Nèdeem Elmahjoub's blog

The UN has accused France's security forces of systemic racism. Poor French suburbs catch media attention when they are in flames Related Reading Britain’s 2011 riots

An alternative to monetary or wage policy

And the roots of the 2011 uprisings

“Hell Joseon” or capitalist hell

An interesting liberal take on Jordan and how liberals now are saying enough with supporting authoritarian and monarchical regimes. The Arab uprisings have exposed everything, including many hypocritical liberals. A U.S. satellite and protectorate on the verge of implosion 

  Marwan Daoudy challenges core assumptions behind the climate-conflict hypothesis Related Interview with the Marwa Daoudi On blaming climate change on the Syrian civil war

We need to remember a decade-long song sung by Western and non-Western media, academics and pundits: “Transitional justice”, “transitional justice”, “transitional justice”, ad nauseam.  As long the ‘revolution’ is not about material equality that threatens class interests at home and the major powers and international institutions interests and domination, is championed and “human rights” and “democracy” are the catch words that must prevail in the same way ‘Arab Spring’ phrase has prevailed. And we can talk about development everyday as long as it is the type of ‘development’ dictated by the same socio-economic system and the same ideology.   A return to the police state?

In one of the richest cities on earth. This was already going on a few years before the pandemic. “In recent years, food bank usage in the UK has risen sharply following 10 years of government austerity measures, welfare reforms and a widening gulf between earnings and living costs. With the economic downturn brought on by the pandemic, which has further exacerbated existing inequalities, food banks across the UK are struggling to meet demand.” A day in the life of a London food bank

 In Tataouine

New rural ghettos

“The [Islamic State] group has exploited poverty and unemployment to recruit youth in their fight to establish Islamic rule in the area. Many locals complain that they have benefited little from the province's ruby and gas industries.” In one of the poorest countries on earth. In a country where there is no ‘secularism’, Charlie, or cartoons. In a far far away country

  The Great Lockdown hits the Third World hard

The Ministry of Health: your son died of coronavirus. The family of the deceased: no, he died of a heart attack. The Ministry: And what was the cause of the heart attack? The family: he accumulated too much debt. The Ministry: Why did he get so much in debt? The family: Because he was made unemployed. The Ministry: Why was he made unemployed? The family: Because of coronavirus. The Ministry: That’s what we’ve said! Translated from Moroccan Arabic. Source: Tarik Benziade on Facebook

Extractivism and resistance in North Africa A paper available in Arabic, French and English

Iraq Threats and arrests face Basrah activists

Out of Africa

Ungrateful, ignorant Tunisians who do not know their interests For decades the IMF has been doing its best to help Tunisia, and other countries, develop a strong capitalist economy and "democracy". It has even had women like Nemat Shafi and Christine Lagarde, help restructring economies to achieve prosperity for all and liberate Tunisian women .... It seems that Tunisians do not get it. Taking on the IMF

From the archive (2016) A good overview on the MENA region. Making and Unmaking of the Greater Middle East

"More than seven years after the beginning of the popular uprising in Syria, which increasingly turned into an international war, the causes of this eruption are often forgotten. When they are discussed, the vast majority of authors reduce the uprising to a struggle against authoritarianism while neglecting its socio-economic roots almost entirely." Syria: the social origins of the uprising

This is good. What it is about capitalism that makes Keynesianism a horizon even would-be revolutionaries — including Mann himself, he admits — have trouble seeing past. It is not so much an ideological block as a strategic one. ... to the extent that Keynesianism saved capitalism, it was from barbarism rather than socialism. And leftists are pulled to Keynesianism because, deep down, they believe that too. Most have lost confidence that there is a viable political path to socialism, while threats from various shades of the Right have followed one after another. For all the antidemocratic tendencies of Keynesianism, socialists today can hardly see themselves articulating the views of the masses either. The Keynesian counter-revolution