-militarized NATO member nation, lurking on the border of the Russian Federation. NATO’s expansion has been a well-known security concern for Russia since 1999, when Bill Clinton inaugurated the official process of growing NATO’s membership to include former nations of the Warsaw Pact.
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