Iranian missile display at the Holy Defense Museum in Tehran -- Fars Media Corporation, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Vijay Prashad The gravest danger in the present war is not that Iran has already decided to manufacture a nuclear weapon. There is no verified evidence of such a decision. The danger is that another major US escalation could convince Tehran that remaining a non-nuclear state inside the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) no longer provides protection, recogni

Axadem, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Vijay Prashad Dear friends and colleagues, The United States and Israel launched a war of aggression against Iran in February of this year. For six months, US missiles and bombs have fallen upon civilian and military targets inside the country. Hospitals, schools, energy facilities, and neighbourhoods have been struck. The 168 schoolgirls killed in Minab have become the terrible symbol of this war. Iranians have been forced to live

By Grieve Chelwa and Vijay Prashad Across Africa, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) presents itself as the custodian of macroeconomic stability. Its latest Article IV staff reports on Ethiopia. Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, and Zambia are written for economies with very different histories and institutions. Yet they converge on a familiar prescription: fiscal consolidation, tighter monetary policy, market-determined exchange rates, subsidy reform, deregulation and ‘priva

Cuban assemble in Havana for the 2026 May 1 march -- image via the Communist Party of Cuba By Vijay Prashad For more than six decades, the United States has attempted to make the Cuban people pay for their decision to pursue an independent, socialist path. The latest phase of this economic war has targeted the island’s most vulnerable artery: its energy supply. Six months after Washington intensified pressure on countries and companies supplying oil to Cuba, the policy has no

Marco Rubio meets with the Saudi Foreign Minister, June 25, 2026 -- public domain image By Vijay Prashad On 22 July, the United States and Saudi Arabia signed what Washington calls a ‘peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement.’ The agreement has been presented as a commercial arrangement that will help Saudi Arabia diversify its energy system while creating a vast new market for US-based nuclear companies. But its significance goes far beyond the construction of power stations.

A girl walks amid the devastation in Gaza, August, 2024 -- Jaber Jehad Badwan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Vijay Prashad On June 23, the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel release done of the most devastating reports ever produced by a UN investigative body on the Israeli genocide in Gaza. Its title is almost unbearable to read: The Essence of Childhood Has Been

Funeral of the victims of the Minab Primary School for Girls bombing -- Tasnim News Agency, via Wikimedia Commons By Vijay Prashad En la ciudad de Minab, al sur de Irán, donde el calor se eleva de la tierra en ondas resplandecientes y la realidad del imperialismo persiste en cada puerto e instalación militar, un misil impactó en una escuela el 28 de febrero de 2026. El ataque mató a 156 personas, entre ellas 120 escolares, lo que el gobierno iraní calificó inmediatamente de “

Israeli forces operating around Beaufort Castle in Lebanon on May 31 -- IDF Spokesperson's Unit By Vijay Prashad There are moments in history when words lose their meaning. Not because dictionaries are rewritten, nor because language itself changes, but because political power empties words of the realities they once described. The word ceasefire has increasingly acquired this desolate quality when used by Israeli and US officials. What was once understood to mean the suspens

Trump and Xi Jinping on May 15 -- public domain image By Vijay Prashad The scenes unfolding in Beijing were carefully choreographed, yet politics can never be reduced to mere spectacle. When US President Donald Trump traveled to China for his summit meeting with Xi Jinping, Western media, as it often does, fixated on spectacle: lavish banquets, honor guards, theatrical gestures that were designed to flatter the US president. Yet beneath all this ritual lay another reality, ha

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi campaigning in Kerala, March 11, 2026 -- Prime Minister's Office (GODL-India), GODL-India, via Wikimedia Commons By Vijay Prashad In India, over 123 million people voted in the four states of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal (home to 290 million people) for their state assemblies. These are influential states: two in the south, one in the east, and one in the northeast. The next national parliamentary election is not scheduled unt

George W. Bush shakes hands with President John Agyekum Kufuor of Ghana Sept. 15, 2008 at the White House -- public domain image By Vijay Prashad En febrero de 2008, bajo el implacable sol de la tarde de Accra, el presidente de los Estados Unidos, George W. Bush, se presentó ante un pequeño grupo de periodistas y desestimó los rumores que circulaban con una risita. Los Estados Unidos, afirmó, no tenían intención alguna de construir bases militares en África. “Eso es una tonte

US President George W. Bush speaks with Ghana President John Agyekum Kufuor during their meeting at Osu Castle, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2008 in Accra, Ghana By Vijay Prashad In February 2008, beneath the harsh afternoon sun of Accra, US President George W. Bush stood before a small gathering of journalists and dismissed swirling rumors with a chuckle. The United States, he claimed, had no intention of building military bases in Africa. “That’s baloney,” he said. The casual, dismi

Palestine Action Protest, London, Saturday 6th September, 2025 -- indigonolan, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Various Sources More than 130 prominent scholars, writers, and public figures signed an open letter dated April 24, 2026 addressed to the UK Court of Appeal in support of individuals associated with Palestine Action, a group that -- in a profoundly anti-democratic move -- has been proscribed as a terrorist organization in the UK. The letter simply reads: “We oppose

A scene from Beirut after Israeli bombing, April 8, 2026 -- Megaphone, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Vijay Prashad Mientras los Estados Unidos abandona de manera ridícula las negociaciones con Irán en Pakistán, siempre fue motivo de preocupación si Israel acataría cualquier acuerdo de este tipo. Este fue particularmente el caso del Líbano y los territorios palestinos, donde Israel parecía absolutamente empeñado en crear nuevos “hechos sobre el terreno”, incluyendo la

A man walks amidst the rubble in the wake of an Israeli airstrike on the Beirut neighbourhood of Bachoura on 18 March 2026 -- Megaphone, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Vijay Prashad As the United States farcically walks away from the negotiations with Iran in Pakistan, it was always a matter of concern whether Israel would abide by any such agreement. This was particularly the case with Lebanon and with the Palestinian territories, where Israel seemed absolutely hell ben

Trump with Pete Hegseth on March 23 -- public domain image By Vijay Prashad US President Donald Trump has increasingly become unhinged as the war on Iran has not gone as he imagined. Both the United States and Israel felt that a series of domination strikes against Iran would decapitate the leadership of the country and force the remaining mid-level leaders into surrender. The miscalculation of the Trump-Netanyahu agenda has been total: a depth of wartime leadership has emerg

Battle of Cuito Cuanavale Memorial in Angola By Vijay Prashad In ‘Freedom Park’ (S’kumbuto) outside Pretoria (South Africa), there is a Wall of Names that honors the men and women who died in the fight to liberate South Africa from apartheid. Amongst these are the names of two thousand and seventy Cuban soldiers who died in Angola between 1975 and 1988 for the liberation of southern Africa. It is said, however, that two thousand two hundred and eighty-nine Cubans died in that

Trump and Vance at a ceremony for the return of the remains of six U.S. soldiers killed in an Iranian drone strike in Kuwait, Saturday, March 7, 2026 -- public domain image By Vijay Prashad El pasado mes de julio, los Estados Unidos e Israel bombardearon las instalaciones de energía nuclear e investigación nuclear de Irán durante doce días. Tras unos días, las dos potencias beligerantes – que no contaban con la autorización de las Naciones Unidas para esta guerra de agresión

Trump and Vance at a ceremony for the return of the remains of six U.S. soldiers killed in an Iranian drone strike in Kuwait, Saturday, March 7, 2026 -- public domain image By Vijay Prashad Last year, in July, the United States and Israel bombarded Iran’s nuclear energy and nuclear research facilities over twelve days. After a few days, the two belligerent powers—who had no United Nations authorisation for this war of aggression—opened the door for a ceasefire . At that time,

Flag at a ceremony on Wednesday March 18, 2026 -- Tasnim News Agency, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Vijay Prashad Wars are rarely decided on the battlefield alone. Military campaigns can destroy cities and kill large numbers of people, but political outcomes are defined by endurance, legitimacy, and the historical currents that flow beneath the immediate violence. While the war that US President Donald Trump imposed on the people of Iran may produce tactical victories f