CounterCurrents: The Danger Of War From A Declining Hegemon, What Are We to Think?, Climate (In)justice: Significance of COP 22

Dear Friend,

Skirmishes at the border of the two nuclear armed neighbours in South Asia, India and Pakistan, raises the heart beat of the peace loving citizens of the region and the whole world. Today a 54 year old woman was killed by Pakistan's shelling in Poonch district of Jammu & Kashmir. In another cross border shelling in Rajouri district of J & K an army Jawan was killed. Yesterday, an Indian soldier was killed and his body mutilated by militants. Nationalist sentiments are being whipped up in both nations. In India the far right BJP government and its followers are boycotting artists from Pakistan.  They even went so far as to boycott Chinese products    for China's stand on  Kashmir. Meanwhile Kashmir remains shut for 115 days. 

Eight alleged members of the outlawed Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) were killed in an alleged encounter by Madhya Pradesh police today. Many have raised eye brows about the government version. The facts are only emerging. In any case, 'encounter killings' are a routine affair in India. Because of its rampant spread in all parts of India, Supreme Court of India has issued strict guidlines to be followed in the case of encounter killings, including independent enquiry about the encounter. 

Yes, USA is in decline, except may be in its military might. That's why Donald Trump vows to 'make America great again'. Two great scholars warns that the whole world must be worried about this 'declining hegemon'. Dr Chandra Muzaffar from Malaysia, and Professor Richard Falk from USA has almost the same warning. Watch out! Falk further says that the coming US presidential election will have  a huge bearing on the fate of the rest of the world. 

We know we are on the thershhold of looming global disaster of enormous proportion. Climate Change. The up coming Marrakech COP 22 meeting will have huge bearing on the fate of the planet and the future generations writes Zeenat Masoodi . 

Twitter is in decline and the #WeAreTwitter movement it seems is losing steam. Romi Mahajan says if only all the twitter users contributed $ 10 it will not fail. He writes, " So yeah I’m a bit frustrated at the Twitter stuff and at our collective inability to change our digital commons for the better." Twitter is not exactly a digital commons now. But we the people have the chance to convert it to a true people's social media based on the principles of the Commons. 

And also more stories from around the world. 

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In Solidarity

Binu Mathew
Editor
www.countercurrents.org





The Danger Of War From A Declining Hegemon
by Dr Chandra Muzaffar 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/31/the-danger-of-war-from-a-declining-hegemon/

Is a war in the making — a third world war? There are at least two flash points, one more dangerous than the other. In Eastern Ukraine, Russian backed rebels will not surrender to the US supported regime in Kiev because they see US control over Ukraine as part of a much larger agenda to expand NATO power to the very borders of Russia. This has been happening for some years now.






What Are We to Think?
by Richard Falk 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/31/what-are-we-to-think/

The United States does pose a special threat of its own world wide, and is not only menacing its own future. It controls the dominant arsenal of nuclear weapons, it maintains a network of bases spread around the world, militarizes oceans and space, sends its predator drones and special ops kill squads to find prey wherever on the planet it perceives threats. This militarized and unaccountable global security system is reinforced by preeminent diplomatic and economic leverage, and emboldened by a self-serving ideology of ‘American exceptionalism,’ What happens in the United States is of great, often decisive, importance to the wellbeing of the many countries, especially in the global South, that lack both voice or exit capabilities (Hirschman), and thus find themselves captive of history’s first, and possibly, last ‘global state.’






Climate (In)justice: Significance of COP 22
by Zeenat Masoodi 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/31/climate-injustice-significance-of-cop-22/

The Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is one of the first international instruments to include the term ‘climate justice’. While the notion of justice has been explored in several contexts – purely legal, economic, and social –, the visible effects of climate change, most notably in the form of extreme weather events, have led to linking of climate change with human rights.





Controversy Over WikiLeaks Podesta Emails Opens A Debate For Future Journalism
by Nozomi Hayase 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/31/controversy-over-wikileaks-podesta-emails-opens-a-debate-for-future-journalism/

Despite massive attacks and threats coming from the Washington halls of power and its European allies, the organization remains relevant than ever. From creating sparks for uprisings in the Arab World to disrupting the scripted corporate sponsored charade of the current U.S. presidential election, WikiLeaks stays strong.






US Allies Saudi Arabia And Qatar Fund And Equip ISIS, It’s Not An Election Issue 
by Jay Janson 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/31/us-allies-saudi-arabia-and-qatar-fund-and-equip-isis-its-not-an-election-issue/

Wikileaks’ released emails prove Hillary knew US close allies Saudi Arabia and Qatar were funding/equipping ISIS while Americans were also being murdered by ISIS, show her pretending Saudis and others were not from the beginning part of US conspiracy to create a fanatical Islamic state in order to destroy Syria and the Shiite government in Iraq. Why this is NOT AN ELECTION ISSUE





Bernie Sanders And Water Under The Bridge
by James Rothenberg 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/31/bernie-sanders-and-water-under-the-bridge/

What presently interests me is a thought experiment: What would have happened if Sanders had said yes to Jill Stein’s offer of heading the Green Party ticket? She did offer this, and since this is only a thought experiment, let’s further suppose that Ms. Stein would have been willing to step away from the second spot in favor of Elizabeth Warren.





Human Potential: The Case of Peter Kropotkin
by Milan Djurasovic 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/31/human-potential-the-case-of-peter-kropotkin/

Kropotkin wished to build a society whose institutions would stimulate the best instincts of human nature. His examinations of nature lead him to the conclusion that a society constructed in an anarchist communist manner is the best imitation of the most robust animal species. But this was not to be a contrived society that had to be held together through artificial means. Kropotkin was convinced that the human nature longed for it, and that it was best suited for this particular social order.





Me And Twitter: A Hate And Love Story
by Romi Mahajan 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/31/me-and-twitter-a-hate-and-love-story/

While tech companies have their own pathologies and greed, so it seems do users.  And the irony is that in being so myopic, we’ve helped create an insanely hard to navigate web that often hurts more than it helps. So yeah I’m a bit frustrated at the Twitter stuff and at our collective inability to change our digital commons for the better.





Is Gandhi Still Relevant?
by Colin Todhunter 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/31/is-gandhi-still-relevant/

Mention Gandhi in certain circles and the response might be one of cynicism: his ideas are outdated and irrelevant in today’s world. Such a response could not be further from the truth. Gandhi could see the future impact of large-scale industrialization in terms of the devastation of the environment, the destruction of ecology and the unsustainable plunder of natural resources.





Human Rights Group Alarmed At Extra-Judicial Killings Of MQM Workers’ By Para-Military Force In Pakistan
by Abdus Sattar Ghazali 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/31/human-rights-group-alarmed-at-extra-judicial-killings-of-mqm-workers-by-para-military-force-in-pakistan/

Human right groups are alarmed at the spate of deaths of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) workers in the custody of para-military force in Karachi. The MQM has called these brutal deaths as extra-judicial killings.





What Does Kerala’s 60th Birthday Mean To Women?
by Kandathil Sebastian 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/31/what-does-keralas-60th-birthday-mean-to-women/

For the women of Kerala, the 60th birthday of the state opens more avenues for change, growth and freedom. They will show the way for independence and change to ordinary women from other Indian states andfor women from other developing countries too.






Nationalism Through Boycott Of Chinese Products: A Matter Of Convenience
by T Navin 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/31/nationalism-through-boycott-of-chinese-products-a-matter-of-convenience/

The usage of the word nationalism in the name of boycotting Chinese products is a matter of convenience. Why not boycott all the junk products produced abroad in any country which keep getting advertised on TV through teleshopping. The call for boycotting Chinese products is just another means of creating jingoism through pointing an external enemy and building xenophobia around the same.





Poor Women Furrowing Male Bastions
by Moin Qazi 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/31/poor-women-furrowing-male-bastions/

Over the years several strategies have been used to empower women .One of them relies on community groups whose members   can be trained and equipped to use their collective strength and wisdom to tackle their problems. 





O.B.Cs And Social Discrimination In India
by Tata Sivaih

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/31/o-b-cs-and-social-discrimination-in-india/

The present culture is controlled by beneficiaries of the system. But the changed culture of absolute equality must ever remain in the hands of the victims of the present system. It is a must to avoid sabotage and subversion.





Dalits-Adivasis And The Land Rights
by SR Darapuri  

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/31/dalits-adivasis-and-the-land-rights/

Real empowerment of Dalits and Adivasis is possible only through strict  implemntation of land refoms and giving land to them. Adivasis should be given land titles by proper implementaion of Forest Rights Act. It requires a strong political will which is totally lacking at present. It is certain that no government is going to do it willingly unless Dalits and Adivasis launch a strong agitation for land allotment