A Quintessential Eastern Marxist State: A Review of A.B. Abrams’ Immovable Object: North Korea’s 70 Years at War with American Power

By Stephen Gowans April 3, 2021 On the eve of the First World War, and for a good many years thereafter, the bulk of humanity was in the thrall of a handful of great powers: Britain, France, Russia, and the rising powers of the United States, Japan, and Germany. These self-declared chosen nations and soi-disant … Continue reading A Quintessential Eastern Marxist State: A Review of A.B. Abrams’ Immovable Object: North Korea’s 70 Years at War with American Power →

What the Syrian Constitution says about Assad and the Rebels

By Stephen Gowans The idea that the uprising against the Syrian government is inspired by a grassroots movement thirsting for a pluralist, democratic state is a fiction. The opposition’s chief elements are Islamists who seek to establish a Sunni-dominated Islamic state in place of a Syrian government they revile for being secular and dominated by … Continue reading What the Syrian Constitution says about Assad and the Rebels →

Slouching Towards Sirte: NATO’s War on Libya and Africa

The next time that empire comes calling in the name of human rights, please be found standing idly by By Stephen Gowans Maximilian C. Forte’s new book Slouching Towards Sirte: NATO’s War on Libya and Africa (released November 20) is a searing indictment of NATO’s 2011 military intervention in Libya, and of the North American … Continue reading Slouching Towards Sirte: NATO’s War on Libya and Africa →

Why Washington Rejects a Liberal Democratic Solution to the Problem of Palestine

Freedom does not consist in the dream of independence of natural law, but in the knowledge of these laws, and in the possibility this gives of systematically making them work towards definite ends. Friedrich Engels, Anti-Duhring, 1877. June 26, 2021 Stephen Gowans The United States dominates the Arab and Muslim worlds. This is a fairly … Continue reading Why Washington Rejects a Liberal Democratic Solution to the Problem of Palestine →

The Chinese Uyghur Dark Legend and Washington’s Campaign to Counter Chinese Economic Rivalry

October 25, 2020 Dig below the surface of the allegations that Beijing is abusing its Muslim population, and you won’t find concentration camps and genocide, but a US-led effort to create a Chinese dark legend. The roots of the demonization campaign are to be found in Washington’s desire to counter China’s challenge to US economic … Continue reading The Chinese Uyghur Dark Legend and Washington’s Campaign to Counter Chinese Economic Rivalry →

Is Peace on the Korean Peninsula Achievable?

Unless “the fundamental economic question, viz., the question of the economic essence of imperialism … is studied, it will be impossible to understand and appraise modern war and modern politics.” – Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin), 1917 March 15, 2020 By Stephen Gowans I wrote a book in 2018 book titled, Patriots, Traitors, and Empires: The … Continue reading Is Peace on the Korean Peninsula Achievable? →

Land theft, ethnic cleansing, and Jewish supremacy: Israel’s settler colonialism in Syria’s Al Qunaytirah, the forgotten occupied territory

By Stephen Gowans March 31, 2019 Israel’s occupation, annexation, and plunder of two-thirds of the Syrian province of Al Qunaytirah recapitulates all that is repugnant about the Zionist state: its wars of aggression, land theft, ethnic cleansing, racism, quest for lebensraum, and contempt for international legal norms. It also shows that Israeli citizens, including the … Continue reading Land theft, ethnic cleansing, and Jewish supremacy: Israel’s settler colonialism in Syria’s Al Qunaytirah, the forgotten occupied territory →

The Economic Atom Bombing of Syria

The United States, the European Union, the Arab League, Turkey, Canada and Australia have collectively taken measures since 2011, and the United States since 1979, to destroy Syria’s economy. The measures are illegal under international law, which prohibits states from using economic pressure, outside the framework of the UN Security Council, to coerce other states. … Continue reading The Economic Atom Bombing of Syria →

The (Largely Unrecognized) US Occupation of Syria

The United States has invaded Syria with a significant military force, is occupying nearly one-third of its territory, has announced plans for an indefinite occupation, and is plundering the country’s petroleum resources. Washington has no authorization under international or even US law to invade and occupy Syria, much less attack Syrian forces, which it has … Continue reading The (Largely Unrecognized) US Occupation of Syria →

The Real Defenders of Democracy: Syria and the Struggle against the International Despotism of Wall Street

April 30, 2017 By Stephen Gowans A day before my book Washington’s Long War on Syria was sent to the press, I read a short essay by a notable Canadian, Norman Bethune. The essay was titled Wounds. Bethune was a skilled and innovative surgeon who was at the forefront of the fight for public health … Continue reading The Real Defenders of Democracy: Syria and the Struggle against the International Despotism of Wall Street →