The State of Ukrainian Democracy Is Not Strong
One year after Russia’s invasion, Ukraine is backsliding away from democratic freedoms and liberal pluralism.
522 Article(s) by: Branko Marcetic
Branko Marcetic is a Jacobin staff writer and the author of Yesterday’s Man: The Case Against Joe Biden.
As Rail Executives Grow Richer, Train Derailments Have Become Commonplace
The East Palestine disaster is a horrifying, spectacular version of what has become the normal occurrence of train derailments in America. Joe Biden could use this as an opportunity to overhaul a crooked and dangerous industry. So far, he appears uninterested.
Only US Warmakers Could Create a Panic as Absurd as the “Spy Balloon” Fiasco
The US government and media instigate international fearmongering and saber-rattling on a regular basis. But the recent Chinese spy balloon incident belongs in the Hall of Fame as one of the most idiotic panics by a jittery, trigger-happy warfare state.
The Federal Response to East Palestine’s Train Disaster Is Itself a Disaster
East Palestine, Ohio’s recent train derailment produced an apocalyptic plume of carcinogenic smoke that may affect residents and the environment for decades. Residents need an aggressive federal response from Joe Biden. They aren’t getting one.
Beyond the Earthquake, Syrians Need US Sanctions Lifted
The Biden administration has thankfully lifted the sanctions on Syria to provide for earthquake relief. It’s a good first step. The next: lift the sanctions regime entirely.
The Grinding War in Ukraine Could Have Ended a Long Time Ago
An early peace deal could have ended the bloody war in Ukraine. But NATO opposition and revelations about the Russian massacre of civilians at Bucha, along with US media that all but ignored potential routes to peace, dashed those hopes.
The US Is Doing Far Worse Than Floating Balloons in Other Countries’ Airspace
Let’s assume, for argument’s sake, that the recently shot-down Chinese balloon was indeed spying. The US doesn’t like other countries snooping on them — something the US is constantly doing all over the planet.
Ilhan Omar Should Wear Her Expulsion From the House Foreign Affairs Committee as a Badge of Honor
Ilhan Omar has been kicked off the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The move is a backhanded acknowledgment by her enemies of her unusual effectiveness as a critic of the hypocrisies of US foreign policy.
Israel Is Threatening to Turn Iran Into Another Ukraine
Israel’s air strikes on Iran highlight the risk that Israeli bellicosity and Biden administration fecklessness could combine to produce a disastrous regional war in the Middle East.
Tyre Nichols’s Death Is What Happens When You Get “Tough on Crime”
As soon as it became electorally inconvenient, the Democrats largely dropped their support for police reform and adopted a crime-fighting approach straight out of the ’90s. The result: shocking police murders like Tyre Nichols’s have become more common.
Ukraine’s Postwar Reconstruction Has Big Business Licking Its Lips
Ukraine is being sized up by neocolonial vultures from BlackRock to the EU for a carve-up after the war is over. On the menu is deregulation, privatization, and “tax efficiency” — measures that may have already begun.
Ron DeSantis Prefers to Call His War on Workers a War on “Wokeness”
Ron DeSantis’s crusade against “woke ideology” was always a thinly disguised assault on the rights of Florida teachers and their unions. His recent “Teacher’s Bill of Rights” only makes it explicit.
Joe Biden’s Rooseveltian Ambitions Are Officially Dead
Austerity-minded Jeff Zients’s appointment as White House chief of staff signals Joe Biden’s return to the fiscal hawkishness that has always been his sweet spot.
Jacinda Ardern’s Leadership Was a Cautionary Tale of Liberal Inaction
Kindness, empathy, and compassion were values at the heart of Jacinda Ardern’s political career — but they were often absent from her government’s policies. The result was a squandered opportunity to overhaul New Zealand’s economy for the better.
When It Comes to Mishandling Classified Documents, the Powerful Are Treated With Kid Gloves
Mishandling classified documents, as both Joe Biden and Donald Trump are now accused of doing, is just one type of crime for which America increasingly has one justice system for the rich and powerful and another, far harsher system for everyone else.
Democrats’ Hypocrisy on the Bolivian Coup Is Truly Staggering
For Democrats, taking a stand for democracy requires prosecuting coup plotters wherever and whenever they show their seditious faces. This rule holds fast except for in Bolivia, where prosecuting coup plotters apparently amounts to authoritarianism.
If Even Ken Roth Can’t Criticize Israel, No One Can
Ken Roth, the ex-head of Human Rights Watch, recently had his hiring at Harvard vetoed by administrators. Because when it comes to criticism of Israeli apartheid, even a notorious friend of the powerful like Roth can’t get a pass from the establishment.
The US Should Learn From Brazil and Actually Punish Its Coup Plotters
The riots in Brazil have drawn Jan. 6 comparisons, but they’re even more reminiscent of a different episode: the Bolivian coup that liberals misguidedly backed. Another big difference from Jan. 6: Brazil is actually prosecuting its high-level coup plotters.
A Tiny Cut in the Military Budget That Probably Won’t Happen Is Causing Panic in Washington
The bipartisan establishment is having a freak-out over the prospect of a modest cut to the defense budget. It’s not clear it will actually happen — but even if it did, the gargantuan US military budget would still be wasteful and counterproductive.
No, the GOP Has Not Become the Party of Workers
The bare minimum requirement of being a party of workers is to actually support measures that would improve those workers’ lives. By that metric, the GOP has failed over and over again.