Nèdeem Elmahjoub's blog

The International Energy Agency thinks peak oil use is in sight this decade

It is a good summary. “ With the husk of revolutionary language retained, capitalism has encircled the very idea of leftist transformation. Pepsi may have  figured out how to create a resurrectionist Pepsi Generation in the 1960s , but now brands conjure group identities from inchoate public feelings by tailoring messages towards those who want to feel radical; Buzzfeed structured its entire business model around this approach for more than a decade. Change without change.” You may only to create an account to read the article.

Joes Biden has rewarded Abrams with a top appointment

“Sallam interrogates the changing roles of leftists and Islamists in relation to political power in Egypt. Why, for example, did the Islamist movement dominate the political arena in Egypt since the late 1970s? Why, in the era of neoliberal economic assault on the working class, did the Left fail to organize a class politics around economic disenfranchisement? And finally, did autocrats provide Islamist groups with a space for political organization and maneuver denied to those that challenged the state’s economic liberalization schemes? ” The Egyptian Left, “without a mass political movement to lead or organize, became obsessed with culture rather than class war, tailing the state in its fight against “terrorists” and “religious fascists.” This alienated the Left from exactly the social groups that it historically needed to challenge economic and social inequality — a recipe for political irrelevance.” How ironic, and how similar to most of the Western Left! “On the eve of the revolut...

The pandemic may have subsided, but the epidemic of ‘identity culture’ carries on. Reactionary nationalism is openly expressed in comments

“ At its best, the dysfunctional marriage at the centre of the show becomes a metaphor for the US and its foreign policies in the region. At its worst, the show exemplifies how - after two decades of the terror of US militarism under successive administrations, both Republican and Democrat - the fate of millions of Afghans has become a background prop for a romantic comedy to tickle the political fancies of American and British audiences.” American ‘foreign policy’ as a dysfunctional marriage 

  المكانة المتواضعة جدا التي أصبحت تحتلها المسألة النقابية والاجتماعية ككل في الجزائر.

“Conceit, arrogance and egotism are the essentials of patriotism. Let me illustrate. Patriotism assumes that our globe is divided into little spots, each one surrounded by an iron gate. Those who have had the fortune of being born on some particular spot consider themselves nobler, better, grander, more intelligent than those living beings inhabiting any other spot. It is, therefore, the duty of everyone living on that chosen spot to fight, kill and die in the attempt to impose his superiority upon all the others.  The inhabitants of the other spots reason in like manner, of course, with the result that from early infancy the mind of the child is provided with blood-curdling stories about the Germans, the French, the Italians, Russians, etc. When the child has reached manhood he is thoroughly saturated with the belief that he is chosen by the Lord himself to defend his country against the attack or invasion of any foreigner. It is for that purpose that we are clamoring for a greate...

An interview with Cihan Tugal 

“The future of Britain under Starmer looks like an outdated 90s tribute act to Blairism and Thatcherism.”

A rotten history

   أسوأ عقد في تاريخ مصر الحديث؟

   غسان بن خليفة،  تونس 10 يوليو 2022  نضال خلف، 14 يوليو 2023

Excavating Lebanon’s history of violence

Caged, stripped, beaten

“The pretense of “saving” Iraqi women was a dimension of the neocolonial narrative of democracy building leveraged by the US administration to invade and occupy Iraq. “Saving” implies that US imperial domination is superior and even necessary and inherently good for women. Iraqi women are perceived as an ahistorical homogenous object, portrayed as essentially voiceless victims. Even 20 years after the destructive and devastating invasion and occupation, the gendering of the democracy narrative on the Middle East remains. The focus on women’s political participation and visibility is a central dimension of the democracy narrative that has dominated the US discourse on Iraq: the idea that Iraq now runs free elections, has women in its parliament and therefore the country is a democracy. In reality, Iraqis have turned away from the polls—the 2021 elections had the  lowest voter turnout  in Iraq post-2003—and many have decided to take to the streets to voice their political vision...

The point here is what ‘West’? The article itself does not mention a single major European state and its position. All is about the US vs. the rest. Related A shift in global power structures World Oil:  Contemporary transformations in ownership and control

  توقفت الاحتجاجات ولكن ما سيبقى هو الغضب الذي يمكن أن يتجدد

“From the point of view of the regime, it may well be that riots are welcome , for they guarantee  renormalisation , they permit social ‘bantustans’ to remain such, and they deflate discontents that could otherwise be perilous. Naturally, for them to perform this stabilizing function they must be subject to outward condemnation: vandalism should be denounced, violence should spark indignation, looting should cause disgust. Such reactions justify the ruthlessness of the repression, which becomes the only means to beat back the tide of barbarism. It is under these conditions that riots serve to ossify social hierarchy.” “A social system is not only characterised by its internal structure, but also by the reactions it provokes: a system founded on commandments can, in certain moments, imply reciprocal duties of aid carried out honestly, as it can also lead to brutal outbursts of hostility. To the eyes of the historian, who must merely note and explain the relationships between phenome...

"There was a wave of racist videos on social media. I was seeing such disgusting posts. So I was already worried such an upsurge of anger could only result in violence …  What was shocking was finding myself in the minority, defending basic principles against violence and racism," says Ms Bribri. Not a single hint to the EU’s responsibility  and as if such a violence was disconnected from another violence.