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Recent Z Nightly Commentaries
Wallerstein: Self-Determination
Jan 22, 2011
One of the guiding mantras of the twentieth century was the self-determination of peoples, of nations.
Wallerstein: Putin's Offer
Dec 30, 2010
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin of Russia visited Germany in the end of November. Before arriving there, he published an op-ed in the German newspaper, SüddeutscheZeitung, which commented on this interview under the headline, "Putin hugs Europe."
Wallerstein: Discussing Poverty
Dec 15, 2010
For the fifteen to twenty years that the Washington Consensus dominated the discourse in the world-system, poverty was a taboo word, even as it was increasing by leaps and bounds.
Wallerstein: Brazilian & U.S. Elections
Nov 18, 2010
On October 31, President Luis Inacio "Lula" da Silva won a sweeping victory in the Brazilian elections. On November 2, President Barack Obama was soundly defeated in the U.S. elections.
Wallerstein: Currency War
Nov 11, 2010
Currencies are a very particular economic problem. For currencies are the one true win-lose relationship.
Wilpert: Opportunity for Venezuela’s Socialists
Oct 02, 2010
The good news for Venezuela’s socialist and pro-Chavez forces is that while the September 26 National Assembly election might seem to be a disappointing result, because Chavez’s party won only about 50% of the popular vote, it is actually quite impressive.
Weissman: Afghanistan Study Group Report
Sep 11, 2010
There is a tradition among some peace activists of striking a pose of annoyed indifference to the question of how to get out of an unpopular war. "There are three ways to get out," goes one waggish response. "Air, land, and sea."
Wallerstein: Xenophobia
Sep 09, 2010
The dictionary defines xenophobia as "fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign." It seems to be an endemic plague everywhere in the world. But it infects larger numbers of people only sometimes. This is one of those times.
Wise: On Ground Zero
Sep 07, 2010
In all the rancor over whether or not one group of Muslims should be allowed to build a cultural center and worship space near the site of the 9/11 attacks -- which were committed by a separate and totally unrelated group of Muslims --there is one thing above all else that no one appears anxious to point out: namely, that for any white Christian to say "Ground Zero" is off limits to anyone is possibly the most deliciously and yet grotesquely ironic thing ever suggested.
Wallerstein: Latin American Contradictions
Aug 18, 2010
Latin America has been the success story of the world left in the first decade of the twenty-first century. This is true in two senses. The first and most widely-noticed way is that left or left-of-center parties have won a remarkable series of elections during the decade. And collectively, Latin American governments have taken for the first time a significant degree of distance from the United States. Latin America has become a relatively autonomous geopolitical force on the world scene
Wise: Colorblind Ambition
Jul 05, 2010
It was summer 2004 when most of us first became familiar with Barack Obama...
Wallerstein: "Why McChrystal Did It"
Jul 04, 2010
Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, gave an interview to Rolling Stone magazine in which he and his staff insulted the civilian leaders of his country. He was fired for insubordination by Pres. Obama. Even his defenders said that McChrystal's remarks were impolitic and a mistake. Given the fact that McChrystal is an exceptionally intelligent and very ambitious person, why did he do it?
Wilpert: New York Times on Oliver Stone
Jul 01, 2010
It is truly amazing how a long-time Latin America correspondent who accuses Oliver Stone’s recently released documentary “South of the Border” of “mistakes, misstatements and missing details,” manages to get practically every single statement of his own wrong, misstated, or lacking in detail.
Watterson: Most Peaceful Country?
Jun 20, 2010
As a New Zealander, I was both delighted and concerned to discover that my country is considered the most peaceful in the world by the 2010 Global Peace Index (GPI), a publication developed by an international panel of peace experts in collaboration with the Economist Intelligence Unit and published by the Institute for Economics and Peace.
Weissman: Five Questions for Hayward
Jun 19, 2010
BP CEO Tony Hayward today faces what is sure to be a tough inquisition before the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Wallerstein: Iran & North Korea Again
Jun 04, 2010
The United States has been clamoring for almost two decades that it is determined to prevent Iran and North Korea from becoming nuclear powers. In-between more urgent issues, the U.S. government regularly reasserts the importance of this objective. Since both Iran and North Korea are clearly unwilling to cede to these periodically-reasserted U.S. demands, the United States constantly makes threats of further action of some sort.
Weissman: BP CEO Supports a Boycott?
May 28, 2010
Does BP CEO Tony Hayward want millions of people to take the BP boycott pledge?
Wallerstein: The Anatomy of Fear
May 16, 2010
Fear is the most pervasive public emotion in most of the world today. This fear is not irrational, but it doesn't necessarily lead to wise ways of handling the presumed dangers. The way it operates can be clearly perceived in two notable events of the recent past. The first was the dramatic plunge of stock market values on the New York Stock Exchange on May 6 - a plunge that astonished everyone and lasted a mere few minutes. The second was the riots in Athens that have already led to three deaths and which are still continuing.
Wise: Gates on Reparations
May 12, 2010
As a writer, there are times when you have something to say, and yet no particular "hook" upon which to hang the missive you are burning to release. In these moments, it is often best to wait, to hold on to the material you find so compelling, secure in the knowledge that soon enough something will happen--some personal experience or news event--that will render the intended screed relevant at long last.
Feb 02, 2011
Venezuela has made significant progress in the past 12 years towards a more egalitarian, inclusive, and participatory society.