Papers by Michael Karadjis
Their Anti-Imperialism and Ours, 2024
Their Anti-Imperialism and Ours, 2024
Links: Journal of International Socialist Renewal, 2024
It is well-known that Israel's Gaza genocide is principally enabled by the constant supply of ten... more It is well-known that Israel's Gaza genocide is principally enabled by the constant supply of tens of billions of dollars of killing equipment by the United States, making it the principle accomplice in the genocide, with Germany coming in a close second. An important secondary question, however, is that of who continues to supply most of the state's oil and coal (Israel has its own Mediterranean gas supplies) that keep the Israeli economy and war machine running. It may surprise some that the main culprits have been publicly critical of Israel's actions, including BRICS members Russia, Brazil, Egypt and China, as well as some who have condemned Israel most furiously, such as BRICS member South Africa and, indirectly, Turkey. According to S&P Global in late October 2023: "With almost no domestic crude or condensate production, Israel has been importing around 300,000 b/d of crude this year to process at its two refineries in Haifa and Ashdod. Israel's biggest source of oil is the Kazakh-sourced CPC Blend crude exported via Russia's Black Sea port of Novorossiisk and Azeri Light which is shipped from Turkey's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. Together they accounted for over half of Israel's crude imports this year" [emphasis added]. Map showing the routes of the BTC pipeline (red), through which Azeri oil reaches Israel via the Turkish port of Ceyhan, and the CPC pipeline (green), through which Kazak and Russian oil reaches Israel via the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.
The Tempest, 2024
iran-theater-show-a-distraction-from-gazagenocide/ by Michael Karadjis Michael Karadjis explains ... more iran-theater-show-a-distraction-from-gazagenocide/ by Michael Karadjis Michael Karadjis explains how the recent interchange of missiles between Israel and Iran was an episode of theater distracting from the ongoing genocide in Gaza and leaving Israel more powerful.
Links: International Journal of Socialist Renewal, 2024
Left: Israel and Iran wage theatre in the skies; right, meanwhile on the ground, Khan Younis, Gaz... more Left: Israel and Iran wage theatre in the skies; right, meanwhile on the ground, Khan Younis, Gaza, genocide continues (image sources:
Their Anti-Imperialism and Ours, 2023
From Karama Square in Sweida, the epicentre of current Syrian uprising, a protestor demonstrates ... more From Karama Square in Sweida, the epicentre of current Syrian uprising, a protestor demonstrates the doublesided monster Assad-Netanyahu Israel's current genocide-operation against the Palestinian population of Gaza (and potentially the West Bank if it can get away with it) recall the horrors of the neighbouring Assad dictatorship's decade-long war of extermination against the rebellious Syrian people, where some 470,000 had been killed already by January 2016 (a figure which does not account for the last 7 years of killing!), Vladimir Putin's horrific invasion of Ukraine, Saudi Arabia's monstrous bombing of Yemen and a number of similar conflicts.
Links: Journal of International Socialist Renewal, 2023
The slogan in the photo on the left means the same as that on the right. This slogan, raised at p... more The slogan in the photo on the left means the same as that on the right. This slogan, raised at pro-Palestine demonstrations around the world, has attracted a great deal of ignorant criticism. In media commentary, on talk shows, the slogan is attacked as a call for "the destruction of Israel," evidence that the Palestinians do not want peace and reject any compromise with Israel, or even more colourfully, a call for "genocide", for "driving the Jews into the sea."
Syrian Revolution Commentary and Analysis, 2023
Following the 7.8 Richter earthquake of February 6, no disaster relief reached the people of nort... more Following the 7.8 Richter earthquake of February 6, no disaster relief reached the people of northwest Syria, in the region under opposition control, from the United Nations or any country, in the crucial first week, meaning thousands died under the rubble. This was the part of Syria most heavily impacted by the quake. These people, who had already experienced the full brunt of years of horrific bombing by the Assad dictatorship and Imperial Russia with the full connivance of the “international community”, were yet again condemned to genocide by the world.
Stand with Ukraine: Debunking the Propaganda, Eds Jeffrey D. Everhard, Joel Kniaz, Bill Weinberg, Bastille Press, 2023
By Michael Karadjis Time and time again, we have been told that 'the Global South'-ie, the develo... more By Michael Karadjis Time and time again, we have been told that 'the Global South'-ie, the developing world consisting largely of former colonies-does not support Ukraine's resistance to Russia's barbaric colonial invasion, or is even supportive of Russia. According to this rendition of reality, support for Ukraine is entirely a project of the imperial West, and this very fact is all the more reason that former colonies of western imperialist states do not want to be on the side of their former colonial masters.
Oakland Socialist, 2022
Interesting that in a 37-minute speech to justify Russia's brazen annexation of four regions of U... more Interesting that in a 37-minute speech to justify Russia's brazen annexation of four regions of Ukraine, Putin didn't mention "Nazis" or "de-Nazification" once, these silly tropes that some gullible western lefties believed. Instead, it was all about the glories of 1000 years Imperial Russia, while appealing to the most reactionary segments of western society with a lot of mystical, religious, traditionalist nonsense like the following:
Syrian Revolution Commentary and Analysis, 2022
Cataclysmic destruction of Russian-speaking Ukrainian city Mariupol by Russian invasion; Putin cl... more Cataclysmic destruction of Russian-speaking Ukrainian city Mariupol by Russian invasion; Putin claims, ironically, that his invasion aims to "liberate" these people from "genocide". We've all heard it time and time again. Whether it is an argument in support of Putin's brutal invasion of Ukraine, or just as often, opposed to it but claiming both sides are equally at fault, we hear that that "the Ukrainian army killed 14,000 ethnic Russians in Donbas between 2014 and 2022." Here's just one example among thousands of examples regurgitated, with never a simple factcheck, all over the left and right media: According to pro-Putin writer Max Parry, "For what the late Edward S. Herman called the 'cruise missile Left,' the 14,000 ethnic Russians killed in Donbass by the Ukrainian army since 2014 are 'unworthy victims,' as Herman and Noam Chomsky defined the notion in Manufacturing Consent.
Europe Solidaire Sans Frontieres, 2022
As Ukraine continues to resist Russia’s horrific aggression and attempt to conquer and annex the ... more As Ukraine continues to resist Russia’s horrific aggression and attempt to conquer and annex the south and east of the country, the quantity of arms being supplied to Ukraine by the United States and other western countries has steadily increased. As the country and people suffering from this naked imperialist aggression, the Ukrainians have every right to receive weapons from whoever wants to send them, regardless of the aims of those countries doing so, or the extraordinary hypocrisy of these imperialist powers.
However, much leftist commentary has increasingly seen this supply of arms as evidence of the war becoming a “proxy” war in which Ukraine, rather than fighting for its very existence, is essentially just acting as cat’s paw for an alleged US imperialist aim of waging “war against Russia,” perhaps even aiming to “Balkanise” Russia. A quick review of some left media just the last couple of days brings up an article that labels the Russian invasion of Ukraine a “U.S. war against Russia” which “threatens world peace;” while even in Socialist Worker, which strongly condemns the Russian invasion and certainly cannot be accused of softness on Putinism, we can read that “today any element of a war of liberation against Russian imperialism is wholly subsumed by, and subordinated to, Nato’s war on Russia.”
An important part of this discourse is the claim that supplying arms goes against the importance of “negotiations,”, which allegedly the US and western states are vetoing, along with the assertion that the US aim is to “weaken” Russia rather than just help Ukraine. Some of this is based on a number of ‘gotcha’ moments when one or another representative of the US ruling class said something a little out of line. Yet a serious analysis will demonstrate that these assumptions and alleged dichotomies have no basis in reality, and the more serious US imperial analysts highlight interests and fears that not only show the ‘gotcha’ moments have little to do with western policy, but ultimately state very similar fears to many of these leftist analysts regarding the potential for a dangerously destabilised Russia resulting from a loss of Russian ‘credibility’, and therefore advocate rather similar limits to US support and stress on negotiations.
New Politics, 2022
According to Russian president Vladimir Putin: "The United States continues to receive more and m... more According to Russian president Vladimir Putin: "The United States continues to receive more and more immigrants, and, as far as I understand, the white, Christian population is already outnumbered … White Christians have become a minority, less than 50 percent now. … Russia is a vast territory, from its western to eastern borders, it is a Eurasian space. But as regards culture, even language group and history, this all is undoubtedly a European space, as it is inhabited by people of this culture. … we have to preserve all this to remain a significant centre in the world." Putin's appeal to "great replacement" theory, his dog-whistle to the "White Christian" world that must be "preserved" lest it become a minority, demonstrates the clear ideological basis of Putin's status as demi-God to the global far-right, fascist, Nazi and white supremacist movements. Here's what David Duke, former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, had to say when leaving Russia after his five-year sojourn there: "In this holy cause we must share one immutable principle: all people of European descent, no matter where they reside in the world, are brothers. … Russia has always been a bulwark to the East, the frontier of our race, and it is now on the frontline of our current struggle. It is my prayer that Mother Russia be strong and healthy, may Mother Russia be free; may she always be White. When a racially aware Russia and reawakened America become united in our cause, the world will change. Our race will survive and together we shall go to the stars!”
New Politics, 2022
AMID CHINA’S EMERGENCE AS A major economic power and an increasingly
tense U.S.-China rivalry, th... more AMID CHINA’S EMERGENCE AS A major economic power and an increasingly
tense U.S.-China rivalry, the debate over whether China is now a full-fledged capitalist state, some kind of socialist state, or something in-between has become a major issue within the global left, with important theoretical and political implications. Opinions, unsurprisingly, vary on this question, given the difficulty of establishing clear criteria on what constitutes a socialist or non-capitalist state.
In this essay, I engage with and critique the argument that China’s momentous social and economic achievements can be adequately explained by viewing it is a partially socialist or non-capitalist country. I do so by challenging the key assumptions underlying this argument both on empirical and theoretical grounds, and placing China in historical and comparative perspectives to better understand both its real achievements and many shortfalls.
Logos: a journal of modern society & culture, 2019
In this volume of interviews with an extraordinary range of people identifying with the political... more In this volume of interviews with an extraordinary range of people identifying with the political left or progressive social movements, Andy Heintz starts out seeking to answer a number of questions which are key to reconstructing a viable and relevant left today.
Syrian Revolution Commentary and Analysis, 2021
/common-sense-on-syrias-election-circus-figures-releasedare-pure-inventions/ Assad bombs his way ... more /common-sense-on-syrias-election-circus-figures-releasedare-pure-inventions/ Assad bombs his way to election victory In response to the claim by the Assad dictatorship that it received 95 percent of the vote in its May 26 staged "election" circus, and that the turnout was 78 percent, or 14 million people, critics have pointed to a variety of obvious issues: Of 51 candidates who nominated, only two were accepted by the dictatorship's Constitutional Court, ie two nonentity Assad clones-so essentially the alternatives one could vote for were Bashar al-Assad and Bashar al-Assad Even the clone "opposition" candidates only had 10 days to campaign so few knew anything about them Actual footage of fraud exists, of voters handing over their ID cards to the dictatorship's handlers to "vote" for them (and would you say no?) Voters have to bloody their thumb to stamp their voting paper, so one wouldn't want to turn up to work the next day without the wound Syrian regime people even photographed themselves voting multiple times According to reporter Elizabeth Tsurkov, "secret police warned residents of formerly rebel-held areas in northern Homs and Qalamoun that they may be arrested if they do not vote." Students were told they had to vote , with the threat of expulsion from their universities hanging over their heads Residents also told her that the regime "made voting a condition for distribution of subsidized bread in Homs-as well as World Food Program aid baskets to the poor in the southern districts of Damascus and the displaced in the city of Aleppo.
Syrian Revolution Commentary and Analysis, 2021
Vast numbers of responses to the conspiracy theories absolving the Assad regime of responsibility... more Vast numbers of responses to the conspiracy theories absolving the Assad regime of responsibility for the 2018 chemical massacre in Douma have been penned, some of which this article will list for reference. However, this article is not a repeat of this detective work; rather, the core of it is an examination of the absurdity of these assertions, precisely from the point of view of the questions of "who gains" and casus belli that these conspiracists evoke. On April 7, 2018, the Assad regime launched a chemical attack, dropping chlorine canisters, on the besieged town of Douma, the last remaining part of the opposition-held East Ghouta region which had been under a month-long massive attack by the regime, during which it had reconquered the rest of the region.
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Papers by Michael Karadjis
However, much leftist commentary has increasingly seen this supply of arms as evidence of the war becoming a “proxy” war in which Ukraine, rather than fighting for its very existence, is essentially just acting as cat’s paw for an alleged US imperialist aim of waging “war against Russia,” perhaps even aiming to “Balkanise” Russia. A quick review of some left media just the last couple of days brings up an article that labels the Russian invasion of Ukraine a “U.S. war against Russia” which “threatens world peace;” while even in Socialist Worker, which strongly condemns the Russian invasion and certainly cannot be accused of softness on Putinism, we can read that “today any element of a war of liberation against Russian imperialism is wholly subsumed by, and subordinated to, Nato’s war on Russia.”
An important part of this discourse is the claim that supplying arms goes against the importance of “negotiations,”, which allegedly the US and western states are vetoing, along with the assertion that the US aim is to “weaken” Russia rather than just help Ukraine. Some of this is based on a number of ‘gotcha’ moments when one or another representative of the US ruling class said something a little out of line. Yet a serious analysis will demonstrate that these assumptions and alleged dichotomies have no basis in reality, and the more serious US imperial analysts highlight interests and fears that not only show the ‘gotcha’ moments have little to do with western policy, but ultimately state very similar fears to many of these leftist analysts regarding the potential for a dangerously destabilised Russia resulting from a loss of Russian ‘credibility’, and therefore advocate rather similar limits to US support and stress on negotiations.
tense U.S.-China rivalry, the debate over whether China is now a full-fledged capitalist state, some kind of socialist state, or something in-between has become a major issue within the global left, with important theoretical and political implications. Opinions, unsurprisingly, vary on this question, given the difficulty of establishing clear criteria on what constitutes a socialist or non-capitalist state.
In this essay, I engage with and critique the argument that China’s momentous social and economic achievements can be adequately explained by viewing it is a partially socialist or non-capitalist country. I do so by challenging the key assumptions underlying this argument both on empirical and theoretical grounds, and placing China in historical and comparative perspectives to better understand both its real achievements and many shortfalls.
However, much leftist commentary has increasingly seen this supply of arms as evidence of the war becoming a “proxy” war in which Ukraine, rather than fighting for its very existence, is essentially just acting as cat’s paw for an alleged US imperialist aim of waging “war against Russia,” perhaps even aiming to “Balkanise” Russia. A quick review of some left media just the last couple of days brings up an article that labels the Russian invasion of Ukraine a “U.S. war against Russia” which “threatens world peace;” while even in Socialist Worker, which strongly condemns the Russian invasion and certainly cannot be accused of softness on Putinism, we can read that “today any element of a war of liberation against Russian imperialism is wholly subsumed by, and subordinated to, Nato’s war on Russia.”
An important part of this discourse is the claim that supplying arms goes against the importance of “negotiations,”, which allegedly the US and western states are vetoing, along with the assertion that the US aim is to “weaken” Russia rather than just help Ukraine. Some of this is based on a number of ‘gotcha’ moments when one or another representative of the US ruling class said something a little out of line. Yet a serious analysis will demonstrate that these assumptions and alleged dichotomies have no basis in reality, and the more serious US imperial analysts highlight interests and fears that not only show the ‘gotcha’ moments have little to do with western policy, but ultimately state very similar fears to many of these leftist analysts regarding the potential for a dangerously destabilised Russia resulting from a loss of Russian ‘credibility’, and therefore advocate rather similar limits to US support and stress on negotiations.
tense U.S.-China rivalry, the debate over whether China is now a full-fledged capitalist state, some kind of socialist state, or something in-between has become a major issue within the global left, with important theoretical and political implications. Opinions, unsurprisingly, vary on this question, given the difficulty of establishing clear criteria on what constitutes a socialist or non-capitalist state.
In this essay, I engage with and critique the argument that China’s momentous social and economic achievements can be adequately explained by viewing it is a partially socialist or non-capitalist country. I do so by challenging the key assumptions underlying this argument both on empirical and theoretical grounds, and placing China in historical and comparative perspectives to better understand both its real achievements and many shortfalls.