Al Qaida – ZERO ANTHROPOLOGY

The Terrorism We Support in Syria: A First-hand Account of the Use of Mortars against Civilians

By Eva Bartlett In stark contrast to the sparse coverage of the brutality of ISIS and other terrorist groups in Syria over the past few years, there has recently been substantial coverage of the emergence of ISIS in Iraq and the terrorist acts that this US-backed and funded group has been committing. This surge of […]

by Donnchadh Mac an Ghoill

Book Review: Global NATO and the Catastrophic Failure in Libya – Lessons for Africa in the Forging of African Unity, by Horace Campbell

In October 2011, days after the brutal murder of the Libyan Leader, Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi, NATO General Secretary, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, declared that the NATO mission in Libya had been one of the most successful in NATO’s history. In his new book, Professor Horace Campbell sets out to analyse that claim, and to analyse the […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

The “Global War on Terror” Is Not Endless? A Pan-African View

The planned winding down of the global war on terror has major implications for the peace movement internationally and cannot be carried out without vigorous engagement from all. First published as: “War on terror not endless? A pan-Africa view” By Horace G. Campbell Pambazuka, Issue 609, 2012-12-06 INTRODUCTION After September 11, 2001, the President of […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

General Carter Ham’s Case for Dismantling AFRICOM

There is enough evidence that the US Africa Command has increased resource exploitation and imperial expansion, instigated more violence, intensified regional conflicts and undermined the authority of regional organizations and the African Union. First published as: “Dismantle AFRICOM! General Carter Ham makes the case?” By Horace G. Campbell Pambazuka, 2012-12-13, Issue 610 INTRODUCTION On Saturday […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Militarizing Africa and African Studies and the U.S. Africanist Response

By David Wiley [First published as: Wiley, David. (2012). “Militarizing Africa and African Studies and the U.S. Africanist Response.” African Studies Review, 24(2) September, pp. 147-161.] There was an ironic and troubling confluence in the 1958-64 years when simultaneously the majority of African nations won their independence, the Soviet Sputnik went up and shocked Americans […]

by M. Jamil Hanifi

Causes and Consequences of the Destabilization of Afghanistan

Over the last 30 years, the polity of Afghanistan has undergone several overlapping transformations. The structure of power at the center has collapsed, causing the center-periphery relationship to evaporate. The movement of economic and human resources from various regions of Afghanistan to locations across international borders, especially in Iran and Pakistan, has intensified. Ethnic, sectarian, […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

An Anthropological Preview of the Post-9/11 World

I accidentally came across this piece by Thomas Hylland Eriksen, a Norwegian anthropologist, titled “The Paranoid Phase of Globalisation.” It was published in openDemocracy just a little over a month after the 11 September 2001 attacks in New York and Washington D.C., and it was interesting to note Eriksen’s predictions at the time: Imagine this […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

The Making of the Imperial Presidency, the National Security State, and the Transition to Authoritarianism, Part 3

In the Name of Patriotism (Who are the Patriots?) Hon. Ron Paul Texas before the U.S. House of Representatives May 22 , 2007 In this third and possibly final part of this series (see Part 1 and Part 2), I do nothing more than serve as a repeater, amplifier, and highlighter, by presenting the materials […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

The Making of the Imperial Presidency, the National Security State, and the Transition to Authoritarianism, Part 2

“America did not change on September 11. It only became more itself.” — Robert Kagan, neoconservative. In Part 1 of this series we looked at the ways in which the thinking and the tools used in foreign imperial engagements have been imported back into the U.S. itself. In addition we witness the ways in which […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

The Making of the Imperial Presidency, the National Security State, and the Transition to Authoritarianism, Part 1

This series of posts actually began with Preparing for Domestic War in the U.S.?. The focus here is on the ways that the “global war on terror” has been used as a front for a domestic war against democracy and personal liberty in the U.S. itself, with the main tools being legislative changes handing the […]