En español

Statement on the G-20 Summit on the Financial Crisis

Statement of TNI's Working Group on the Global Financial and Economic Crisis
The world is not undergoing a crisis in the system but a crisis of the system in which the real economy has become subservient to the financial economy. Nothing less than a Global Round on a Reconstructed Economic Order is required to address an integrated reform and restructuring of the global economy. Read more on Casino Crash blog
 

Obama’s election

TNI’s regular analysts and contributors analyse the significance of Obama’s election and the challenges he faces, particularly on foreign policy.

Phyllis Bennis states that the election of Barack Obama is a historic victory over racism, but it is not the victory of the left. The US foreign policy will become more cooperative with emphasis on soft power, but the military option will still be on the table.
Bennis also shares thoughts on the Presidential elections and the future of the Middle East (Video)

Walden Bello argues that Obama should decisively get rid of two milestones – Iraq and Afghanistan, focus on transforming the American economy and the global economy.

Tariq Ali warns that only a total break of policy with Bush in Afghanistan will secure peace and a viable future.

Praful Bidwai notes that Indian elite reactions to Obama’s victory have been uneasy given his statements on nuclear non-proliferation and business process outsourcing from the U.S. to India.

Saul Landau says that Obama should liquidate the empire rather than allow establishment figures to perpetuate the ideology of imperial denial and underscores the economic disaster the new President will inherit.
 


New publication

From Venus to Mars: The European Union's steps towards the militarisation of space
Frank Slijper examines the emergence of a European military space policy in the context of an international contest to dominate the ‘military high ground’ of space. Raising concerns about the potential for an arms race, the paper looks at the creeping militarisation of space, and the increasing overlap between civilian and military space applications.

 


Global perspectives

Transforming the Global Economy: Solutions for a Sustainable World (video)
Susan George
The financial crisis is part of a bigger systemic crisis that encompasses the social crisis, the crisis of inequality, the financial and the ecological crisis.
See also Une économie écologique pour sortir de la crise

 

If not capitalism, what?
Hilary Wainwright
This moment of collapse of banks and their total dependence on public authorities is the moment to turn them into public utilities.

How trade, the WTO and the financial crisis reinforce each other
Myriam Vander Stichele
The call made by the World Trade Organisation and some European leaders to finalise the Doha round at the same time of financial reform talks completely ignores that this would impose on the South exactly the same recipe of deregulation and liberalisation of financial services that caused the crisis in the first place.
See also The facilitating framework for free investment and capital, and more on Casino Crash, TNI’s blog on the crisis

Asia & the US in the 21st Century
Walden Bello
With the erosion of US hegemony, the economic and political importance of China will grow. The role of civil society is to make sure that China resists the temptation of following the destructive imperial path trodden by Europe and the United States.

Water and sustainable development
Susan George
We need to recover our sense of awe and wonder in the presence of the clear, fresh, life-giving miracle of water and refuse to allow it to be degraded, polluted and reduced to the vulgar level of the marketplace.

Water Management Challenges in Palestine
Friends of the Earth Palestine (PENGON)
Accumulated knowledge and capacity can facilitate sustainable management of both resources and supply services in Palestine, but none of these can be realised under the occupation.

The United States: Orchestrating a Civic Coup in Bolivia
Bolivian President Evo Morales is visiting the United Nations and the Organization of American States this week to report on the recent US coup attempt against his government. Roger Burbach provides a story of US efforts over the past three years to topple Morales.

Victims of the Crisis
Boris Kagarlitsky
One of the first victims of the economic crisis in Russia is the independent media.

Afghanistan: Policy Adjustments or Withdrawal?
Political Implications of the Escalation of Violence
Jochen Hippler outlines a plan that German and other governments should follow in Afghanistan – focus on state building, pull the troops out of the rural areas, and if the situation does not improve, pull out altogether.

Saffron terror
Praful Bidwai
The arrest of several Hindu supremacist extremists for bomb blasts in Malegaon in central Maharashtra point to the need for action against majoritarian extremism.
See also Secular fabric under threat

En español

La elección de Obama

Los analistas y colaboradores habituales del TNI analizan la importancia de la elección de Obama y los desafíos a los que se enfrenta, especialmente en el ámbito de la política exterior.

Mariano Aguirre escribe que, después de una campaña inteligente dentro y fuera de Estados Unidos, y un triunfo arrasador, Barak Obama enfrentará complejos desafíos, especialmente si pretende llevar a cabo el proyecto que fue presentando desde 2004, y mucho más si tiene que responder a todas las expectativas que ha despertado.

Phyllis Benis opina que un nuevo Gobierno estadounidense brinda una oportunidad de cambio, pero se necesitará un movimiento antiguerra poderoso y movilizado para conseguir que la nueva administración rinda cuentas de las promesas realizadas.

Joan Subirats apunta que la capacidad que tenga Obama para mantener la movilización y la capacidad de los ahora movilizados para seguir insistiendo en que se cumplan las promesas lanzadas y el nuevo estilo prometido serán las claves que determinarán en buena parte el que el ambicioso programa de cambio pueda ser factible.

Walden Bello señala que, en sus primeros 100 días de presidencia, Obama debería deshacerse resueltamente de dos hitos, Iraq y Afganistán, y allanar el camino para concentrarse en la tarea verdaderamente titánica que le depara el futuro: transformar la economía estadounidense y mundial.

Atilio Borón advierte que es muy poco probable que los cambios económicos se traduzcan en una desmilitarización de la escena internacional; el presidente de Estados Unidos es una figura mucho más débil de lo que aparenta.
Véase también: ¿Un nuevo Tío Tom?

Grandes expectativas
Tariq Ali
Si el cambio se resuelve en que nada cambie, entonces podría ocurrir que, pasados unos años, quienes han aupado a Obama a la Casa Blanca decidan que la creación de un partido progresista en los Estados Unidos se ha vuelto una necesidad.
 


Perspectiva global

Agua y desarrollo sostenible
Susan George
Necesitamos recobrar nuestro sentido de respeto y admiración en presencia del claro, fresco, vivificante milagro del agua, y negarnos a permitir que se la degrade, contamine y reduzca al vulgar ámbito del mercado.

«La crisis financiera está ocultando el problema de la pobreza mundial»
Mario Beramendi entrevista a Susan George
Erigida en una de las voces más criticas contra el neoliberalismo, Susan George cree que la cumbre de Washington es «ilegítima» porque no representa a los ciudadanos.

La debacle financiera de Wall Street, vista desde Asia
Walden Bello
Para muchos, la crisis de Wall Street es una reiteración, aunque a una escala mucho mayor, de la crisis financiera asiática que trajo a pique las economías vibrantes de los "tigres" del Este.

La política del cambio climático
Entrevista con Larry Lohmann
Hay constantes presiones para despolitizar el cambio climatico, pero, dado que es una cuestión social como muchas otras, siempre estará vinculada a luchas concretas.

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New from our network

The EU-India-FTA: development and growth for each and everybody?
Barbara Meincke
Heinrich Boll Foundation >>

Mandate for Change: Policies and Leadership for 2009 and Beyond
Chester W. Hartman
lexingtonbooks.com >>

El presidente acusa a la DEA de haber fomentado el narcotráfico en Bolivia.
Congreso Bolivariano de los pueblos >>

Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas panel sobre la crisis financiera
François Houtart
Justicia y paz en Colombia >>

From the archives

On preserving capitalism in the 21st century: The Lugano Report
An interview with Susan George
November 1999

Addicted to Capital: The ten-year high and withdrawal trauma of Southeast Asia's economies
Walden Bello
September 1997

Recommended

G-20 summit 'punts' till April
The Real News Network

Social Movements 2.0
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Now, the credit card crunch in India
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Obama on drugs: should reformers dare to hope?
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El mercurio digital>

In the media

In praise of Susan George
Edwin Madunagu, The Guardian (Nigeria), 13 November

Climate change: Too many people?
Simon Butler, Green Left Weekly, 17 November

América Latina en la Cumbre de Washington
Orlando Torricelli, Radio France Internationale, 14 noviembre 

Phyllis Bennis: "Ook met Obama blijft vredesbeweging hard nodig"
Indymedia.be, 11 November

Migration blues
Bernardo V. Lopez Business World, 5 November

More of TNI in the news >>

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