Michael Ignatieff – ZERO ANTHROPOLOGY

US Sovereignty and Economic Exceptionalism

The following is an extract from Karine Perron’s chapter, “The International Economic Sovereignty of the United States of America: Integrating the Exception to our Understanding of Empire,” published in Good Intentions: Norms and Practices of Imperial Humanitarianism (Montreal: Alert Press, 2014), pp. 105-120: Overview: Karine Perron addresses the scope of US capacity to influence and […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Harper Needs Somebody to Love

I am no pundit, but I think that Michel Ignatieff is in trouble unless he can sing Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” (or more appropriate to his political vision, AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell,” and do so with the exact same voice of Bon Scott, with an ear-grinding guitar solo to boot). Watch our current Prime […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Torture for Democracy (1): Michael Ignatieff’s New Imperialism

It began as a “prank,” in the words of the Canadian Press this past 17 August 2009. An anonymous critic of Canadian Liberal leader sent a mass mailing, using a BBC address, to the parliamentary press gallery. In each envelope a was a colour copy of a damning piece about Michael Ignatieff, published four years […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Torture for Democracy (2): Video Post

To not clutter up the main post, Torture for Democracy (1), the relevant supporting videos are placed here.

by Maximilian C. Forte

R2P: Responsibility to Protect

Recently, while discussing and debating the meanings of liberalism and foreign intervention with Max Ajl and Jeremy Hammond, Max raised the R2P doctrine: the responsibility to protect. This reminded me of a new web resource, authored by Anthony Fenton, an independent journalist in British Columbia, called the Web of Democracy. Fenton’s site, created only last […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

NATO and Afghanistan’s Shia Marriage Law: The Collapse of a Master Narrative

“The Westerners claim that they have brought democracy to Afghanistan. What does democracy mean? It means government by the people for the people. They should let the people use these democratic rights” (Mohammad Asif Mohseni, senior Afghan cleric and legislator, 11 April 2009) “I hope that we have elevated in the hearts and minds of […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

The New Imperialism: Max Boot, Niall Ferguson, Michael Ignatieff

(A listing of some popular quotes, from proponents of the new imperialism, that one increasingly finds quoted across a variety of publications.) A Debate over US ‘Empire’ Builds in Unexpected Circles By Dan Morgan Washington Post, August 10, 2003 William Kristol, a neoconservative editor of the Weekly Standard magazine: “If people want to say we’re […]