Global Outlook

From "constitution" to "reform" or from bad to worse
Susan George
The European elites have never digested the French and Dutch 'No' votes on the Constitution and now they are striking back with the so-called "Reform Treaty". This latest treaty, being pushed through with unseemly haste so that European citizens cannot interfere, is just as complicated, just as neo-liberal, just as unjust as the defunct Constitution it replaces.
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Are corporate titans really worth the billions they suck in?
Sarah Anderson and Sam Pizzigati
Is the labour of corporate CEOs really hundreds of times more valuable than the labour of other leaders?
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Cleaning up after Bhopal gas tragedy - still not begun
Praful Bidwai
A generation after the world's worst ever industrial disaster occurred at a U.S. multinational-owned pesticide plant in Bhopal, central India, responsibility continues to be evaded on cleaning up thousands of tons of toxic chemicals that have contaminated the soil and water in the vicinity.
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Beyond 'Green Shopping'
John Cavanagh and Jerry Mander
The response of most politicians and corporations to climate change is that new technologies and "green consumerism" will solve the problems. This approach is deeply flawed - any solution should be based on sustainability and equity, not consumerism.
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Shooting messengers
Mariano Aguirre
A major reason that the US government, the US political establishment, and ordinary US citizens don't have a clear picture of the Israel/Palestine crisis is that any criticism or complaint about Israel - no matter how well-researched and moderate - is swiftly attacked as anti-Semitic by lobbies in the United States.
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Of capitalism, crisis, conversion & collapse: The Keynesian alternative
Susan George
The only feasible way out of the ecological crisis is a new, environmental Keynesianism, bringing together government, corporations and citizens. The problem is to convince politicians that ecological transformation and environmental practices can pay off politically.
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Is another depression looming?
Boris Kagarlitsky
While the West Europeans are worried about the economic impact of global economic crisis, in Russia the very survival of political elite is at stake. Elections can be easily orchestrated, but how to control the impact of global crisis?
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Five-nation naval drill presages 'Asian NATO'?
Praful Bidwai
India's hosting of large-scale military exercises involving four countries led by the United States has triggered spirited protests, by left-wing parties that prop up the country's ruling coalition, for integrating India too closely with Washington's global agendas.
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'The US will lose war regardless what it does'
Gabriel Kolko interviewed by John Goetz
In an interview with Der Spiegel online, American military historian Gabriel Kolko argues that the situation in Iraq is worse than ever and that the artificial nation, created after World War I, is breaking up. The "surge," he says, is also failing.
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A disastrous script to follow
Boris Kagarlitsky
The current recession in the US is only a sign of the global crisis that might follow, of which Russia will not be exempt.
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Contradictions of a client state
John Gittings
Shinzo Abe has resigned as PM, but the country still has to work out how to reconcile subordination to the US with nationalist sentiment.
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Another side of Bob Dylan
Mike Marqusee
Dylan used to tease critics by claiming he was only "a song and dance man" but his lyrics contain an overriding theme: the need to speak the truth (however inchoate) to power, regardless of expert opinion.
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Out of the toilet stalls - new republican rallying cry
Saul Landau
Instead of examining Larry Craig's pro-war, anti-labour stands as Senator, the media will focus on his "distorted morality".
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The Mitrofanov argument
Boris Kagarlitsky
That the "Just Russia" party accepted the liability of having the unpopular State Duma deputy Aleksey Mitrofanov as their new member, suggests there is some political manoeuvring going on as the elections approach.
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Perspectiva global:

Todos caen: diez años después de la crisis financiera asiática
Walden Bello
Diez años después de la crisis financiera de Asia, las economías del Pacífico aún no se han recuperado. Mientras tanto, el capital financiero sigue resistiéndose a cualquier tipo de marco regulatorio mundial.
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