Alain Gresh discusses the "war on terrorism" in historical context--foreign policy during the Cold War, the war on the Sandinistas' Nicaragua, the war against the Soviet presence in Afghanistan, the present war in Iraq. Gresh touches on the ideologies of the likes of Samuel Huntington--the 'clash of civilizations' perspective and the growth of 'Islamophobia'. He concludes "Parts of both western and Islamic opinion are prepared to believe that, behind the present conflicts, civilisations really are clashing. The key divisions in society are no longer between the powerful and the weak, rich and poor, haves and have-nots, but between them and us. The countries of the West should forget the struggle between classes and line up in the battle against the Other. What would be the result? A thousand-year war whose only result would be to bring comfort to the established (dis)order."

Maurice Lemoine discusses the current situation in Haiti in historical context focusing on the changing fortunes and responsibilities of Jean-Baptiste Aristide.

Roger Burbach and Jim Tardell put the ongoing US war in Iraq in historical context.

I used to ride my bike from UMBC to Maiden Choice on Wilkens Avenue to pick up groceries or the like and while it was a bit exciting at some times of day, I never considered it to be an excessively dangerous ride. In the last few years its become a death trap.

James Petras, author of many books on Latin America, looks at the myths of both the right and the left about the government of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.

A commentary on the protests against the Republican National Conventional and the New York Police department response.

Discontent that the Green Party missed a great opportunity to capitalize upon a giant gulf between the pro-war Democratic Party elite and anti-war rank-and-file Democrats and other voters on the left in 2004? Angry with the Democratic Party's undemocratic violation of voting rights of supporters of Ralph Nader/Peter Camejo and other candidates on the left? Want a political party that grows out of, and in turn helps grow, social movements on the left? Join the Green Alliance.

What can you do to help the Starbucks workers