Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Kal Raustiala: U.S. may not be imperial, but it does have an empire
Kal Raustiala, teacher of International Law at Princeton has a lenghty piece on US imperialism in todays Tribune. He talks extensively about US domination of central America, and several bodies of island where people live in a form of legal limbo. He implores America to acknowledge its empire and to change its attitude towards it.
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Alastair Campbell live
The argument between the BBC and Labour communications guru Alastair Campbell has really hotted up. Campbell turned up at Channel 4 News while the show was on the air, completely by surprise. He then went on the show and proceeded to tear into the BBC and their covering of the ‘dodgy dossier’ issue. As ever…
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The first casualty of Pilger…
The Spectator has an interesting feature by the BBC’s special correspondent John Sweeney. He lambasts John Pilger for ignoring the facts, drawing illogical conclusions and generally misleading of the public. I accuse John Pilger of cheating the public and favouring a dictator. Controversial stuff.
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Robert Kaplan: The Hard Edge of American Values
The Atlantic has a very interesting interview with Robert Kaplan, following his article on the subject of how and why America projects its power around the world. I would encourage everyone to read this – I have selected what I think were the most pointed questions, but you can follow the link and read the…
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Bush and Prodi
Good report on Newsnight tonight about Romano Prodi’s visit to Washington for the annual US-EU summit, and the current state of US-EU relations. Scroll to the 40th minute. Tom Karver has the story. Click here for the latest Newsnight programme or go here to see the Newsnight website.
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There's whiskey in the glass . . .
My article has been published in the New Statesman. It is on the subject of the drinking culture back home – and current attempts to stop the problems associated with it. The whole article is available to those who pay, or those who buy it on the news stands. Get your copy now! LOL. There’s…
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After war, a new rift between U.S. and EU
With relations still strained over the war in Iraq and other issues, the United States has warned European Union countries not to lobby actively against a U.S. campaign for bilateral national agreements that put U.S. citizens beyond the reach of the new International Criminal Court.
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Paul Krugman: The war on truth is not over yet
The Bush and Blair administrations are trying to silence critics – many of them current or former intelligence analysts – who say they exaggerated the threat from Iraq. Last week, a Blair official accused Britain’s intelligence agencies of plotting against the government.
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Guillaume Parmentier: France must reach out to U.S.
On his trip to Europe last week President George W. Bush showed that his administration is capable of rising above its resentment. But it would be a mistake to think this means that the Americans have turned the page on the Iraq war, or that French-American relations have become normal again.
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Philip Bobbitt: What's in it for US?
America will defend human rights successfully only when its own key interests are threatened writes Philip Bobbitt Those who favour humanitarian interventions must bear this in mind: without mixed motives, without American participation, such interventions will bear the stamp of Srebrenica and Ituri, not Kabul or Baghdad. The best way of persuading governments to risk…
Got any book recommendations?