PHOTOS: The Za’atari camp for Syrian refugees in Jordan. Below: International studies scholar Vijay Prashad; former Conservative Senator Hugh Segal. On Labour Day 2015, the world’s attention is focused on the great migration of desperate human beings streaming into Europe from the economic and military catastrophes of North Africa and
Continue readingTag: europe
Alberta Politics: The refugee crisis: Harper Conservatives just can’t spin it both ways
PHOTOS: Refugees from the Syrian civil war clog a road near the Syria-Iraq border. (UNHCR photo.) Below: Saskatchewan Conservative MP Kelly Block’s constituency leaflet; Ms. Block herself; Immigration Minister Chris Alexander. For several years, the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper has played to the worst instincts of a significant
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: The left’s hopes for Greece fade
This caricature of Alexis Tsipras was adapted from a Creative Commons licensed photo by Olaf Kosinsky available via Wikimedia. The body was adapted from a Creative Commons licensed photo from Robert Scoble’s Flickr photostream.The background was from a Creative Commons licensed photo from Brian Jeffery Beggerly’s Flickr photostream. The political
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Swapping one mirage for another: the Left’s turn away from social Europe
Swapping one mirage for another: the Left’s turn away from social Europe. Filed under: Europe, Eurozone crisis Tagged: Austerity, Eurozone Crisis
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Escaping the Euro Dream
Photo by Olaf Kosinsky The following statement was published last week by Nicole Gohlke and Janine Wissler, two radical MPs in Germany’s Die Linke (The Left Party) associated with one of its far-left currents, Marx21. In it they criticize what they perceive as the party’s failure to entertain political possibilities
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Greece: Alternatives and Exiting the Eurozone
Illustration by DonkeyHotey On 5 July 2015, by a referendum initiated by the government of Alexis Tsipras and the Hellenic Parliament, the Greek people overwhelmingly rejected the austerity measures imposed by the institutions that were known as the Troika. It was a splendid victory for democracy. However the agreement reached
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: The Real Plan B: The New Greek Marathon
Illustration by Carlos ZGZ In the face of being excluded from desperately needed funds and the threat of being kicked out of the European Union, the Greek parliament has now voted to accept the Troika memorandum. The Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras acknowledged – unlike social democrats choosing to implement
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: The Ukraine crisis: Why and how it has come to this
Photo by Mstyslav Chernov Background of the Ukraine-NATO issue To understand why and how the situation in Ukraine has come to what it is, it’s necessary to go back to the period just before the breakup of the Soviet Union. Fortunately, there is good documentation on this. It was reviewed
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Treating Syriza Responsibly
Photo by Sharon Mollerus As against those on the international left so keen to put the boot in against the Syriza government with the charge that they had abjectly capitulated already with the plan passed in the Greek parliament, it is instructive to read this document from the German finance
Continue readingMichal Rozworski » Political Eh-conomy: The New Europeans: Like the Old on Greece
Poland’s man in Brussels, President of the European Council Donald Tusk, has truly settled into his shoes as a new member of the European elite. On Tuesday, he issued the stern warning: “Our inability to find agreement may lead to the bankruptcy of Greece and the insolvency of its banking
Continue readingPolitical Eh-conomy: The New Europeans: Like the Old on Greece
Poland’s man in Brussels, President of the European Council Donald Tusk, has truly settled into his shoes as a new member of the European elite. On Tuesday, he issued the stern warning: “Our inability to find agreement may lead to the bankruptcy of Greece and the insolvency of its banking
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Greek Referendum Map
Filed under: Austerity, Europe, Southern Europe Tagged: Austerity, Eurozone Crisis, Greece, Greek Referendum
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Paul de Grauwe points out that the European push to force Greece into continued austerity is the most important factor holding back a recovery, as the country would be fully solvent if it were being allowed to borrow money on anything but the
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Joseph Stiglitz: how I would vote in the Greek referendum
Photo by SpaceShoe The rising crescendo of bickering and acrimony within Europe might seem to outsiders to be the inevitable result of the bitter endgame playing out between Greece and its creditors. In fact, European leaders are finally beginning to reveal the true nature of the ongoing debt dispute, and
Continue readingMichal Rozworski » Political Eh-conomy: Europe ready to kill Greece to keep TINA alive
My latest piece on Greece was published yesterday at Ricochet. In short, Europe and the IMF’s message that ‘there still is no alternative’ proves that objective of punitive austerity is political, not economic. Here it is in full: The project’s aim is to make an example of Greece and solidify austerity
Continue readingPolitical Eh-conomy: Europe ready to kill Greece to keep TINA alive
My latest piece on Greece was published yesterday at Ricochet. In short, Europe and the IMF’s message that ‘there still is no alternative’ proves that objective of punitive austerity is political, not economic. Here it is in full: The project’s aim is to make an example of Greece and solidify austerity
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Mark Anderson reports on the Change Readiness Index’ findings that the growing concentration and inequality of wealth is making it more and more difficult for countries to deal with foreseeable disasters. But Jon Queally points out that a concerted effort to quit
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Syriza, Podemos, Left Bloc, and the Left
Photo by Margarita Solé NEW YORK, 29 May 2015 — The theme for the 2105 Left Forum was: No Justice, No Peace: Confronting the Crises of Capitalism and Democracy. The opening plenary focused on anti-austerity politics, alliances, and national and international political potentials and challenges emerging in Europe and impacting
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Creating an Economy of Need in Greece
Filed under: Europe Tagged: Eurozone Crisis, Greece, Socialism, Syriza
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Wars and displaced persons camps, in Ukraine and in Haiti
Separatist commander Arseny Pavlov • Photo by Andrew Butko While in Moscow three weeks ago, following a media tour to Donetsk, eastern Ukraine in which I participated, I had the pleasure of meeting Jon Hellevig, a regular writer at Russia Insider. Jon was in Donetsk a few weeks before our
Continue reading