Global Struggles for Dominance on ISIS, NATO and Russia

Written on August 20th, 2016 in politics Comments Off

Published on truthout, Interview with Noam Chomsky by C.J. Polychroniou, Aug 17, 2016.

Has ISIS taken a foothold inside Europe? Is Erdogan’s Turkey in the process of making a huge geopolitical shift that will change the balance of power in one of the most volatile regions if the world? Are NATO and the US moving toward peace or war with Russia? In this latest exclusive interview for Truthout, Noam Chomsky offers unique insights on these issues, challenging prevailing narratives about what is happening around the world … //

… To what extent would you say that Brexit was being driven by xenophobia and the massive inflow of immigrants into Europe?

  • There has been plenty of reporting giving that impression, but I haven’t seen any hard data. And it’s worth recalling that the inflow of immigrants is from the EU, not those fleeing from conflict. It’s also worth recalling that Britain has had a non-trivial role in generating refugees. The invasion of Iraq, to give one example. Many others, if we consider greater historical depth. The burden of dealing with the consequences of US-UK crimes falls mainly on countries that had no responsibility for them, like Lebanon, where about 40 percent of the population are estimated to be refugees.

Are the US and the major western powers really involved in a war against ISIS? This would seem doubtful to an outside observer, given the growing influence of ISIS and the continuing ability of the organization to recruit soldiers for its cause from inside Europe.

  • Speculations to that effect are rampant in the Middle East, but I don’t think they have any credibility. The US is powerful, but not all-powerful. There is a tendency to attribute everything that happens in the world to the CIA or some diabolical Western plan. There is plenty to condemn, sharply. And the US is indeed powerful. But it’s nothing like what is often believed.

There seems to be a geopolitical shift underway in Turkey’s regional political role, which may have been the ultimate cause behind the failed coup of July 2016. Do you detect such a shift under way? … //

… In your view, does a nuclear war between the US and Russia remain a very real possibility in today’s world?

  • A very real possibility, and in fact, an increasing one. That’s not just my judgment. It’s also the judgment of the experts who set the Doomsday Clock of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists; of former Defense Secretary William Perry, one of the most experienced and respected experts on these matters; and of numerous others who are by no means scaremongers. The record of near accidents, which could have been terminal, is shocking, not to speak of very dangerous adventurism. It is almost miraculous that we have survived the nuclear weapons era, and playing with fire is irresponsible in the extreme. In fact, these weapons should be removed from the Earth, as even many of the most conservative analysts recognize — Henry Kissinger, George Shultz, and others.

(full interview text, related links).

(C.J. Polychroniou is a political economist/political scientist who has taught and worked in universities and research centers in Europe and the United States. His main research interests are in European economic integration, globalization, the political economy of the United States and the deconstruction of neoliberalism’s politico-economic project …).

Links:

Turkey and Iran Reach Agreement on Conditions for Syria Peace, on truthout, by Gareth Porter, Aug 18, 2016;

Brazil: Dilma Rousseff Proposes a Plebiscite for a Political Reform to Exit the Crisis, on The Dawn (first by Brasil de Fato), Aug 16, 2016;

Debt Rattle August 18 2016, on The Automatic Earth, by Raúl Ilargi Meijer, Aug 18, 2016;

La Vie à 30 ans: allez papa, passe le volant, dans Le Temps.ch, par Aïna Skjellaug, le 18 août 2016: tous les jeudis de l’été, notre chroniqueuse se fait porte-parole des trentenaires;

Trip Reports from Sanders Delegates at the Democrat National Convention, on naked capitalism (first on Corrente http://www.correntewire.com/ ), by Lambert Strether, Aug 18, 2016;

The world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund is sounding the alarm on Britain’s property market, on UK Business Insider, by Will Martin, Aug 17, 2016;

Banker Who’d Revolutionize Money Says It Can Be Done From Within, on Bloomberg, by Gabriella Lovas and Jeff Black, Aug 17, 2016: … Vollgeld’s solution would be to hand central banks complete control of the money supply. Commercial banks would be required to back their loans 100 percent with deposits — whether they come from savings, capital or their own borrowings …; (my comment: NO whatever bank shall have this control, the whole mankind must have it. As long as we, the mankind, are not able for, we will be fucked by the banks … that’s the law – Heidi);

Stocks are about to see Norway’s sovereign-wealth fund inflows dry up, on Market Watch, by Thomas H. Kee jr, Aug 17, 2016;

Turkey’s Sovereign Wealth Fund bill approved by Parliament, on Daily Sabah, Aug 17, 2016;

What do US wages tell us about the business cycle? on MACRO Business, by Houses and Holes in US Economy, Aug 17, 2016;

Cooperatives becoming bigger part of Cuba’s reforms, on Systemic Disorder, Aug 11, 2016;

Hillary Clinton’s Not-So-Strange Right-Wing Bedfellows, on Zmagazine, by Paul Street, June 26, 2016;

… and this:

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