The International Criminal Court Becomes Slightly International

By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, November 25, 2024

Netanyahu-free zones (ICC members) in blue. Source.

The International Criminal Court has taken an enormously important small step toward respectability and real internationalism by issuing arrest warrants for the very first time for war allies of the United States and Western militaries.

It took many, many inexcusable months for the prosecutor of the ICC to request the arrest warrants, and six more months for the court to issue them. The delays read more

Tomgram: Liz Theoharis and Shailly Barnes, Trump 2.0

This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.

Let’s try to put recent political events in this country in perspective — if, that is, perspective is even a concept when it comes to Elon Musk and the word “billion,” no less “billionaire,” or the very idea of “the world’s wealthiest person” being, no surprise at all, Donald Trump’s big-money pal and (according to him, at least) “ read more

Peace Decides Elections

By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, November 20, 2024

The United States just held a presidential election between two pro-war, militarist candidates, each of whom could have been expected to shift yet more funding into war preparations, to arm the genocide in Palestine, and to wage and threaten war with abandon. And yet peace was, as it often is, a deciding factor.

Many voters demanding peace were otherwise inclined to vote for Kamala Harris. Had she simply committed to ceasing to illegally arm read more

The Message and War

I wasn’t going to read The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates because I’m doing what I can to end the genocide and occupation, and because Coates seems like such a nice guy that it saddens me that he nonsensically defended the U.S. Civil War.

I’m very glad that I did read it. I did so because someone led me to believe that in it Coates changed his mind about the Civil War. This turned out to be a misunderstanding that grew out of the fact that in the book he does slightly change his mind about a read more

Cherry Trees Blooming in Winter

In my town the cherry trees now bloom as winter approaches, and the curious thing is that people no longer mention the lovely spring days in November without adding they they are aware it’s an indication of a climate collapse that may rapidly render human life on Earth impossible. Everyone not only knows it but says it.

They still never add that they want to engage in any sort of activism to compel a change of course, even as the U.S. government is handed over fully to the oil companies and other read more

A Government for the World

Donald Trump’s latest rollout of his hyper nationalist “America First” policy underscores the world’s long-term slide toward catastrophe.

Within nations, when conflicts inevitably erupt, there are laws, as well as police, courts, and governments that enforce the laws.

On the global level, however, the situation approaches international anarchy.  Although the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, and the International Criminal Court sort out the issues, they are relatively read more