Definitions of terrorism: “The systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion.” – Merriam Webster “Systematic use of violence and intimidation to achieve some goal.“ – Free Dictionary “The use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes.” – Dictionary.com Noam Chomsky clarifies the
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drive-by planet: ‘Bugsplats’: civilian death count from U.S. drone strikes
Some child casualties of covert US drone war The Pakistan government has released its figures for civilian casualties of American drone strikes. The Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that CIA drones have killed at least 2,200 people in the country, including at least 400 civilians. Around 600 have received
Continue readingRedBedHead: Year One Of The Egyptian Revolution
There will be gobs and gobs of text filling the pages, websites and on air coverage today about the 1 year anniversary of the start of the Egyptian revolution. A lot of it, particularly in North America, will be stupid, low level stuff – fears of the Islamists taking power,
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Lessons from Kyrgyzstan
A year before the Arab Spring, Kyrgyzstan experienced a populist uprising of its own complete with violent conflict, from both the state and between ethnicities, and resulted in a change of governance. The lessons that can be drawn from the recent history in Kyrgyzstan are useful in putting some of the Arab
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: The myopic terrorism lens
One of the main failures of western understanding of the Middle East and South Asia, and the subsequent failures of actions taken by the west in these regions, stems from viewing these regions through the lens of terrorism. This terrorism-centric view…
Continue readingWorld Headlines Review: Egypt Rejects IMF, Revolution Lurches Forward
by Jonathan Rashad Egyptians have evaded a great pitfall in their quest for freedom, democracy and sovereignty in their rejection this week of loan proposals from the IMF. Nations across the world, especially in Africa, have time and again during periods of turmoil been tempted into bailouts and loan deals
Continue readingWorld Headlines Review: Egypt, Tunisia, Thailand… Top 10 destinations for Social Upheaval
A Tide of civil unrest has swept through at least 11 nations in just the past week. Media focus has been on the successes of the “Jasmine Revolution” and developments in Egypt, which is populous, geopolitically significant, and in total upheaval; but nations far and wide are experiencing mass-protests and
Continue readingWorld Headlines Review: Drones, Torture, Rendition: Democratic Values?
A Huffington Post column by Johann Hari summarizes certain revelations stemming from the leaked USG diplomatic cables by Wikileaks. The piece posits that Julian Assange’s efforts have made the world safer and are a boon to US National Security, that a better educated public with proof of government wrongdoings can
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