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Category Archives: Geopolitics
If you want peace, you don’t prepare for war, but for negotiations.
According to an ancient aphorism attributed to Aeschylus, “in war, truth is the first casualty”: nothing could be truer as we have experienced in the last two years, during which the falsehoods propagated by politicians and mainstream media are countless. If reality can be distorted to convince the public of the righteousness of certain political choices—a phenomenon to which we have become accustomed—the problem becomes dramatic and dangerous when the ruling class loses all connection with the facts and becomes a victim of its own self-delusion.
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NATO still barks at the gates of Russia.
The war drums are beating. Rob Bauer, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, stated that “we must realize that living in peace is not a given. And that is why we (NATO) are preparing for a conflict with Russia.” In the United Kingdom, the Defense Minister and the Chief of the Armed Forces speak of the current generation as the “pre-war” generation because “the era of peace dividends is over.” The rhetoric mounting is grave and seamlessly entering everyday narrative. When I read comments supporting the notion of “if you want peace, prepare for war,” I am reminded of the famous poem by Trilussa, “L’eroe ar caffè,” the one who “flattens mountains, breaks, shoots, kills, ‘for me – he mutters – there’s a road’ alone and dips his biscuits in the cup.” If these pathetic characters are popping up like mushrooms in public discourse, it’s not by chance: the militarization of society proceeds at the hands of an elite with no legitimacy to do so, but knows it’s the only way to maintain a power increasingly delegitimized every day.
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The emergencies in a changing world
We are experiencing a period of epochal changes that involve not only a revolution of our, as citizens of a Western country, world but also a reshaping of global power relations with risks for the very survival of the human species. The planetary emergencies are three, they are growing at an alarming rate, and they are interconnected: war, climate change, and inequality. Fully understanding what is happening before our eyes is difficult not only because the information coming from mainstream media (hereinafter the Main Stream Media – MSM) is often distorted by various interests and often constructed with the intention of confusing the public, but also because a period of such great changes as the one we are experiencing requires new conceptual lenses to interpret the present and envision the future. And this is what we must deal with because the three emergencies mentioned above correspond to an unprecedented political and cultural crisis.
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Le 10 sorprese della guerra in Ucraina
Emmanuel Todd è un antropologo francese. Mi ricordo che la prima volta che l’ho sentito è stato alla fine degli anni 70: cioè non mi ricordo il suo nome ma la sua tesi sull’imminente crollo dell’URSS. Me ne parlò mio padre. La sua analisi era basata su indicatori semplici, come ad esempio la crescita della mortalità infantile. Quel suo libro è stato dunque una pietra miliare, ma non è stato l’unico di importanza storica. Ora ne ha appena scritto un altro “La Défaite de l’Occident” per le Editions Gallimard. E’ un libro importante che ancora non è tradotto in italiano. Ho trovato molto interessante questa parte sulle 10 sorprese della guerra in Ucraina.
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American intellectuals and the massacre in Palestine
Yesterday, the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, with the United States voting against it and Italy, Germany, and the United Kingdom abstaining, among a few others. A few days ago, the United States vetoed a draft resolution in the Security Council that would have called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages (the United Kingdom abstained). Where is the outrage for this massacre? During the Vietnam War, American academics and intellectuals voiced their opposition: but where are they today? Critical voices, of great prestige and less isolated than it seems, do exist, as well as a significant ferment on U.S. campuses.
Continue reading American intellectuals and the massacre in Palestine Gli intellettuali americani e il massacro in Palestina
Proprio ieri l’Assemblea generale delle Nazioni Unite ha votato a stragrande maggioranza a favore di una risoluzione che chiede l’immediato cessate il fuoco a Gaza, con il voto contrario degli Stati Uniti e l’astensione, tra i pochi altri, dell’Italia della Germania e del Regno Unito. Qualche giorno fa gli Stati Uniti hanno posto il veto alla bozza di risoluzione del Consiglio di Sicurezza che avrebbe richiesto un immediato cessate il fuoco umanitario a Gaza e il rilascio immediato e incondizionato di tutti gli ostaggi (il Regno Unito si è astenuto). Dove è l’indignazione per questo massacro? Durante la guerra del Vietnam, gli accademici e gli intellettuali americani fecero sentire la loro contrarietà: ma oggi dove sono? Delle voci critiche, di grande prestigio e meno isolate di quello che sembra, ci sono come anche sembra esserci un notevole fermento nei campus statunitensi.
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Parole Proibite: Clima di guerra
Le politiche di riduzioni delle emissioni di carbonio sono talmente inadeguate che l’aumento di tre gradi si potrebbe raggiungere in questo secolo. L’1% più ricco della popolazione mondiale è responsabile del 16% di emissioni di CO2. L’Onu sostiene che nei paesi in via di sviluppo si verifica il 91% dei decessi legati alle condizioni meteorologiche estreme. Il rapporto rileva che ci vorrebbero circa 1.500 anni affinché qualcuno che si trova nel 99% più povero della popolazione produca tanto carbonio quanto i miliardari più ricchi producono in un anno. In sostanza i ricchi inquinano mentre i poveri ne pagano le conseguenze. Il problema dei cambiamenti climatici trova l’Europa all’altezza della sfida? Ascoltando anche le parole di Draghi sembrerebbe di no. Ma di chi è la colpa? Nella nuova puntata di Parole Proibite, Daniele Ognibene insieme all’economista Leonardo Becchetti, al fisico Francesco Sylos Labini e alla content creator e formatrice Alice Pomiato, provano a dare le risposte a queste domande.
Climate and geopolitics: the red thread of wars
(Published on Il Fatto Quotidiano)
Given the substantial international tensions, first with Ukraine, now with Palestine, and the backdrop of tensions between China and the United States, one wonders what common thread connects these seemingly unrelated crises.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a predictable and easily avoidable war with a serious consideration of the security needs of all involved countries, was overshadowed by the West’s overconfidence in its economic strength to easily subdue a country seen as a “gas distributor with atomic bombs.” The calculations proved wrong, and even the destruction of the Nord Stream did not substantially damage Russia.
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On war and the media
In public discourse, the common thread connecting the wars in Ukraine and Israel is the attempt to erase the context: everything started yesterday, with the good guys and the bad guys, and everything that happened before is part of a distant historical time that is not worth considering and does not affect the present. The war in Ukraine began on February 20, 2022, while the one in Palestine started on October 7, 2023. Anyone who tries to contextualize historical events immediately becomes labeled as pro-Putin, pro-Hamas, antisemitic, etc., in other words, a “fifth column” or a traitor to their country. It is a primitive way of conducting a discussion, but in the absence of arguments and historical knowledge, there are no alternatives to maintaining an untenable thesis.
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Francesco Sylos Labini 