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Cat Boyd joins David Jamieson for the return of the much loved Contercast! You don’t want to miss it - funny, insightful, and irreverent.
Counter-Revolution and the Palestinian Struggle
We spoke to Jamie Allinson, an expert on the counter-revolutionary developments in the Middle East since the Arab Spring, about how transformations in the region set the stage for the current chaos:
The broad economic and geostrategic shifts in the region, and how they under-pin Israeli conduct
The morphing attitudes of western powers to the Middle East
The complex motivations of regional actors claiming to act in solidarity with Palestine
The problems facing the Palestinians in a changing region
Decolonising Ukraine? How Rejection of Empire Became Pro-War
We speak to Dr James Foley and Dr Vladimir Unkovski-Korica about their new article, tracing the influence of 'decolonial' rhetoric in the drive to proxy-war with Russia over Ukraine.
What is the 'Ukraine Moment' and how did western states try to use it to launder their reputation and overcome internal conflicts?
How did yet another leftist intellectual fashion get recycled into the war state?
What does this teach us about the usefulness of the concept of decolonialism?
How might we expect these ideas to evolve as war tensions keep ramping up from eastern Europe to the Middle East and South Pacific?
Read our analysis and column writers…
George Kerevan on Alex Salmond…
“The death of Alex Salmond, just shy of his 70th birthday, is not just a political shock but marks the definitive end of an era in Scottish politics. To say this may sound trite but it is merely to recognise that the constitutional history of Scotland will now forever be divided between ‘before’ Salmond and ‘after’ Salmond. What will history make of the man?”
Scottish Nationalism’s Industrial Crisis by Coll McCail
“The day before Petroineos declared its intention to press ahead with the closure of Scotland’s only oil refinery, the Scottish Government published their long-awaited Green Industrial Strategy (GIS). The 54-page document, wrote Kate Forbes and Gillian Martin in their Ministerial Foreword, “makes a clear statement of our focus and intent.” For the 2,800 workers whose livelihoods depend on Grangemouth’s operation, this confirmation was unnecessary. They had long been aware of the Scottish Government’s priorities – and of how far from the top coherent industrial policy ranked.”
Challenges For The Scottish Anti-War Movement by Sophie Johnson
“During the Sturgeon era, the national question served to artificially sharpen differences between the interests of the Scottish and British political classes. In essence, they aligned almost completely in relation to key foreign policy positions. As it becomes increasingly clear that independence is off the table, the SNP also faces greater scrutiny. In Scotland, specific structural and political challenges have beset the post-referendum terrain. As we enter a new era of militarism and inter-imperial crisis, the task in Scotland is to fortify the institutions that can advance anti-imperialist politics, to be able to conduct such a campaign in relation to both the Scottish and British political class.”
Swinney And Starmer: The Political Hangover by Liam McLaughlan
“Increasingly the SNP and Scottish Government by proxy look and sound tired, stale and simply out of ideas. Many in the country have already switched off, so discontent are they with mismanagement and a failure to deliver even the most basic of Governmental responsibilities that has marked the last few years in particular. Their crushing General Election defeat has it would appear only added to the confusion and lack of direction rather than helped to clarify and shine a light on where it has went so badly wrong.”