Ukraine’s Games of Sovereignty: Russia vs US Exceptionalism
Sovereignty is defined by the power to dictate exceptions, or as the German jurist Carl Schmitt suggested, the power of the exception. Without this, one could never be an overlord of oneself, in a political or any other meaningful way. What is unfolding in Ukraine at this writing is a battle of sovereign will. Most […]
Land Grab at Ile a Vache: Haiti’s Peasants Fight Back
Before Haiti’s Prime Minister declared all of Haiti’s offshore islands to be Zones of Tourism Development and Public Utility, he did not consult with the residents of the islands whose lands would be appropriated. Instead Mr. Laurent Lamothe went to a favorite online magazine in December 2012, to promote his plans. “[W]e have decided to […]
Freedom of the Press: Government Does Not Know Best
David Miranda, who was detained for nine hours in Heathrow Airport on August 18, 2013 on suspicion that he might have violated anti-terrorism laws, apparently had no grounds for complaint. The United Kingdom’s High Court found that the actions taken against the partner of Glenn Greenwald, a key participant in the surveillance disclosures of Edward […]
Engineering Failed States: The Strategy of Global Corporate Imperialism
Empires as national and cultural megalomaniac dreams Once upon a time, national entities and cultures aspired to build empires. The impulse was the erroneous assumption of being a superior civilization. It was about exporting an extensive set of aspirations, a culture, and a value system. Romans thought that bringing water through aqueducts and paved roads […]
Bosnia’s Violent Protests: ‘He Who Sows Hunger Reaps Anger’
Bosnia Herzegovina is the microcosm of the rest of the Balkan republics. It was where the dream of a united Yugoslavia was plotted. It proved to be the seat of the multi-ethnic framework that Tito imposed with a mixture of both terror and sweet perseverance. Sarajevo was the ethnic wonderland, a musical and cultural playground […]
