IV404 - September 2008

Operation on «compulsion to peace», lasting five days, is finished. This military conflict will have, nevertheless, continuation which will find the expression as in the further increase of intensity in the Caucasian region, as well as on the international scene. - read article...

Hundreds dead, tens of thousands of refugees and the very real threat of further escalating hostilities between Muslim nationalists and the central government. That is the situation the people of Mindanao, the southern part of the Philippines, find themselves in. - read article...

The recent Olympic Games have been a great showcase for the new ascendant Chinese capitalism. China has today been through a long process of capitalist restoration initiated three decades ago. The reforms began in 1978, and extended and deepened, progressively debilitating the mechanisms of the planned economy and received a decisive push from 1992 onwards. - read article...

In this interview with ’La Breche’, Gilbert Achcar explains the decline of US imperialism, from the ’hyperpower’ fantasy of 1991 to the change reflected by the presidential campaign of Barack Obama. - read article...

However typical they are of the Caribbean, hurricanes are now growing in size and number as a result of human disdain toward nature’s balance. - read article...

Abortion is a sensitive issue, and is still prohibited in some parts of the European Union. Conservative groups are fighting hard for stricter abortion legislation. However, the groups defending women’s right to choose are also strong. The EU itself prefers to steer clear of the issue. - read article...

Since the beginning of 2006, a major crisis has opened up between various factions of the Thai army, monarchy and the bourgeoisie for control of state power and the key to control of public contracts and mega-investment projects. - read article...

An overwhelming majority within the scientific community has reached an unprecedented consensus: The current climate change is primarily a result of human activities, and climate change will reach a critical point if no measures are taken. Meanwhile, world leaders and economic powers ignore these facts, and offer superficial solutions such as green consumption instead of a fundamental structural change. - read article...

Almost a year has passed since the IPCC released its reports on how rapid climate changes are taking us towards a disaster. The reports have made the issue more obvious and less controversial: the conclusion of this is that the climate threat can no longer be ignored. - read article...

A number of high-profile judicial cases have recently sharpened the question of whether or not the European Union protects collective bargaining agreements on the job market. This issue might be especially relevant to the Nordic countries since the job markets here to a large extent are regulated according to collective agreements. - read article...

Moscow’s decision to bombard Georgia and the way it recognised the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia have “borrowed” from Washington both in the methods employed and in the discourse – something that the defenders of double standards do not want to accept, repeating endlessly that Kosovo is not Ossetia. But there is nothing to celebrate: even if Putin is helping a multipolar world to assert itself, no progressive alternative is emerging. - read article...

The food crisis has left thousands of people worldwide without food. With statistics showing 850 million hungry, the World Bank estimates that the current crisis increases that number by a hundred more. This ’tsunami’ of hunger is no natural process, but stems from the neoliberal policies of international institutions, imposed over decades. - read article...

The 5th European Social Forum (ESF) which has just ended in Malmö (Sweden) is a good occasion to reflect on the trajectory and challenges of an initiative that has allowed activists and movements from across the continent to meet. - read article...

Peter Camejo, one of the most prominent left leaders to emerge from the Sixties radicalization in the USA, lost a second bout with lymphoma Saturday, September 13. He was 68. - read article...

Like the image of the emblematic Hugo Chavez, the Bolivarian process never fails to surprise by the contradictions that it generates. Of course it is advisable to strongly remind ourselves that it is the most interesting experience that exists up to now. - read article...

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Our articles on the floods in Pakistan have given details of how to send financial aid to the Labour Relief Fund. If it is more convenient for you, you can also send funds through the Europe Solidaire Sans Frontieres account. - read article...

Pakistan is facing worst ever floods of its history. Torrential rains have unleashed flash floods in different parts of the country since last three weeks. Water levies broke leaving the people exposed to flood water. More than 12 million people have suffered due to these floods. More than 650,000 houses have collapsed, mainly in villages. Thousands of acres of crops have been destroyed due to flood water. Houses, live-stock such as cattle’s and goats, household goods, clothes, shoes and other items have been destroyed. Residents of villages are currently without drinkable water, food, shelter and in need of clothes. In particular, the situation is dire for children and women and they are in desperate need of food and clothing. Disease is spreading fast in the areas affected due to lack of drinkable water. In particular, flu, fever, diarrhea, cholera have been noted and are spreading. - read article...

An unexpected, unthinkable, yet - concerning current circumstances - quite expectable and natural thing has occurred yesterday night. Three public social activists that have always expressed a consistent antifascist attitude and shunned civil indifference have been detained. - read article...

We, the participants at the Istanbul ESF, affirming that we have a strong engagement aganist all war and occupation and that we are for a politial resolution of the Kurdish issue, have made the following resolution : - read article...

Under the impulse of the World Bank and international capitalist institutions, the Moroccan regime started a privatization process of the universities and attacks against the right to studiy. The announcement of the “Emergency plan” to the university at beginning of the academic year, i.e. of the brutal aggravation of these attacks, put a spark to the powder. The class-struggle trade unionists of fight, organised within the UNEM, are at the forefront of the mobilization against the “Emergency plan”. - read article...