In “Self-Determination in Disputed Colonial Territories,” Jamie Trinidad presents a brilliant and succinct analysis of colonial self-determination in territories subject to a territorial dispute or that deviate from the normative framework of colonial self-determination. The book begins with a thorough analysis of Paragraph 6 of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial CountriesContinueContinue reading “Review: “Self-Determination in Disputed Colonial Territories” – Jamie Trinidad”
Tag Archives: Imperialism
Review: “Imperialism, Sovereignty and the Making of International Law” – Antony Anghie
Antony Anghie’s “Imperialism, Sovereignty, and the Making of International Law” is a seminal work that delves into the colonial origins of international law. His research uncovers the historical evolution of international law and illuminates its present-day implications, particularly its role in perpetuating colonial and neo-colonial relations with the Third World. Anghie’s analysis, tracing back toContinueContinue reading “Review: “Imperialism, Sovereignty and the Making of International Law” – Antony Anghie”
Review: “And the Poor Get Children: Radical Perspectives on Population Dynamics” – ed. Karen Michaelson
And the Poor Get Children: Radical Perspectives on Population Dynamics, edited by Karen Michaelson and published by Monthly Review, offers a radical critique of orthodox economics and overpopulation theories. The essays in this book confront neo-Malthusianism head-on, similar to what the famous Brazilian doctor and scientist Josué de Castro did in his brilliant book TheContinueContinue reading “Review: “And the Poor Get Children: Radical Perspectives on Population Dynamics” – ed. Karen Michaelson”
Review: “The Right to Self-Determination Under International Law: ‘Selfistans,’ Secession, and the Rule of the Great Powers” – Milena Sterio
International law is routinely examined by legal scholars as if international law exists separately from economics, politics, and, most importantly, the class struggle. When discussing international law, scholars hesitate to ask difficult questions, such as why some secessionist-seeking movements succeed while others fail. An example is Heiko Krüger’s analysis of Nagorno-Karabakh, where Krüger refuses toContinueContinue reading “Review: “The Right to Self-Determination Under International Law: ‘Selfistans,’ Secession, and the Rule of the Great Powers” – Milena Sterio”
Review: “Kosovo: War and Revenge” – Tim Judah
Kosovo is a subject that interests me. NATO’s bombing campaign against Serbia on behalf of an armed secessionist movement that many Western countries—NATO members included—considered a terrorist organization and the subsequent recognition of Kosovo by most Western states have significant politico-legal implications for conflicts far beyond the Balkans. This is a subject I address extensivelyContinueContinue reading “Review: “Kosovo: War and Revenge” – Tim Judah”
Review: “South Africa’s Transkei: The Political Economy of an ‘Independent’ Bantustan’ – Roger Southall
Roger Southall’s “South Africa’s Transkei: The Political Economy of an ‘Independent’ Bantustan” (Monthly Review, 1983) is a technical book that examines the emergence of ‘independent’ bantustans in South Africa from the 1970s to the end of apartheid in 1994. Using Marxian political economy, Southall unravels the economic and material basis of the bantustans, focusing onContinueContinue reading “Review: “South Africa’s Transkei: The Political Economy of an ‘Independent’ Bantustan’ – Roger Southall”
Review: “Central Asia in Modern Times: A History from the Early 19th Century” – Devendra Kaushik
“Central Asia in Modern Times: A History from the Early 19th Century” by Devendra Kaushik is a history of Central Asia since the Russian conquest in the mid-1800s. As a Marxist-Leninist from India who studied the national archives in Russia, India, and Uzbekistan, Kaushik’s perspective is very much of an outsider looking in. This outsiderContinueContinue reading “Review: “Central Asia in Modern Times: A History from the Early 19th Century” – Devendra Kaushik”
Review: “To Kill a Nation: The Attack on Yugoslavia” – Michael Parenti
“To Kill a Nation: The Attack on Yugoslavia” by Michael Parenti is the best book on the Balkan wars I have ever read. Parenti is my two favourite authors (the other being Victor Perlo), and this is probably my favourite book by him. Anyone interested in the Balkans and NATO’s aggressive expansion since the overthrowContinueContinue reading “Review: “To Kill a Nation: The Attack on Yugoslavia” – Michael Parenti”
Review: “The History of Democracy: A Marxist Interpretation” – Brian S. Roper
What are the origins of ‘democracy’? Are countries like the US, Canada, Britain, etc., democratic? In “The History of Democracy: A Marxist Interpretation,” Brian S. Roper examines liberal assumptions about the origins and essence of democracy using Marxist historical materialism. Roper begins by examining the system of participatory democracy in Athens and Rome and itsContinueContinue reading “Review: “The History of Democracy: A Marxist Interpretation” – Brian S. Roper”
Review: “The Balkans, 1804-1999: Nationalism, War and the Great Powers” – Misha Glenny
At more than 700 pages long, Misha Glenny’s “The Balkans, 1804-1999: Nationalism, War and the Great Powers” is a powerful and impressively comprehensive history of the Balkans. Beginning with the First Serbian Uprising against Ottoman rule in 1804, Glenny chronologically examines the historical origins of nationalism and the various nation-states in the Balkans, including Serbia,ContinueContinue reading “Review: “The Balkans, 1804-1999: Nationalism, War and the Great Powers” – Misha Glenny”
Review: “Western Sahara: War, Nationalism, and Conflict Irresolution” – Stephen Zunes and Jacob Mundy
“Western Sahara: War, Nationalism, and Conflict Irresolution” by Stephen Zunes and Jacob Mundy is a masterpiece of history, international law, and the failure of UN conflict resolution. Zunes and Mundy identify and methodically examine the sources of the almost five-decade-long dispute and its intractability, including the Moroccan regime’s need for legitimacy leading to manifest destiny-likeContinueContinue reading “Review: “Western Sahara: War, Nationalism, and Conflict Irresolution” – Stephen Zunes and Jacob Mundy”
Russia, NATO, and the “Kosovoization” of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine, marking a dramatic escalation in the Russo-Ukrainian Conflict that began in 2014. While the world denounces the Russian invasion of Ukraine — as it rightly should — efforts by the West to depict Ukraine as an innocent victim and Russia as evil reincarnate fail to tell the wholeContinueContinue reading “Russia, NATO, and the “Kosovoization” of Ukraine”
No to War in Europe – Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Canada
The military incursion of Russian forces into Ukraine has seriously ratcheted up tensions in the region, across Europe and internationally, and increased the danger of ‘great power’ confrontation and even nuclear war. This military action must end as quickly as possible, and with minimum loss of lives, especially among the civilian population, and a negotiatedContinueContinue reading “No to War in Europe – Central Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Canada”
Review: “History in the Making: Memoirs of WWII Diplomacy” – Valentin Berezhkov
In this book published by Progress Publishers, Valentin Berezhkov describes in incredible detail high-level diplomatic meetings between representatives of the USSR and representatives from Nazi Germany, Britain, and the U.S., as part of a comprehensive analysis of the politics of WWII. An engineer by profession, Berezhkov was transferred first to the Soviet embassy in BerlinContinueContinue reading “Review: “History in the Making: Memoirs of WWII Diplomacy” – Valentin Berezhkov”
Review: “Beyond the Arab Cold War: The International Politics of the Yemen Civil War, 1962-68” – Asher Orkaby
Asher Orkaby’s “Beyond the Arab Cold War: The International Politics of the Yemen Civil War, 1962-68” is a comprehensive analysis of the international politics and significance of the (North) Yemeni Civil War. The Yemeni Civil War began on September 26th, 1962, when the military forces of Abdullah al-Sallal shelled Muhammad al-Badr’s royal palace in Sana’aContinueContinue reading “Review: “Beyond the Arab Cold War: The International Politics of the Yemen Civil War, 1962-68” – Asher Orkaby”
Review: “The Last Soviet Republic: Alexander Lukashenko’s Belarus” – Stewart Parker
Belarus has made international headlines in 2020 with the Belarusian presidential election and accusations that the election was rigged in favour of Alexander Lukashenko, who has served as president of Belarus since 1994. Although this seemed like a U.S.-sponsored colour revolution to me (and I still think it is), I didn’t know enough about BelarusContinueContinue reading “Review: “The Last Soviet Republic: Alexander Lukashenko’s Belarus” – Stewart Parker”
Review: “Russia and the Right to Self-Determination in the Post-Soviet Space” – Johannes Socher
I was not very enthusiastic about Johannes Socher’s “Russia and the Right to Self-Determination in the Post-Soviet Space” when I first ordered it on Amazon. The title of the book sounded like it was going to be some kind of Russophobic ‘analysis’, i.e., U.S.-NATO propaganda, like books by Svante Cornell, Kamal Makili-Aliyev, Bahruz Balyev, andContinueContinue reading “Review: “Russia and the Right to Self-Determination in the Post-Soviet Space” – Johannes Socher”
Review: “Danger: NATO” – Anatoly Grishchenko, Vladimir Semenov, and Leonid Teplinsky
“Danger NATO” by Anatoly Grishchenko, Vladimir Semenov, and Leonid Teplinsky is a short Marxist-Leninist analysis of NATO published in the USSR. The book examines the history, establishment, and ideology of NATO, how the U.S. uses NATO to pressure Western European states to act as junior and subservient partners of U.S. imperialism against their own nationalContinueContinue reading “Review: “Danger: NATO” – Anatoly Grishchenko, Vladimir Semenov, and Leonid Teplinsky”
Review: “Blood on their Banner: Nationalist Struggles in the South Pacific” – David Robie
David Robie’s “Blood on their Banner: Nationalist Struggles in the South Pacific” is a comprehensive and outstanding work on the struggles of the peoples of the South Pacific against colonialism and for the right to self-determination. No other work on the South Pacific compares in the amount detail and information contained in Robie’s book, notContinueContinue reading “Review: “Blood on their Banner: Nationalist Struggles in the South Pacific” – David Robie”
Review: “Rosa Luxemburg: Her Life and Work” – Paul Frölich
I have a lot of mixed feelings about Paul Frölich’s famous biography of Rosa Luxemburg. A lot of what is written in the book strikes me as ultra-left, maybe even Trotskyist; and since I am not expert on Luxemburg’s life and her theories, I find it difficult to determine how much of the ultra-leftism, encompassingContinueContinue reading “Review: “Rosa Luxemburg: Her Life and Work” – Paul Frölich”
T. J. Petrowski 