CrisesMagazine.org / June 4 to June 11, 2009

[sergio]

CrisesMagazine.org
June 4 to June 11, 2009

The dangers of false optimism in the Middle East
http://www.crisesmagazine.org/index.php/June-4-to-June-11-2009/the-dangers-of-false-optimism-in-the-middle-east.html

The recent announcement that Barack Obama will deliver a major address
to the Muslim world from Cairo in early June has further heightened
expectations that the new American administration is determined to
achieve a settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As Obama met
with Benjamin Netanyahu this week, the emerging consensus among
politicians and pundits alike was that the new president is prepared
to invest the resources required to translate ambitious rhetoric into
concrete….

If Abbas were to take the settlement freeze seriously
http://www.crisesmagazine.org/index.php/June-4-to-June-11-2009/if-abbas-were-to-take-the-settlement-freeze-seriously.html

On May 28th the long awaited meeting between Obama and Mahmoud Abbas
took place. While the media hailed the profound understanding between
the two, a closer look reveals that the meeting is yet another lost
opportunity for Palestinians to assert their rights….

The hopes for nuclear disarmament
http://www.crisesmagazine.org/index.php/June-4-to-June-11-2009/the-hopes-for-nuclear-disarmament.html

Although Obama's promises on nuclear disarmament should not be
exaggerated, the announced shift in the US nuclear policy offers a
glimmer of hope. Outlining the key treaties regulating the spread and
testing of nuclear weapons, Achin Vanaik explores the prospects the
new US presidency offers to the goal of disarmament and suggests
strategies for civic action to further the cause…

The subversion of liberation
http://www.crisesmagazine.org/index.php/June-4-to-June-11-2009/the-subversion-of-liberation.html

The Scottish philosophers of the Enlightenment, from Ferguson through
Adam Smith, taught us that such emotions as the yearning for
recognition and affection from others, as well as envy and cupidity,
are natural human desires and play a critical role in the construction
of societies and social relations. As proud and high-spirited
philosophy students, we scoffed at such simplistic explanations for
the roots of ideologies and class struggle…

The torture memos
http://www.crisesmagazine.org/index.php/June-4-to-June-11-2009/the-torture-memos.html

The torture memos released by the White House elicited shock,
indignation, and surprise. The shock and indignation are
understandable -- particularly the testimony in the Senate Armed
Services Committee report on Cheney-Rumsfeld desperation to find links
between Iraq and al-Qaeda, links that were later concocted as
justification for the invasion, facts irrelevant. Former Army
psychiatrist Maj. Charles Burney testified that "a large part of the
time we were focused on trying to establish a link between Al Qaeda
and Iraq. The more frustrated people got in not being able to
establish this link…

Trapped Swat civilians see little food
http://www.crisesmagazine.org/index.php/June-4-to-June-11-2009/trapped-swat-civilians-see-little-food.html

The 24-hour curfew in Swat Valley, North West Frontier Province, which
started on 18 May, has led to severe shortages of food, water and
medicines, creating a humanitarian crisis, according to Human Rights
Watch (HRW)….