March 24, 2010, 9:42 am
Since the end of World War II, the United States has maintained a substantial military presence on the Japanese mainland. This comprises of a network of nearly 90 military bases and thousands of troops. January saw the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the US and Japan, and due to growing domestic resistance to the US occupation, also marked the first time since the treaty’s inception that the Japanese government raised concerns about the relationship between the two countries.
John Feffer is the co-director of Foreign Policy in Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies and writes the regular World Beat column. His personal website can be seen here.
This interview was broadcast on Radio Adelaide on the 24th of March.
March 17, 2010, 9:22 am
In the last two months, both the South American countries of Haiti and Chile have been devastated by earthquakes. A natural disaster was amplified by the economic and political disaster in the countries, both firmly under the heel of the United States.
Ashley Smith is an analyst on the editorial board of the International Socialist Review. Ashley will be in Australia for the Marxism 2010 Conference in Melbourne on Easter weekend April 1st to 4th. He will be presenting at both “Capitalism, Crisis and Revolt in the 21st Century” on Thursday and “Obama and Imperialism: Has the US War Machine been Tamed?” on Saturday. You can check out the full program at Marxism 2010.
Sean Robinson began by asking him about the economic and political history of both Chile and Haiti.
This interview was broadcast on Radio Adelaide on the 17th of March.
March 11, 2010, 9:21 am
Jewish people throughout the world have an automatic right to Israeli citizenship under Israel’s “Law of Return”. In light of more than seven million Palestinian refugees being denied any right of return to Israel the law is being questioned by prominent Australian Jews.
Antony Loewenstein is a journalist and author of My Israel Question. Antony has recently been involved in the formation of a petition asking Australian Jews to rescind their Right of Return to Israel. He is cofounder of Australian Independent Jewish Voice and you can view his personal website here.
This interview was broadcast on Radio Adelaide on the 10th of March.
March 3, 2010, 9:28 am
The buying and selling of weapons in international relations is usually presented as a “global arms trade”. This depiction is entirely misleading. The bulk of “arms” (ie: weapons) sales is made by the United States in a one way transaction (not traded).
Frida Berrigan is a Senior Program Associate with the New America Foundation’s Arms and Security Initiative. She coauthored the report Weapons at War 2008 which investigates the politics of weapons exports.
This interview was broadcast on Radio Adelaide on the 3rd of March.
