50 Years of The #Davos #WorldEconomicForum

The Davos World Economic Forum (WEF) Is at It Again – Celebrating 50th Anniversary
By Peter Koenig, January 22, 2020
Friends, you should go to the WEF, the notorious World Economic Forum in Davos, (21-24 January), where a 12 square-meter hotel room costs US$ 10,000 per night (if you don’t believe it, look it up on the internet), and where it’s totally normal that sharpshooters are everywhere on roof tops in subfreezing temperatures – to protect the about 3000 upper-echelons, of course – and that a huge section of the Zurich airport has been cordoned-off for the private planes of the ‘environmentally conscious elite’ — and where Trump arrived this morning, Tuesday, 21 January; and where the “plane-spotters” with their sophisticated binoculars and telescopes are practically camping in the airport areal — to be first when the airport gates are opened, for them to enter the airport terraces to “spot” the arriving VIP / CEO / celebrity private planes (you get the picture, it’s sort of like Black Friday, with the campers in front of the Walmart gates) – hundreds of private jets are expected – the normality of abject uselessness and decadence of the rich – and its acceptance and even glorification by the populace, is much more than George Orwell could have ever thought of when he wrote 1984 in 1948. Read more...

Trump At Davos: “The Great American Comeback”
By Andrew Korybko, January 22, 2020
The theme of Trump’s second Davos speech during his presidency was what he described at the beginning of his talk as “The Great American Comeback”, a point that he returned to time and again to emphasize the fact that he fulfilled his promise to “Make America Great Again”.
In terms of the bigger picture, it can be said that the US’ domestic and foreign policy gains have been greatly advanced through the economic means that were described. Even if one disagrees with them for reasons of ideology, there’s no denying that they’ve been extremely effective in promoting America’s interests. Read more...

How Are Iran and the “Axis of the Resistance” Affected by the US Assassination of Soleimani?
By Elijah J. Magnier, January 22, 2020
The US President Donald Trump assassinated the commander of the “Axis of the Resistance”, the

(Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps) IRGC – Quds Brigade Major General Qassem Soleimani at Baghdad airport with little consideration of the consequences of this targeted killing. It is not to be excluded that the US administration considered the assassination would reflect positively on its Middle Eastern policy. Or perhaps the US officials believed the killing of Sardar Soleimani would weaken the “Axis of the Resistance”: once deprived of their leader, Iran’s partners’ capabilities in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen would be reduced. Is this assessment accurate? Read more...

Washington Desperation Drives Nuclear Proliferation
By Ulson Gunnar, January 22, 2020
The highly destructive trade wars, real wars and political and/or economic interference the US is engaged in worldwide is creating a negative and very tangible impact on the globe. Despite the high costs of Washington’s increasingly disruptive polices and the prominence they assert themselves with across daily headlines, it is perhaps the nuclear threat of an increasingly reckless political order that poses the most danger. Read more...

Despite Limitations, Cuba’s State Budget Maintains Its Eminently Social Focus
By Yudy Castro Morales, January 22, 2020
The planned budget for 2020 is based on principles of conservation and rationality in expenditures, and maximizing income, mobilizing all untapped potential that exists in the economy, stated Vladimir Regueiro Ale, first deputy minister of Finances and Prices, during a press conference yesterday. Read more...

US Violated Unspoken Rule of Engagement with Iran
By Prof. As’ad AbuKhalil, January 22, 2020
The U.S. has long assumed that assassinations of major figures in the Iranian “resistance-axis” in the Middle East would bring risk to the U.S. military-intelligence presence in the Middle East. Western and Arab media reported that the U.S. had prevented Israel in the past from killing Suleimani. But with the top commander’s death, the Trump administration seems to think a key barrier to U.S. military operations in the Middle East has been removed. Read more...

Guantanamo: An Enduring Symbol of US Islamophobia
By Maha Hilal, January 22, 2020
Though Muslims have long been targeted in the US, as a young Muslim, learning about Guantanamo Bay introduced me to the specifics of how this country would criminalise my community. To many Muslim Americans, this prison – an extrajudicial space deliberately opened off the US mainland – is a haunting symbol of Islamophobia.