The English conservative likes to see the world as an organic whole free from ideology. Politics is something separate from society at large, and the main purpose of the state is to leave existing social relations intact. The real truths about the world are found elsewhere. (More…)
When Drexel University politics professor George Ciccariello-Maher was targeted by the alt-right for Tweeting about “white genocide,” he later clarified that he was not advocating any violence but mocking anyone who believed that such a killing spree was occurring. (More…)
The predominantly Kurdish district of Afrin in northwestern Syria has been under near-continuous siege for four years but remained relatively calm, attracting hundreds of thousands of displaced people. Now, it is under threat from Turkish military operations in Syria. (More…)
While Donald Trump is not a fascist, he is supported by fascist groups and he is fascistic, in the sense that he shares certain characteristics with fascists: he is racist; has a strong patriotic belief in the nation; is anti-internationalist and demagogic. (More…)
Watching the joint press conference, it was clear Theresa May and Donald Trump deserve each other. Hoping to buy-off populism, May has gone in for a hard Brexit and now has to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the most vulgar populist of all. The May plan for Brexit depends on US support, but not the kind offered by ‘the Donald’. (More…)
Once the spadework was done by the early Nazi agents sent into the United States, the web rapidly embraced native fascists, racketeering “patriots” and deluded Americans who swallowed their propaganda. (More…)
Russia, Turkey and Iran agreed to enforce a nationwide truce in Syria, in the hopes of paving the way for a future political solution to the crisis, but both the Syrian government and opposition have their doubts about the truce. (More…)
The dawn of the Trump Era was met with the sort of damp squib that might have suggested to a more thoughtful individual the brute realities of his situation. Habituated as he is to basking in the glow of the approbation outsized personal deference, the underwhelming crowd at his inauguration had the potential to act as a corrective (More…)
In six months, federal elections will be held in Germany. The right-wing AfD, party which in recent months has been polling consistently well above 10%, will almost certainly enter federal parliament. Barring any unforeseeable catastrophic event, Merkel will remain in power, but the rise of the far-right has already shaken Germany’s politics. (More…)
Foreign intervention and the many proxy groups fighting on all sides of the conflict in Syria have further polarized the war and complicated the rules for accountability when it comes to civilian protection. (More…)
Lale Colak died upon release from Kartal Prison, Istanbul, on December 20, 2000. She couldn’t speak, her mouth was ulcerated, and her hair had turned white after 222 days without solid food. Lale’s mother says that she didn’t want to die, but was militantly devoted to a wave of prisoner hunger strikes that took aim at the expansion of Turkish mass incarceration. (More…)
The Syrian government’s new and unprecedented volunteer-based military unit is a window into the current state and the future of the Syrian military, explains Syrian journalist Abdulrahman al-Masri. (More…)