Page Text: BY Richard Falk
It has become obvious that the priority in the geopolitical war is weakening Russia rather than saving Ukraine from the ravages of war and ending the encroachment on its rights as a sovereign state. The longer this geopolitical war continues the greater the harm done to Ukraine and its people, while irresponsibly raising the risk of a violent encounter between Russia and NATO. This encounter has already given rise to heightened nuclear dangers, and these would increase with any further escalation. More
BY Jeffrey St. Clair
While FDR blocked arms sales to the beleaguered Republican forces in Spain and tried to prevent Americans from joining the Lincoln Brigades, he let the oil flow…to Franco and the Fascists, largely from the spigots of Texaco, then run out of his suites in the Chrysler Building by a Hitler admirer called Torkild Rieber, who wore a tuxedo to work every day, dined at the 21 Club with the likes of Humphrey Bogart and bragged that he preferred dealing with autocrats like Hitler and Franco because “you only had to bribe them once.” More
BY Philippe Marlière
The main event, however, was the complete collapse of the two parties that not so long ago dominated the French political system: the centre-Left Parti Socialiste (PS) Les Republicains (LR), heirs to France’s Right-wing Gaullist tradition. Until 2017, the PS and LR used to take turns in office; at this election their candidates received 1.75% and 4.78% of the vote respectively. Their fall from grace is staggering. It is unclear whether they will ever recover at national level, but the early signs are not good. More
BY Boris Kagarlitsky
The special operation in Ukraine was conceived by Putin and his entourage as a way to turn the political situation around. The Kremlin strategists weren’t the least bit interested in the fate of the people in Lugansk and Donetsk, or even in the future of Ukraine. At a historical impasse, with no way to revive the economy, cope with the burden of growing problems, or raise the approval ratings now rolling into the abyss, they found no better way to solve all their issues at once but with the help of a small victorious war — a classic mistake that governments make when they are not ready to embark on urgent and inevitable reforms. More
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