In the continuities between the Tolstoyan scenes from the “Sevastopol Sketches” and the destruction of Syrian and Ukrainian cities, we perceive constancy in the fundamentally brutal exercise of State power
Place: Syria
Syria
Are Tankie Politics Racist?
Ani White and Gayaal Iddamalgoda argue that so-called “tankie” politics, meaning support for “actually-existing socialist” and “anti-imperialist” states, erase struggles in the Global South.
Solidarity, Inc. Part II
What Western anti-imperialists prescribe for their Arab counterparts
The purpose of the teenage anti-imperialist is to take a precise position at a certain moment in time for a mostly-domestic, aesthetic purpose.
Assad’s Pyrrhic Victory
It’s difficult to recollect the euphoria of the early days of the 2011 uprising in Syria against the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Reflecting on that time, Syrians speak of the breaking of the “fear barrier”—the suffocating authoritarianism and repression that . . .
Reflections of an Anti-Imperialist after Ten Years of Debate
An Interview with Gilbert Achcar
What does it mean to be a left anti-imperialist today? Stephen R. Shalom interviews Gilbert Achcar.
The Other Regional Counter-Revolution
Iran’s Role in the Shifting Political Landscape of the Middle East
Reflections of an Anti-Imperialist after Ten Years of Debate
What does it mean to be a left anti-imperialist today? Stephen R. Shalom interviews Gilbert Achcar.
Erasing People through Disinformation: Syria and the “Anti-Imperialism” of Fools
Disreputable writers and outlets, often operating under the aegis of “independent journalism” with purportedly “leftwing” views, are spreading corrosive propaganda and disinformation that aims to strip Syrians of political agency.
Letter to Mass Peace Action and Peace Action NY State
Any group or entity that calls itself progressive must stand against oppression everywhere. An apologist for Assad’s genocidal regime and his Russian backers should not be normalized nor considered a valid source of information.
Using an Award Ceremony to Support the Syrian Struggle
What can be done to show solidarity with Syrians who have risen up against their tyrannical government and its bloody allies? We in Promoting Enduring Peace thought a great gesture would be to give our Gandhi Peace Award to Syrians doing humanitarian work.
A Letter to the Progressive International
When a new “Progressive International” invited Syria’s Yassin al-Haj Saleh to join, he was happy to accept. When he then submitted this letter for their publication, they ceased contacting him without explanation.
The Syrian Revolution: A History from Below
The Online Summer Institute titled “The Syrian Revolution: A History from Below” is a webinar series about grassroots politics, class struggles, and state violence in Syria since the 1970s up until the present.
Breaking Immigration Norms Towards Refugees in the Age of COVID-19
Capitalism and white supremacy, together the axes around which most of our contemporary existence has revolved, appear to have been dealt a rattling blow with the arrival of COVID-19.
The U.S. protests: Lessons from Syria
In the spirit of solidarity with those on the streets, Leila Al Shami offers lessons from the Syrian revolution that might be applicable to the uprising against police violence in the United States.
Revolution in Permanence in Syria, After the Uprisings
Joseph Daher, Syria After the Uprisings: The Political Economy of State Resilience. Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2019.
The Swiss-Syrian Marxist academic Joseph Daher’s sweeping study, Syria After the Uprisings, represents an important contribution to our political and historical understanding of Syria’s Revolution. . . .
Nine Years Against Assad
As Bashar al-Assad brutally crushes the last areas not under his control, Joseph Daher, Syrian socialist activist, gave this wide-ranging interview to the UK-based journal Socialist Resistance.
What are the Lessons of the UK Election?
There have been many articles attempting to explain the crushing defeat of the Labour Party in the UK election of 12 December 2019. Some of them are very insightful, and list reasons that undoubtedly played a part in that defeat. . . .
Idlib Resists
Over the past few days a popular uprising has broken out across Idlib against the hardline Islamist group HTS (formerly Al-Qaeda linked Nusra) which is militarily dominant in much of the province.
The recent uprising began when HTS increased Zakaat (taxes) on a . . .
Sunday Nov. 3: Livestream Dialogue on Kurdish Self-Determination and Socialism
Two hours of discussion with Kurdish Turkish, Kurdish Iranian, Syrian Swiss socialists to be followed by 30 minutes for Q and A with the Facebook audience.
Reply to Greg Shupak
Greg Shupak and I, as he notes, differ on one key interpretation of U.S. intervention in Syria. For him, the U.S. intervention, as it shifted its focus to defeating ISIS, never meant a shift away from an anti-Assad stance; rather, . . .
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