sanctions – ZERO ANTHROPOLOGY

Regime Change Reality Checks: Lessons from Hanoi, Caracas, and Beyond

Lessons from Hanoi: North Korea and the US The first Kim-Trump Summit, which took place in Singapore a mere eight months ago, seemed so hopeful—a real breakthrough, a new landmark, new history being made. Of course it was due to Trump’s extreme threats—to totally destroy North Korea with fire and fury—that inflated the value of […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

A War for Oil: The US Economic War on Venezuela

A Bridge Too Far It resembled something from a post-apocalyptic setting in a movie: images of the blocked highway bridge linking Colombia to Venezuela, silent and desolate containers behind fences, not a person in sight, no movement. It was like a makeshift monument to a people’s understanding of how “humanitarian aid” is used by empire […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Which Door Has Opened? Kim Jong-un, Donald Trump, and the Singapore Summit

Both leaders arrived in Singapore, with significant excitement greeting them. Trump, arriving from a bitter G7 meeting, after which he attacked Justin Trudeau personally, flew into Singapore on Sunday, June 10, as did Kim Jong-un, who took serious precautions in his travel arrangements. By this point Trump had already significantly lowered expectations, saying that it […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Never to be a Colony Again: Dignity, Defiance, and Self-Determination

The following is my transcription of the spoken statement delivered at the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly by Zimbabwe’s President, Robert Mugabe. The statement below begins at the 8:43 mark of: 26 Sep 2013 – Address by His Excellency Robert Mugabe, President of the Republic of Zimbabwe at the general debate of the […]

by Eliza Jane Darling

White Lies

As that hallowed expanse of country adjoining California to the New York Island broils beneath the candescent sky of an Olympian heat, still one place in America remains too cool to melt butter: the mouth of the banker. So smooth these operators that one need hardly scratch the thief to find the liar, for the […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Still Standing: Zimbabwe

“Mr. Mugabe, at the age of 88, is rumored to be in poor health. In April, rumors spread in Harare that he was on his deathbed in Singapore, but he appeared at the country’s independence day celebration a few days later, looking fit as he walked around a soccer stadium under a blazing sun for […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Zimbabwe: “Keep your money, keep your power, and keep away from us”

A lot of people really do not like Robert Mugabe. Now, moving on to matters of interest and importance…. The Problem of Defiance “Mugabe Remains Defiant,” read the subtitle of a cable from the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, Libya, from July 14, 2009, written by U.S. Ambassador Gene Cretz, and published by WikiLeaks. (A lot […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Ann Laura Stoler: Supporting Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel

Thanks to PULSE for circulating this statement from Ann Stoler: As someone who has worked for some thirty years as a teacher and student of colonial studies– on comparative colonial situations, colonial histories, and the violent and subtle forms of governance on which colonial regimes rely, it would be difficult not to describe the Israeli […]

by Maximilian C. Forte

Italy to pay “billions” in compensation for colonizing Libya; Sanctions augmented against Zimbabwe

According to Euronews, citing an unspecified currency, Italy has apparently promised to pay Libya compensation for the time that Italy was its colonial ruler (see the video below). This sets an interesting, different tone in current international relations, especially since the current government of Italy is the most right wing since Mussolini set foot on […]