Starvation and hunger is sweeping across Afghanistan due a collapse in the economy. What has led to this catastrophic crisis is primarily the fault of the U.S. government by freezing Afghan assets in U.S. banks, and U.S. policies that are in place.
Join David Swanson, Executive Director of World Beyond War, and PDA’s Marcy Winograd, Jim Carpenter, and Hanieh Jodat Barnes for a conversation on Ukraine, NATO expansion, and next steps for the peace movement in this time of crisis.
David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is executive director of World BEYOND War and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org. Swanson’s books include War Is A Lie and When the World Outlawed War. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and WarIsACrime.org. He hosts Talk World Radio, and is a Nobel Peace Prize Nominee.
By any measure the pain and suffering caused by 21st century imperialism is staggering. Millions of people, mostly in the Middle East and South Asia, have died or been displaced by the war on terrorism initiated in 2001. These figures include the untold thousands who have died directly from war and violence in Libya, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, and elsewhere in the Middle East, South Asia, and North Africa and indirectly through “hybrid “wars against such countries as Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba.
Concomitant to war and violence, the 2022 US military budget endorsed by both political parties will exceed $778 billion.
What is the history of US militarism, what Andrew Bacevich calls “the permanent war economy”?
What are connections between the military/industrial complex and the global needs of capitalism?
What are the current sources of international tensions and possible war today?
What is behind US policy towards countries including China, Russia, Ukraine, Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba?
How should the peace movement respond to militarism and imperialism today?
Harry Targ, Purdue Professor of Political Science, Emeritus will initiate discussion of these critical and complicated issues. Targ, a long time activist, is current a Co-Chair of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism CCDS, a member of the Wisconsin Peace Action steering committee, and blogs at www.heartlandradical.blogspot.com