Articles by: Medea Benjamin

Stop the War Coalition and CND march through London for peace in Ukraine. Photo credit: Stop the War Coalition

When Will US Join Global Call to End Ukraine War?

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies When Japan invited the leaders of Brazil, India and Indonesia to attend the G7 summit in Hiroshima, there were glimmers of hope that it might be a forum for these rising economic powers from the Global South to discuss their advocacy for peace in Ukraine with the wealthy Western G7 countries that[Read More…]

by 31/05/2023 Comments are Disabled World
President Zelenskyy meets Pope Francis at the Vatican on May 13, 2023. Photo credit: EFE

A Timely Call for Peace in Ukraine by U.S. National Security Experts

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies On May 16, 2023, The New York Times published a full-page advertisement signed by 15 U.S. national security experts about the war in Ukraine. It was headed “The U.S. Should Be a Force for Peace in the World,” and was drafted by the Eisenhower Media Network. While condemning Russia’s invasion, the statement[Read More…]

by 16/05/2023 Comments are Disabled World
Drawing by Jerzy Wasiukiewicz

Can the U.S. Adjust Sensibly to a Multipolar World?

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies  In his 1987 book The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, historian Paul Kennedy reassured Americans that the decline the United States was facing after a century of international dominance was “relative and not absolute, and is therefore perfectly natural; and that the only serious threat to the real interests of[Read More…]

by 05/05/2023 Comments are Disabled World
Leaks Reveal Reality Behind U.S. Propaganda in Ukraine

Leaks Reveal Reality Behind U.S. Propaganda in Ukraine

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies Leaked document predicts a “protracted war beyond 2023.” Image credit: Newsweek The U.S. corporate media’s first response to the leaking of secret documents about the war in Ukraine was to throw some mud in the water, declare “nothing to see here,” and cover it as a depoliticized crime story about a 21-year-old[Read More…]

by 20/04/2023 Comments are Disabled World
Finnish President receives Nobel Peace Prize in 2008. Photo Credit: Nobel Prize

Finland’s NATO Move Leaves Others to Carry On the “Helsinki Spirit”

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies On April 4, 2023, Finland officially became the 31st member of the NATO military alliance. The 830-mile border between Finland and Russia is now by far the longest border between any NATO country and Russia, which otherwise borders only Norway, Latvia, Estonia, and short stretches of the Polish and Lithuanian borders where[Read More…]

by 12/04/2023 Comments are Disabled World
President Xi of China at the head of the table in a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Photo credit: DNA India

The Tragic U.S. Choice to Prioritize War Over Peacemaking

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. – Matthew 5:9 In a brilliant Op-Ed published in the New York Times, the Quincy Institute’s Trita Parsi explained how China, with help from Iraq, was able to mediate and resolve the deeply-rooted conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia,[Read More…]

by 03/04/2023 Comments are Disabled World
U.S. soldiers breaking into a home in Baquba, Iraq, in 2008   Photo: Reuters

The Not-So-Winding Road from Iraq to Ukraine

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies March 19th marks the 20th anniversary of the U.S. and British invasion of Iraq. This seminal event in the short history of the 21st century not only continues to plague Iraqi society to this day, but it also looms large over the current crisis in Ukraine, making it impossible for most of[Read More…]

by 16/03/2023 Comments are Disabled World
Photo credit: GlobelyNews

Why Biden Snubbed China’s Ukraine Peace Plan 

by Medea Benjamin, Marcy Winograd and Wei Yu There’s something irrational about President Biden’s knee-jerk dismissal of China’s 12-point peace proposal titled “China’s Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis.” “Not rational” is how Biden described the plan that calls for de-escalation toward a ceasefire, respect for national sovereignty, establishment of humanitarian corridors and resumption of peace talks.[Read More…]

by 03/03/2023 Comments are Disabled World
Half a million tons of methane rise from the sabotaged Nord Stream pipeline. Photo: Swedish Coast Guard

Who’s winning and losing the economic war over Ukraine?

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies With the Ukraine war now reaching its one-year mark on February 24, the Russians have not achieved a military victory but neither has the West achieved its goals on the economic front. When Russia invaded Ukraine, the United States and its European allies vowed to impose crippling sanctions that would bring Russia[Read More…]

by 22/02/2023 Comments are Disabled World
How Spin and Lies Fuel a Bloody War of Attrition in Ukraine 

How Spin and Lies Fuel a Bloody War of Attrition in Ukraine 

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies Fresh graves at a cemetery near Bakhmut, December 2022. – Photo credit: Reuters In a recent column, military analyst William Astore wrote, “[Congressman] George Santos is a symptom of a much larger disease: a lack of honor, a lack of shame, in America. Honor, truth, integrity, simply don’t seem to matter, or[Read More…]

by 14/02/2023 Comments are Disabled World
What Can the United States Bring to the Peace Table for Ukraine?

What Can the United States Bring to the Peace Table for Ukraine?

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies The 2023 Doomsday Clock statement – Image credit: the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has just issued its 2023 Doomsday Clock statement, calling this “a time of unprecedented danger.” It has advanced the hands of the clock to 90 seconds to midnight, meaning that the world[Read More…]

by 26/01/2023 Comments are Disabled World
Photo credit: Economic Club of New York

Can NATO and the Pentagon Find a Diplomatic Off-Ramp From the Ukraine War?

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, known for his staunch support for Ukraine, recently revealed his greatest fear for this winter to a TV interviewer in his native Norway: that the fighting in Ukraine could spin out of control and become a major war between NATO and Russia. “If things go wrong,” he[Read More…]

by 04/01/2023 Comments are Disabled Uncategorized
 The Ukraine Crisis Is a Classic “Security Dilemma”

 The Ukraine Crisis Is a Classic “Security Dilemma”

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) meets in Lodz, Poland, on December 1, 2022. Photo credit: OSCE On December 27 2022, both Russia and Ukraine issued calls for ending the war in Ukraine, but only on non-negotiable terms that they each know the other side will reject. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister[Read More…]

by 27/12/2022 Comments are Disabled World
Brazil’s President-elect Lula with indigenous activists at COP27    Photo: COP27 Press Pool

Ten surprisingly good things that happened in 2022

With wars raging in Ukraine, Yemen, Somalia and elsewhere, Roe v. Wade overturned and our resources being wasted on militarism instead of addressing the climate crisis, it can be hard to remember the hard-won progress being made. As we end a difficult year, let’s pause to remind ourselves of some of the positive changes that happened in 2022 that should[Read More…]

by 22/12/2022 Comments are Disabled World
British and German soldiers playing soccer in No-Man’s Land during the Christmas Truce in 1914. Photo Credit: Universal History Archive

Eight Reasons Why Now is a Good Time for a Ukraine Ceasefire and Peace Talks

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies As the war in Ukraine has dragged on for nine months and a cold winter is setting in, people all over the world are calling for a Christmas truce, harkening back to the inspirational Christmas Truce of 1914. In the midst of World War I, warring soldiers put down their guns and[Read More…]

by 01/12/2022 Comments are Disabled World
Congressional Amendment Opens Floodgates for War Profiteers and a Major Ground War on Russia

Congressional Amendment Opens Floodgates for War Profiteers and a Major Ground War on Russia

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies Senators Inhofe and Reed from the Senate Armed Services Committee     Photo credit: AP If the powerful leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senators Jack Reed (D) and Jim Inhofe (R), have their way, Congress will soon invoke wartime emergency powers to build up even greater stockpiles of Pentagon weapons.[Read More…]

by 14/11/2022 Comments are Disabled World
Photo credit: Reuters 

What to Expect from COP27 in Egypt’s Police State: An Interview With Sharif Abdel Kouddous

The global climate meeting called COP27 (the 27th Conference of Parties) will be held in the remote Egyptian desert resort of Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt from November 6-18. Given the extremely repressive nature of the Egyptian government, this gathering will likely be different from others, where there have been large, raucous protests led by civil society groups. So as tens of[Read More…]

by 04/11/2022 Comments are Disabled Climate Change
The growing chorus for peace in Ukraine

The growing chorus for peace in Ukraine

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies Biden and Jayapal at a negotiating table in October 2021 – Photo credit: The White House Ukraine has been wracked by shocking destruction and deadly violence since Russia invaded the country in February. Estimates of the death toll range from a confirmed minimum of 27,577 people, including 6,374 civilians, to over 150,000.[Read More…]

by 28/10/2022 Comments are Disabled World
Reps. Pramila Jayapal and other members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus at a recent news conference outside the U.S. Capitol. (Credit: The Washington Post)

Thirty Progressive Democrats Break Rank, Calling for a Ceasefire in Ukraine

by Medea Benjamin and Marcy Winograd In a dramatic break with the Biden administration on the eve of the midterm elections, 30 House Democrats sent a letter to President Biden urging him to engage in direct talks with Russian President Vladmir Putin to end the war in Ukraine. In addition to bilateral talks, signatories to the letter, initiated by Progressive[Read More…]

by 25/10/2022 Comments are Disabled World
Attack on Kerch Strait Bridge linking Crimea and Russia                   Credit: Getty Images

Biden’s Broken Promise to Avoid War with Russia May Kill Us All

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies On March 11, 2022, President Biden reassured the American public and the world that the United States and its NATO allies were not at war with Russia. “We will not fight a war with Russia in Ukraine,” said Biden. “Direct conflict between NATO and Russia is World War III, something we must[Read More…]

by 12/10/2022 Comments are Disabled World
 “End War in Ukraine” Say 66 Nations at UN General Assembly

 “End War in Ukraine” Say 66 Nations at UN General Assembly

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies Photo credit: UN We have spent the past week reading and listening to speeches by world leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York. Most of them condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a violation of the UN Charter and a serious setback for the peaceful world order that is the UN’s[Read More…]

by 29/09/2022 Comments are Disabled World
Peace talks in Turkey, March 2022. Photo credit: Murat Cetin Muhurdar / Turkish Presidential Press Service / AFP

 Peace Talks Essential as War Rages on in Ukraine 

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies Six months ago, Russia invaded Ukraine. The United States, NATO and the European Union (EU) wrapped themselves in the Ukrainian flag, shelled out billions for arms shipments, and imposed draconian sanctions intended to severely punish Russia for its aggression. Since then, the people of Ukraine have been paying a price for this war[Read More…]

by 06/09/2022 Comments are Disabled World
CODEPINK Tighe Barry at NATO protest. Credit: Getty Images

NATO and a War Foretold

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies As NATO holds its Summit in Madrid on June 28-30, the war in Ukraine is taking center stage. During a pre-Summit June 22 talk with Politico, NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg bragged about how well-prepared NATO was for this fight because, he said: “This was an invasion that was predicted, foreseen by[Read More…]

by 28/06/2022 Comments are Disabled World
 For Biden’s Summit of the Americas, Obama’s Handshake With Raúl Castro Shows the Way

 For Biden’s Summit of the Americas, Obama’s Handshake With Raúl Castro Shows the Way

On May 16, the Biden administration announced new measures to “increase support for the Cuban people.” They included easing travel restrictions and helping Cuban-Americans support and connect with their families. They mark a step forward but a baby step, given that most U.S. sanctions on Cuba remain in place. Also in place is a ridiculous Biden administration policy of trying[Read More…]

by 25/05/2022 1 comment World
Bombed homes in Mosul  Credit: Amnesty International

From Mosul to Raqqa to Mariupol, Killing Civilians is a Crime

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies Americans have been shocked by the death and destruction of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, filling our screens with bombed buildings and dead bodies lying in the street. But the United States and its allies have waged war in country after country for decades, carving swathes of destruction through cities, towns and villages[Read More…]

by 12/04/2022 Comments are Disabled Uncategorized
Ukraine’s far right Azov Battalion (Getty Images)

How the U.S. Has Empowered and Armed Neo-Nazis in Ukraine

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies Russian President Putin has claimed that he ordered the invasion of Ukraine to “denazify” its government, while Western officials, such as former U.S. Ambassador to Moscow Michael McFaul, have called this pure propaganda, insisting, “There are no Nazis in Ukraine.” In the context of the Russian invasion, the post-2014 Ukrainian government’s problematic relations[Read More…]

by 10/03/2022 2 comments World
How the U.S. Started a Cold War with Russia and Left Ukraine to Fight It

How the U.S. Started a Cold War with Russia and Left Ukraine to Fight It

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies Photo Credit: CODEPINK The defenders of Ukraine are bravely resisting Russian aggression, shaming the rest of the world and the UN Security Council for its failure to protect them. It is an encouraging sign that the Russians and Ukrainians are holding talks in Belarus that may lead to a ceasefire. All efforts must[Read More…]

by 28/02/2022 Comments are Disabled World
People gather in Rome to call for peace, February 15, 2022 | Photo Credit: Reuters

What Is Going to Happen in Ukraine?

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies  Every day brings new noise and fury in the crisis over Ukraine, mostly from Washington. But what is really likely to happen? There are three possible scenarios: The first is that Russia will suddenly launch an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The second is that the Ukrainian government in Kyiv will launch an escalation[Read More…]

by 18/02/2022 Comments are Disabled World
Peace protest at the White House - Photo credit: iacenter.org

Memo to Congress: Diplomacy for Ukraine Is Spelled M-i-n-s-k

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies While the Biden administration is sending more troops and weapons to inflame the Ukraine conflict and Congress is pouring more fuel on the fire, the American people are on a totally different track. A December 2021 poll found that a plurality of Americans in both political parties prefer to resolve differences over[Read More…]

by 08/02/2022 Comments are Disabled World
U.S. allies in Ukraine, with NATO, Azov Battalion and neo-Nazi flags. Photo by russia-insider.com

America Is Reaping What It Sowed in Ukraine

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies So what are Americans to believe about the rising tensions over Ukraine? The United States and Russia both claim their escalations are defensive, responding to threats and escalations by the other side, but the resulting spiral of escalation can only make war more likely. Ukrainian President Zelensky is warning that “panic” by[Read More…]

by 31/01/2022 Comments are Disabled World
After a Year of Biden, Why Do We Still Have Trump’s Foreign Policy?

After a Year of Biden, Why Do We Still Have Trump’s Foreign Policy?

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies President Biden and the Democrats were highly critical of President Trump’s foreign policy, so it was reasonable to expect that Biden would quickly remedy its worst impacts. As a senior member of the Obama administration, Biden surely needed no schooling on Obama’s diplomatic agreements with Cuba and Iran, both of which began to resolve long-standing foreign[Read More…]

by 20/01/2022 Comments are Disabled World
Hey, Hey, USA! How Many Bombs Did You Drop Today?

Hey, Hey, USA! How Many Bombs Did You Drop Today?

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies August 2020 U.S. drone strike in Kabul killed 10 Afghan civilians. Credit: Getty Images The Pentagon has finally published its first Airpower Summary since President Biden took office nearly a year ago. These monthly reports have been published since 2007 to document the number of bombs and missiles dropped by U.S.-led air[Read More…]

by 10/01/2022 1 comment Imperialism
 Yes, There Were 10 Good Things About 2021

 Yes, There Were 10 Good Things About 2021

Photo credit: peace-justice.org This year, 2021, began with a huge sense of relief as Trump left office. We hoped to emerge from the ravages of COVID, pass a hefty Build Back Better (BBB) bill, and make significant cuts to the Pentagon budget. But, alas, we faced a January 6 white nationalist insurrection, two new COVID mutations, a sliced-and-diced BBB bill[Read More…]

by 29/12/2021 Comments are Disabled World
Protest by students in Thailand. AP

Ten Contradictions That Plague Biden’s Democracy Summit

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies President Biden’s virtual Summit for Democracy on December 9-10 is part of a campaign to restore the United States’ standing in the world, which took such a beating under President Trump’s erratic foreign policies. Biden hopes to secure his place at the head of the “Free World” table by coming out as[Read More…]

by 09/12/2021 1 comment World
How Congress Loots the Treasury for the Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex

How Congress Loots the Treasury for the Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex

by Medea Benjamin & Nicolas J. S. Davies Despite a disagreement over some amendments in the Senate, the United States Congress is poised to pass a $778 billion military budget bill for 2022. As they have been doing year after year, our elected officials are preparing to hand the lion’s share – over 65% – of federal discretionary spending to[Read More…]

by 07/12/2021 1 comment World
The High Stakes of the U.S.-Russia Confrontation Over Ukraine 

The High Stakes of the U.S.-Russia Confrontation Over Ukraine 

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies The border between post-coup Ukraine and the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, based on the Minsk Agreements. Map credit: Wikipedia A report in Covert Action Magazine from the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic in Eastern Ukraine describes grave fears of a new offensive by Ukrainian government forces, after increased shelling, a drone strike[Read More…]

by 22/11/2021 Comments are Disabled World
Cubans More Excited About School Reopening Than Regime Change

Cubans More Excited About School Reopening Than Regime Change

“If you build it, they will come,” said Kevin Costner in the Field of Dreams. In Cuba, they didn’t come. Dissidents on the island, with their U.S. backers, had been working feverishly for months to turn the unprecedented July 11 protests into a crescendo of government opposition on November 15. They built a formidable structure, with sophisticated social media (including an[Read More…]

by 17/11/2021 Comments are Disabled World
Greta Thunberg leads protests in Italy ahead of COP26. Credit: Radio Habana Cuba

COP 26: Can a Singing, Dancing Rebellion Save the World?

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies COP Twenty-six! That is how many times the UN has assembled world leaders to try to tackle the climate crisis. But the United States is producing more oil and natural gas than ever; the amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere and global temperatures are both still rising; and we are[Read More…]

by 03/11/2021 Comments are Disabled Climate Change
Photo: Tom Pennington

Our Future vs. Neoliberalism

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies In country after country around the world, people are rising up to challenge entrenched, failing neoliberal political and economic systems, with mixed but sometimes promising results. Progressive leaders in the U.S. Congress are refusing to back down on the Democrats’ promises to American voters to reduce poverty, expand rights to healthcare, education[Read More…]

by 20/10/2021 Comments are Disabled Counter Solutions
Despite Taliban Rule, Feminists Must Not Abandon Afghan Women

Despite Taliban Rule, Feminists Must Not Abandon Afghan Women

The situation is complex and so feminists should not take the simplistic view that a policy of non-cooperation with the Taliban is the way to support women. Since the Taliban took control of Kabul and the central government on August 15, efforts to support Afghan women have become extremely challenging. According to some prominent U.S. feminists with strong ties to Afghan women, the[Read More…]

by 15/10/2021 Comments are Disabled World
Photo credit: Rise Up Times

Why Does Congress Fight Over Childcare But Not F-35s?

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies President Biden and the Democratic Congress are facing a crisis as the popular domestic agenda they ran on in the 2020 election is held hostage by two corporate Democratic Senators, fossil-fuel consigliere Joe Manchin and payday-lender favorite Kyrsten Sinema. But the very week before the Dems’ $350 billion-per-year domestic package hit this[Read More…]

by 07/10/2021 Comments are Disabled World
Photo credit: CommonDreams

U.S. Militarism’s Toxic Impact on Climate Policy

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies President Biden addressed the UN General Assembly on September 21 with a warning that the climate crisis is fast approaching a “point of no return,” and a promise that the United States would rally the world to action. “We will lead not just with the example of our power but, God willing,[Read More…]

by 22/09/2021 Comments are Disabled Climate Change
How Can America Wake Up From Its Post-9/11 Nightmare?

How Can America Wake Up From Its Post-9/11 Nightmare?

 by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies Looking back on it now, the 1990s were an age of innocence for America. The Cold War was over and our leaders promised us a “peace dividend.” There was no TSA to make us take off our shoes at airports (how many bombs have they found in those billions of shoes?). The[Read More…]

by 09/09/2021 1 comment World
Millions of Afghans have been displaced by the war. Photo: MikrofonNews

Afghanistan Crisis Must End America’s Empire of War, Corruption and Poverty

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies Americans have been shocked by videos of thousands of Afghans risking their lives to flee the Taliban’s return to power in their country – and then by an Islamic State suicide bombing and ensuing massacre by U.S. forces that together killed at least 170 people, including 13 U.S. troops. Even as UN[Read More…]

by 30/08/2021 Comments are Disabled World
Protest in Westwood, California 2002. Photo: Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Will Americans Who Were Right on Afghanistan Still Be Ignored?

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies  America’s corporate media are ringing with recriminations over the humiliating U.S. military defeat in Afghanistan. But very little of the criticism goes to the root of the problem, which was the original decision to militarily invade and occupy Afghanistan in the first place. That decision set in motion a cycle of violence[Read More…]

by 20/08/2021 Comments are Disabled Imperialism
Handover ceremony at Camp Anthonic, from US Army to Afghan Special Forces, Helmand province, Afghanistan, May 2, 2021.

Biden Must Call Off the B-52s Bombing Afghan Cities

by Medea Benjamin & Nicolas J. S. Davies Nine provincial capitals in Afghanistan have fallen to the Taliban in six days – Zaranj, Sheberghan, Sar-e-Pul, Kunduz, Taloqan, Aybak, Farah, Pul-e-Khumri and Faizabad – while fighting continues in four more – Lashkargah, Kandahar, Herat & Mazar-i-Sharif. U.S. military officials now believe Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital, could fall in one to three months.[Read More…]

by 11/08/2021 Comments are Disabled World
U.S. transfers an airfield to Iraqi government forces in 2020. Credit: public domain

America’s Afghan War Is Over, So What About Iraq – and Iran?

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies At Bagram air-base, Afghan scrap merchants are already picking through the graveyard of U.S. military equipment that was until recently the headquarters of America’s 20-year occupation of their country. Afghan officials say the last U.S. forces slipped away from Bagram in the dead of night, without notice or coordination. The Taliban are[Read More…]

by 12/07/2021 Comments are Disabled Imperialism
Carlos Lazo getting ready to start his march from Miami to Washington, D.C. Credit: Tighe Barry

 Carlos Lazo: The Cuban American Leading the Charge to Transform U.S.-Cuba Policy 

Carlos Lazo and a small band of Cuban Americans are on a 1,300-mile pilgrimage from Miami to Washington, D.C., to end the U.S. blockade of Cuba. Despite the blistering summer heat and occasional death threats (including a trucker who tried to run them off the road), the marchers persist. Lazo’s group is called Puentes de Amor, Bridges of Love, and[Read More…]

by 08/07/2021 Comments are Disabled World
Woman votes in Iranian election. Photo credit: Reuters

How Biden Helped Hardliner Raisi Win Iran Election

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies  It was common knowledge that a U.S. failure to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal (known as the JCPOA) before Iran’s June presidential election would help conservative hard-liners to win the election. Indeed, on Saturday, June 19, the conservative Ebrahim Raisi was elected as the new President of Iran. Raisi has a record[Read More…]

by 23/06/2021 Comments are Disabled World
Photo credit: BPM Media - Protest at G7 summit in Cornwall UK

 Why Democracies in G7 & NATO Should Reject U.S. Leadership 

Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies The world has been treated to successive spectacles of national leaders gathering at a G7 Summit in Cornwall and a NATO Summit in Brussels. The U.S. corporate media have portrayed these summits as chances for President Biden to rally the leaders of the world’s democratic nations in a coordinated response to[Read More…]

by 15/06/2021 Comments are Disabled World
Pedro Castillo speaking at a campaign event. Photo: AP

Rural Teacher Pedro Castillo Poised to Write a New Chapter in Peru’s History

Written by Medea Benjamin and Leonardo Flores With his wide-brimmed peasant hat and oversized teacher’s pencil held high, Peru’s Pedro Castillo has been traveling the country exhorting voters to get behind a call that has been particularly urgent during this devastating pandemic: “No más pobres en un país rico” – No more poor people in a rich country. In a[Read More…]

by 08/06/2021 Comments are Disabled World
 Credit: pinterest.com

The Emperor’s New Rules

Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies The world is reeling in horror at the latest Israeli massacre of hundreds of men, women and children in Gaza. Much of the world is also shocked by the role of the United States in this crisis, as it keeps providing Israel with weapons to kill Palestinian civilians, in violation of[Read More…]

by 25/05/2021 Comments are Disabled World
How the United States Helps To Kill Palestinians

How the United States Helps To Kill Palestinians

Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies The U.S. corporate media usually report on Israeli military assaults in occupied Palestine as if the United States is an innocent neutral party to the conflict. In fact, large majorities of Americans have told pollsters for decades that they want the United States to be neutral in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But[Read More…]

by 17/05/2021 Comments are Disabled Palestine
Photo credit: ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons)

Squad & Co: Unite as a Block to Downsize Biden’s Military Budget

Written by Medea Benjamin and Marcy Winograd Imagine this scenario: A month before the vote on the federal budget, progressives in Congress declared, “We’ve studied President Biden’s proposed $753 billion military budget, an increase of $13 billion from Trump’s already inflated budget, and we can’t, in good conscience, support this.” Now that would be a show stopper, particularly if they[Read More…]

by 03/05/2021 Comments are Disabled World
Photo credit: haramjedder.blogspot.com - Biden with NATO’s Stoltenberg

Biden’s Appeasement of Hawks and Neocons Is Crippling His Diplomacy

Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies President Biden took office promising a new era of American international leadership and diplomacy. But with a few exceptions, he has so far allowed self-serving foreign allies, hawkish U.S. interest groups and his own imperial delusions to undermine diplomacy and stoke the fires of war. Biden’s failure to quickly recommit to[Read More…]

by 22/04/2021 Comments are Disabled Imperialism
The Dirty Campaign Underlying Ecuador’s “Free and Fair” Election

The Dirty Campaign Underlying Ecuador’s “Free and Fair” Election

Written by Medea Benjamin and Leonardo Flores A spoiled ballot in Ecuador’s elections. Photo by @AlinaDuarte_ Ecuador’s April 11 election that led to a 5-point victory by conservative banker Guillermo Lasso over progressive candidate Andrés Arauz was not what it appeared to be. On the surface, it was a surprisingly clean and professional election, as our CODEPINK official observer delegation[Read More…]

by 17/04/2021 Comments are Disabled World
U.S. Joins Past Empires In Afghan Graveyard

U.S. Joins Past Empires In Afghan Graveyard

Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J S Davies An Afghan taxi-driver in Vancouver told one of us a decade ago that this day would come. “We defeated the Persian Empire in the eighteenth century, the British in the nineteenth, the Soviets in the twentieth. Now, with NATO, we’re fighting twenty-eight countries, but we’ll defeat them, too,” said the taxi-driver,[Read More…]

by 17/04/2021 Comments are Disabled World
Children in Afghanistan - Photo credit: cdn.pixabay.com

U.S. Joins “Rules-Based World” on Afghanistan

Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies On March 18, the world was treated to the spectacle of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken sternly lecturing senior Chinese officials about the need for China to respect a “rules-based order.” The alternative, Blinken warned, is a world in which might makes right, and “that would be a far more[Read More…]

by 26/03/2021 Comments are Disabled World
Ten Problems With Biden’s Foreign Policy – and One Solution

Ten Problems With Biden’s Foreign Policy – and One Solution

 Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies  The Biden presidency is still in its early days, but it’s not too early to point to areas in the foreign policy realm where we, as progressives, have been disappointed–or even infuriated. There are one or two positive developments, such as the renewal of Obama’s New START Treaty with Russia and[Read More…]

by 13/03/2021 Comments are Disabled World
Trump & Biden’s Secret Bombing Wars

Trump & Biden’s Secret Bombing Wars

Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies On February 25th, President Biden ordered U.S. air forces to drop seven 500-pound bombs on Iraqi forces in Syria, reportedly killing 22 people. The U.S. airstrike has predictably failed to halt rocket attacks on deeply unpopular U.S. bases in Iraq, which the Iraqi National Assembly passed a resolution to close over[Read More…]

by 04/03/2021 Comments are Disabled Imperialism
Photo: CODEPINK

Biden’s Reckless Syria Bombing Is Not the Diplomacy He Promised

Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies The February 25 U.S. bombing of Syria immediately puts the policies of the newly-formed Biden administration into sharp relief. Why is this administration bombing the sovereign nation of Syria? Why is it bombing “Iranian-backed militias” who pose absolutely no threat to the United States and are actually involved in fighting ISIS?[Read More…]

by 27/02/2021 Comments are Disabled Imperialism
NATO headquarters in Brussels (Photo: NATO)

 What Planet Is NATO Living On?

Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies The February meeting of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Defense Ministers, the first since President Biden took power, revealed an antiquated, 75-year-old alliance that, despite its military failures in Afghanistan and Libya, is now turning its military madness toward two more formidable, nuclear-armed enemies: Russia and China. This theme was emphasized[Read More…]

by 23/02/2021 1 comment Imperialism
Photo: CODEPINK

Biden Should Stop Payment on U.S. Funds to Sisi’s Egypt 

Written by Ariel Gold and Medea Benjamin Under Donald Trump’s presidency, Egypt, as well as Saudi Arabia, Israel, the UAE, and other repressive regimes, had virtually free reign to commit unchecked human rights abuses without worry that they might be chastised or lose U.S. diplomatic and financial support. But when Joe Biden won the 2020 election, President Sisi of Egypt[Read More…]

by 10/02/2021 Comments are Disabled World
Image: Calvin Shen

The Decline and Fall of the American Empire

Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies  In 2004, journalist Ron Suskind quoted a Bush White House advisor, reportedly Karl Rove, as boasting, “We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality.” He dismissed Suskind’s assumption that public policy must be rooted in “the reality-based community.” “We’re history’s actors,” the advisor told him, “…and[Read More…]

by 03/02/2021 Comments are Disabled World
Will Biden End America’s Global War on Children?

Will Biden End America’s Global War on Children?

Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies The first day of the 2020 school year in Taiz, Yemen (Ahmad Al-Basha/AFP) Most people regard Trump’s treatment of immigrant children as among his most shocking crimes as president. Images of hundreds of children stolen from their families and imprisoned in chain-link cages are an unforgettable disgrace that President Biden must move[Read More…]

by 28/01/2021 Comments are Disabled Imperialism
Photo credit: National Press Club

Rob Malley for Iran Envoy: A Test Case for Biden’s Commitment to Diplomacy

 Written by Medea Benjamin and Ariel Gold President Biden’s commitment to re-entering the Iran nuclear deal—formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA—is already facing backlash from a motley crew of warhawks both domestic and foreign. Right now, opponents of re-entering the deal are centering their vitriol on one of the nation’s foremost experts on both the[Read More…]

by 25/01/2021 Comments are Disabled World
Photo Credit: thetruthseeker.co.uk Nuland and Pyatt planning regime change in Kiev 

Will the U.S. Senate Confirm Coup Plotter Nuland?  

Written by Medea Benjamin, Nicolas J. S. Davies and Marcy Winograd Who is Victoria Nuland? Most Americans have never heard of her because the U.S. corporate media’s foreign policy coverage is a wasteland. Most Americans have no idea that President-elect Biden’s pick for Deputy Secretary of State for Political Affairs is stuck in the quicksand of 1950s U.S.-Russia Cold War[Read More…]

by 15/01/2021 Comments are Disabled World
Photograph: Yander Zamora / EFE

 The Trump Administration’s Parting Outrage Against Cuba

Written by Medea Benjamin and Leonardo Flores On January 11, in his final days before leaving office, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo added one parting blow to the series of bludgeons his administration has inflicted on Cuba for four years: putting the island on the list of “state sponsors of terror” that includes only Iran, North Korea and Syria. The[Read More…]

by 13/01/2021 Comments are Disabled World
Why Senators Must Reject Avril Haines for Intelligence

Why Senators Must Reject Avril Haines for Intelligence

Written by Medea Benjamin and Marcy Winograd Even before President-Elect Joe Biden sets foot in the White House, the Senate Intelligence Committee may start hearings on his nomination of Avril Haines as Director of National Intelligence. Barack Obama’s top lawyer on the National Security Council from 2010 to 2013 followed by CIA Deputy Director from 2013 to 2015, Haines is[Read More…]

by 30/12/2020 Comments are Disabled Uncategorized
No, Joe, Don’t Roll out the Red Carpet for Torture Enablers

No, Joe, Don’t Roll out the Red Carpet for Torture Enablers

Written by Medea Benjamin and Marcy Winograd Photo credit: Witness Against Torture It was painful enough to live through the U.S invasion of Iraq that caused untold devastation and human misery for no justifiable reason. Now we are again reminded of the grim Bush legacy with President-elect Biden’s nomination of Avril Haines for Director of National Intelligence. Haines, who has[Read More…]

by 21/12/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Credit: CODEPINK

 Will Biden’s America Stop Creating Terrorists?

Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies Joe Biden will take command of the White House at a time when the American public is more concerned about battling coronavirus than fighting overseas wars. But America’s wars rage on regardless, and the militarized counterterrorism policy Biden has supported in the past—based on airstrikes, special operations and the use of proxy[Read More…]

by 14/12/2020 Comments are Disabled World
CODEPINK protests killer drones at DC home of Jeh Johnson Credit: CODEPINK

Why Jeh Johnson Would Be a Better Defense Secretary Than Michèle Flournoy

 Co-Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies President-elect Biden’s choice for Secretary of Defense has turned out to be one of the most controversial and difficult of his Cabinet appointments. The early front-runner, Michèle Flournoy, was originally seen as a shoo-in and was touted as a great breakthrough for women, but her hawkish views have provoked serious concerns.[Read More…]

by 07/12/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Saudi Arabia's War in Yemen Has Failed - Council on Foreign Relations

 Ten Foreign Policy Fiascos Biden Can Fix on Day One

Co-Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J S Davies Donald Trump loves executive orders as a tool of dictatorial power, avoiding the need to work through Congress. But that works both ways, making it relatively easy for President Biden to reverse many of Trump’s most disastrous decisions. Here are ten things Biden can do as soon as he takes office.[Read More…]

by 20/11/2020 1 comment World
Will the Biden Team Be Warmongers or Peacemakers?

Will the Biden Team Be Warmongers or Peacemakers?

Co-Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies Obama and Biden meet Gorbachev – did Biden learn anything? Credit: Wikimedia Commons Congratulations to Joe Biden on his election as America’s next president! People all over this pandemic-infested, war-torn and poverty-stricken world were shocked by the brutality and racism of the Trump administration, and are anxiously wondering whether Biden’s presidency[Read More…]

by 09/11/2020 1 comment World
 Ending Regime Change – in Bolivia and the World

 Ending Regime Change – in Bolivia and the World

Co-Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J S Davies Less than a year after the United States and the U.S.-backed Organization of American States (OAS) supported a violent military coup to overthrow the government of Bolivia, the Bolivian people have reelected the Movement for Socialism (MAS) and restored it to power. In the long history of U.S.-backed “regime changes” in[Read More…]

by 29/10/2020 Comments are Disabled World
How Biden Flubbed Town Hall Foreign Policy Question

How Biden Flubbed Town Hall Foreign Policy Question

 Co-Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies Toward the end of Joe Biden’s October 15 town hall session, a Trump supporter asked Biden the only foreign policy question of the night. “So peace is breaking out all over the world,” the questioner claimed. “Our troops are coming home. Serbia is talking to Kosovo. And the Arabs and Israelis[Read More…]

by 20/10/2020 Comments are Disabled World
 Two years after Khashoggi’s murder, why is America still an accomplice to MBS’s crimes?

 Two years after Khashoggi’s murder, why is America still an accomplice to MBS’s crimes?

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies Trump holds a chart of weapon sales as he welcomes Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office,  March 20, 2018. (Photo: Reuters) Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi was brutally murdered on October 2, 2018 by agents of Saudi Arabia’s despotic government, and the CIA concluded they killed him on direct orders from[Read More…]

by 02/10/2020 Comments are Disabled World
 A “Persistent Eye in the Sky” Coming to a City Near You?

 A “Persistent Eye in the Sky” Coming to a City Near You?

by Medea Benjamin and Barry Summers “Gorgon Stare will be looking at a whole city, so there will be no way for the adversary to know what we’re looking at, and we can see everything.” That same persistent eye in the sky may soon be deployed over U.S. cities. At the time he made that comment about surveillance drones over[Read More…]

by 16/09/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Credit: Social Fragments Archive /CC

 Biden Urged to Adopt a Good Neighbor Policy Toward Latin America

By Medea Benjamin and Leonardo Flores Election season is a difficult time to develop good policies towards Latin America, since both Democrats and Republicans cater to the small, but organized, conservative factions of the Latinx community in Florida, vying for their votes. But if Biden wins the White House, there is a chance to reverse the Trump administration policies that[Read More…]

by 08/09/2020 Comments are Disabled World
 Don’t be Hoodwinked by Trump’s UAE-Israel “Peace Deal”

 Don’t be Hoodwinked by Trump’s UAE-Israel “Peace Deal”

Co-Written by Medea Benjamin and Ariel Gold “HUGE breakthrough today,” crowed Donald Trump on twitter as he announced the new peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The deal makes the UAE the first Gulf Arab state and the third Arab nation, after Egypt and Jordan, to have diplomatic ties with Israel. But the new Israel-UAE partnership[Read More…]

by 14/08/2020 1 comment World
U.S. Cold War China Policy Will Isolate the U.S, Not China

U.S. Cold War China Policy Will Isolate the U.S, Not China

Co-Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J S Davies Credit: CODEPINK  Tensions between the United States and China are rising as the U.S. election nears, with tit-for-tat consulate closures, new U.S. sanctions and no less than three U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups prowling the seas around China. But it is the United States that has initiated each new escalation in[Read More…]

by 03/08/2020 Comments are Disabled World
      Baz Ratner/Reuters US troops in Afghanistan, June 2011

 King Joe and the Round Table: Biden’s America in a Multipolar World 

Co-Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J S Davies   In an article in Foreign Affairs in March titled, “Why America Must Lead Again,” Joe Biden claimed that “the world doesn’t organize itself,” and promised to “put the U.S. back at the head of the table” among the nations of the world. But the premise that the world can only[Read More…]

by 22/07/2020 Comments are Disabled Imperialism
Long Overdue For Latin America: A New “Good Neighbor Policy”

Long Overdue For Latin America: A New “Good Neighbor Policy”

Co-Written by Medea Benjamin and Steve Ellner U.S. policy towards Venezuela has been a fiasco. Try as it might, the Trump regime-change team has been unable to depose President Maduro and finds itself stuck with a self-proclaimed president, Juan Guaidó, who President Trump was reported to have called “a kid” who “doesn’t have what it takes.” The Venezuelan people have[Read More…]

by 21/07/2020 Comments are Disabled World
 10 Reasons Why Defunding Police Should Lead to Defunding War

 10 Reasons Why Defunding Police Should Lead to Defunding War

Co-Written by Medea Benjamin and Zoltán Grossman Credit: CreativeCommons Since George Floyd was murdered, we have seen an increasing convergence of the “war at home” against Black and brown people with the “wars abroad” that the U.S. has waged against people in other countries. Army and National Guard troops have been deployed in U.S. cities, as militarized police treat our[Read More…]

by 14/07/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Trump’s Record on Foreign Policy: Lost Wars, New Conflicts and Broken Promises

Trump’s Record on Foreign Policy: Lost Wars, New Conflicts and Broken Promises

Co-Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies On June 13, President Donald Trump told the graduating class at West Point, “We are ending the era of endless wars.” That is what Trump has promised since 2016, but the “endless” wars have not ended. Trump has dropped more bombs and missiles than George W. Bush or Barack Obama did in their first terms, and[Read More…]

by 01/07/2020 Comments are Disabled World
 Will Biden Remain Tone Deaf to Palestinian Rights?

 Will Biden Remain Tone Deaf to Palestinian Rights?

Co-Written by Medea Benjamin and Ariel Gold Joe Biden wants you to believe that he is opposed to Israel’s likely annexation of parts of the West Bank that Netanyahu plans to carry out in July. “I do not support annexation,” he said during a call with American Jewish donors on June 16. But only a month ago, Biden senior foreign[Read More…]

by 23/06/2020 Comments are Disabled Palestine
 Trump Hammers Cuba While Cuba Cures the Sick

 Trump Hammers Cuba While Cuba Cures the Sick

Co-Written by Medea Benjamin and Leonardo Flores Credit: Cubacooperation A team of 85 Cuban doctors and nurses arrived in Peru on June 3 to help the Andean nation tackle the coronavirus pandemic. That same day, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced another tightening of the sanctions screws. This time he targeted seven Cuban entities, including Fincimex, one of the principal[Read More…]

by 16/06/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Credit: CODEPINK

Defund the Police, Defund the Military

Co-Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J S Davies On June 1, President Trump threatened to deploy active-duty U.S. military forces against peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters in cities across America. Trump and state governors eventually deployed at least 17,000 National Guard troops across the country. In the nation’s capital, Trump deployed nine Blackhawk assault helicopters, thousands of National Guard[Read More…]

by 10/06/2020 Comments are Disabled World
 Who Are the Secret Puppet-Masters Behind Trump’s War on Iran?

 Who Are the Secret Puppet-Masters Behind Trump’s War on Iran?

Co-Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J S Davies On May 6th, President Trump vetoed a war powers bill specifying that he must ask Congress for authorization to use military force against Iran. Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign of deadly sanctions and threats of war against Iran has seen no let-up, even as the U.S., Iran and the whole world desperately[Read More…]

by 29/05/2020 Comments are Disabled Imperialism
 Trump Must Choose Between a Global Ceasefire and America’s Long Lost Wars 

 Trump Must Choose Between a Global Ceasefire and America’s Long Lost Wars 

Co-Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J S Davies As of May 1, there were 7,145 cases of COVID-19 in the US military, with more falling sick every day.  Credit: Military Times As President Trump has complained, the U.S. does not win wars anymore. In fact, since 1945, the only 4 wars it has won were over the small neocolonial[Read More…]

by 05/05/2020 Comments are Disabled World
Will America’s Corruption End on a Ventilator or in a Mushroom Cloud?

Will America’s Corruption End on a Ventilator or in a Mushroom Cloud?

Co-Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J S Davies  Photo: Daily Express Little by little, Americans are understanding just how badly our government has let us down by its belated and disastrous response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and how thousands more people are dying as a result. But there are two other crises we face that our government is totally[Read More…]

by 22/04/2020 Comments are Disabled World
UN Ceasefire Defines War As a Non-Essential Activity

UN Ceasefire Defines War As a Non-Essential Activity

 Co-Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J S Davies At least 70 countries have signed on to the March 23 call by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres for a worldwide ceasefire during the Covid-19 pandemic. Like non-essential business and spectator sports, war is a luxury that the Secretary General says we must manage without for a while. After U.S. leaders[Read More…]

by 10/04/2020 Comments are Disabled World
 Could COVID-19 Reshape Global Leadership?

 Could COVID-19 Reshape Global Leadership?

Co-Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J S Davies Credit: CODEPINK As U.S. COVID-19 cases double every few days and the death toll mounts, the U.S. seems to be caught in a “worst of both worlds” predicament: daily life and much of the U.S. economy is shut down, but no real progress has been achieved in its efforts to contain[Read More…]

by 02/04/2020 Comments are Disabled World
 12 Ways the U.S. Invasion of Iraq Lives On In Infamy

 12 Ways the U.S. Invasion of Iraq Lives On In Infamy

Co-Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J S Davies While the world is consumed with the terrifying coronavirus pandemic, on March 19 the Trump administration will be marking the 17th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq by ramping up the conflict there. After an Iran-aligned militia allegedly struck a U.S. base near Baghdad on March 11, the U.S. military[Read More…]

by 18/03/2020 Comments are Disabled World
To Help Stem Coronavirus, Lift Sanctions on Iran 

To Help Stem Coronavirus, Lift Sanctions on Iran 

Co-Written by Ariel Gold and Medea Benjamin The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic is far from the first proof of how intertwined we are as a global community. The climate crisis and the refugee crisis have long been glaring examples that the wars or CO2 emissions on one continent risk the lives and well-being of people on another continent. What coronavirus is[Read More…]

by 13/03/2020 Comments are Disabled World
 Saudi’s Brave Women Pull Back the Curtain on Crown Prince MBS

 Saudi’s Brave Women Pull Back the Curtain on Crown Prince MBS

Co-Written by Medea Benjamin and Ariel Gold This week, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS), Saudi Arabia’s 34-year-old de facto ruler, was on a tear. He arrested members of his own royal family and initiated an oil price war with Russia that has sent the price of oil—and the world’s stock markets—plummeting. Behind the headlines, however, another critical event will[Read More…]

by 11/03/2020 1 comment World
Can the World’s Second Superpower Rise From the Ashes of Twenty Years of War?

Can the World’s Second Superpower Rise From the Ashes of Twenty Years of War?

Co-Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies February 15 marks the day, 17 years ago, when global demonstrations against the pending Iraq invasion were so massive that the New York Times called world public opinion “the second superpower.” But the U.S. ignored it and invaded Iraq anyway. So what has become of the momentous hopes of that day? The[Read More…]

by 14/02/2020 Comments are Disabled World
10 Ways Trump’s Actions Against Iran Hurt Americans and the Region

10 Ways Trump’s Actions Against Iran Hurt Americans and the Region

Co-Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J S Davies The U.S. assassination of General Qassem Soleimani has not yet plunged us into a full-scale war with Iran thanks to the Iranian government’s measured response, which demonstrated its capabilities without actually harming U.S. troops or escalating the conflict. But the danger of a full-blown war still exists, and Donald Trump’s actions[Read More…]

by 11/01/2020 Comments are Disabled World
US Embassy in Iraq under siege. Credit: Creative Commons

A New Year and a New Trump Foreign Policy Blunder in Iraq

Co-Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J S Davies  It’s a new year, and the U.S. has found a new enemy—an Iraqi militia called Kata’ib Hezbollah. How tragically predictable was that? So who or what is Kata’ib Hezbollah? Why are U.S. forces attacking it? And where will this lead? Kata’ib Hezbollah is one of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) that[Read More…]

by 03/01/2020 Comments are Disabled World
 The Real Lesson of Afghanistan Is That Regime Change Does Not Work

 The Real Lesson of Afghanistan Is That Regime Change Does Not Work

Co-Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J S Davies The trove of U.S. “Lessons Learned” documents on Afghanistan published by the Washington Post portrays, in excruciating detail, the anatomy of a failed policy, scandalously hidden from the public for 18 years. The “Lessons Learned” papers, however, are based on the premise that the U.S. and its allies will keep intervening militarily in other countries, and that they[Read More…]

by 20/12/2019 Comments are Disabled World
“They’re killing us like dogs” – A Massacre in Bolivia and a Plea for Help

“They’re killing us like dogs” – A Massacre in Bolivia and a Plea for Help

I am writing from Bolivia just days after witnessing the November 19 military massacre at the Senkata gas plant in the indigenous city of El Alto, and the tear-gassing of a peaceful funeral procession on November 21 to commemorate the dead. These are examples, unfortunately, of the modus operandi of the de facto government that seized control in a coup[Read More…]

by 22/11/2019 2 comments World, Editor's Picks
 Neoliberalism’s children rise up to demand justice in Chile and the world

 Neoliberalism’s children rise up to demand justice in Chile and the world

Co-Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J S Davies Uprisings against the corrupt, generation-long dominance of neoliberal “center-right” and “center-left” governments that benefit the wealthy and multinational corporations at the expense of working people are sweeping country after country all over the world. In this Autumn of Discontent, people from Chile, Haiti and Honduras to Iraq, Egypt and Lebanon are[Read More…]

by 07/11/2019 8 comments World
10 Ways that the Climate Crisis and Militarism are Intertwined

10 Ways that the Climate Crisis and Militarism are Intertwined

  The environmental justice movement that is surging globally is intentionally intersectional, showing how global warming is connected to issues such as race, poverty, migration and public health. One area intimately linked to the climate crisis that gets little attention, however, is militarism. Here are some of the ways these issues–and their solutions–are intertwined. 1. The US military protects Big[Read More…]

by 26/09/2019 2 comments Climate Change
Will Americans Let Trump Start World War III for Saudi Arabia and Israel?

Will Americans Let Trump Start World War III for Saudi Arabia and Israel?

Co-Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J S Davies On Saturday, September 14th, two oil refineries and other oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia were hit and set ablaze by 18 drones and 7 cruise missiles, dramatically slashing Saudi Arabia’s oil production by half, from about ten million to five million barrels per day. On September 18, the Trump administration, blaming[Read More…]

by 19/09/2019 Comments are Disabled World
Are Sanders and Warren Throwing a Lifeline to the Military-Industrial Complex?

Are Sanders and Warren Throwing a Lifeline to the Military-Industrial Complex?

Co-Written by Medea Benjamin & Nicolas J S Davies   Among the frontrunners in the Democratic Party presidential primary, Senators Warren and Sanders not only have the most progressive domestic agenda, but also the most anti-war, pro-diplomacy foreign policy agenda. The sharpest distinction between them is that Sanders has voted against over 80% of recent record military spending bills in the Senate, while[Read More…]

by 27/08/2019 Comments are Disabled World
U.S. Sanctions: Economic Sabotage that is Deadly, Illegal and Ineffective

U.S. Sanctions: Economic Sabotage that is Deadly, Illegal and Ineffective

Co-Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J S Davies While the mystery of who is responsible for sabotaging the two tankers in the Gulf of Oman remains unsolved, it is clear that the Trump administration has been sabotaging Iranian oil shipments since May 2, when it announced its intention to “bring Iran’s oil exports to zero, denying the regime its[Read More…]

by 18/06/2019 Comments are Disabled Imperialism
War, Peace and Presidential Candidates

War, Peace and Presidential Candidates

  by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J S Davies Forty-five years after Congress passed the War Powers Act in the wake of the Vietnam War, it has finally used it for the first time, to try to end the U.S.-Saudi war on the people of Yemen and to recover its constitutional authority over questions of war and peace.  This hasn’t[Read More…]

by 28/03/2019 Comments are Disabled World
With the author kneeling in the lower right, an international peace delegation outside Iran's Tehran Peace Museum. (Photo: Courtesy of Medea Benjamin)

How US Sanctions are Hurting Iran: A Firsthand Report

On a recent delegation to Iran, we experienced first-hand the legendary Iranian hospitality. Iranians are particularly thrilled to meet Americans, but as we discovered, our government’s policies are hurting the very people who want to be our friends. As our 28-person delegation traveled through the country wearing messages on our jackets proclaiming “Peace with Iran” in English and Farsi, we were surrounded[Read More…]

by 12/03/2019 Comments are Disabled World
U.S. Brinksmanship in Venezuela Is Dangerous

U.S. Brinksmanship in Venezuela Is Dangerous

Co-Written by Medea Benjamin & Nicolas J S Davies Judging from the miserable U.S. record at coercing change in other countries’ governments, U.S. interference in Venezuela threatens to turn a crisis into a catastrophe. We can’t let the violence that plagues the Middle East be transferred to Latin America In 1995 William Blum wrote a masterful book in which he chronicled U.S. involvement[Read More…]

by 20/02/2019 Comments are Disabled World
Venezuela: The U.S.’s 68th Regime Change Disaster

Venezuela: The U.S.’s 68th Regime Change Disaster

Co-Written by Medea Benjamin & Nicolas J S Davies  In his masterpiece, Killing Hope: U.S. Military and C.I.A. Interventions Since World War II, William Blum, who died in December 2018, wrote chapter-length accounts of 55 U.S. regime change operations against countries around the world, from China (1945-1960s) to Haiti (1986-1994).  Noam Chomsky’s blurb on the back of the latest edition says[Read More…]

by 05/02/2019 1 comment World
Trump Bullying Will Hurt Millions of Iranians

Trump Bullying Will Hurt Millions of Iranians

Iranian government officials want to know how the Trump administration can get away with punishing Iran and other countries for complying with the internationally recognized nuclear deal signed in 2015. “The US is, in effect, threatening states who seek to abide by Resolution 2231 with punitive measures,” said President Rouhani. “This constitutes a mockery of international decisions and the blackmailing[Read More…]

by 06/11/2018 3 comments Imperialism
Starving Yemeni Children, Bloated US Weapons Makers

Starving Yemeni Children, Bloated US Weapons Makers

While the world is transfixed on the epic tragedy unfolding in Syria, another tragedy—a hidden one—has been consuming the children of Yemen. Battered by the twin evils of war and hunger, every ten minutes a child in Yemen is now dying from malnutrition, diarrhea and respiratory-tract infections. A new UNICEF report shows over 400,000 Yemeni children suffering from severe acute[Read More…]

by 16/12/2016 1 comment World
Mourners on Monday carry the coffin of Abdul Qader Helal, the mayor of the Yemeni capital San’aa, who was killed in an air strike on a funeral blamed by Houthi rebels on Saudi Arabia. (Photo: Reuters)

Do Western Nations Care About Yemeni Lives or Saudi Blood Money?

How much is the life of a Yemeni worth? Not much, according to the Saudi regime that has been bombing and starving the people of Yemen for since March 2015, or to the Saudi’s western backers, particularly the US and UK, which have been supplying the Saudi regime with weapons, military training, logistical support and diplomatic cover for its dirty[Read More…]

by 11/10/2016 1 comment World