We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Sunday, December 15, 2013

From Bahrain to Ukraine: Hail the Western Salesmen of Subversion and Deception

Click here to access article by Finian Cunningham from Strategic Culture Foundation

This independent Irish journalist and writer reports on last week's Manama Dialogue conference sponsored by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a British based "think tank", which is presented at their website as a meeting to discuss regional security issues. From his report alone we can see that it is more likely an Empire conference on imperial strategy to protect the Empire's geopolitical interests. 

It seems clear from the speech given by U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel that the Empire representative wanted to reassure GCC Arab and Israeli members that the US is committed to their security interests in spite of differences that have arisen recently over Syrian, Egyptian, and Iranian issues.

In this article the author points out the hypocrisy of the members' high-sounding rhetoric given the ongoing brutal repression of dissent in Bahrain, the location of their conference, and members support of many dictatorships and terrorist groups in the region.
What a cruel joke. Western governments do not support democracy in Bahrain – or anywhere else for that matter – because they make money from oil and arms sales by supporting dictatorships, and from crushing and subverting democracy. .... Despite their polished and preening rhetoric, Washington and London are nothing but the salesmen for subversion and deception.
Saudi Arabia, a major player in the region and in attendance at the meeting, can't even tolerate people who call for a constitutional monarchy.