Archive of The Obama Syndrome
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Explaining the Israel-Palestine Conflict
Today is Nakba Day - the annual day of commemmoration of the Palestinian catastrophe, the expulsion of 700,000 Palestinians.
A selection of Verso's books on the Israel-Palestine conflict, from explanations to considered outcomes.
These are Verso's key books to explain the situation – what others should we include?
The Conflict Explained
The Case for Sanctions Against Israel edited by Audrea Lim
Leading international voices consider all sides of the conflict including boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel. With contributions from Angela Davis, John Berger, Naomi Klein, Omar Barghouti, Dalit Baum and Rebecca Vilkomerson.
The Punishment of Gaza by Gideon Levy
The powerful narrative of Israel's invasion and control over Gaza - examining the abandonment of diplomacy in favour of raw military power, turning Gaza into an enormous open-air prison.
“Gideon Levy’s passionate and revealing account is an eloquent, even desperate, call to bring this shocking tragedy to an end, as can easily be done.”
– Noam Chomsky
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Tariq Ali on Democracy Now: European Union awarded Nobel Peace Prize despite ties to NATO, crippling austerity cuts
Has the Nobel Peace Prize Committee jumped the shark? In what seemed an early April Fool’s prank, the Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union for, in the words of chairman Thorbjoern Jagland, its historic role in transforming Europe "from a continent of wars to a continent of peace." This honor was bestowed despite the EU’s savage push for immiserizing austerity on Spain, Italy, and Greece—cuts that have led to violence on the streets, and the participation of many of its member states NATO military interventions in Afghanistan and Libya.
Today, on Democracy Now!, Tariq Ali, author of many books including The Obama Syndrome: Surrender at Home, War Abroad, discussed his reaction to the Committee’s decision, stating:
To give the prize to the European community, at a time, effectively, when economically, it is promoting unemployment, creating real class divides in virtually every country in Europe, where it has led to enormous violence on the streets of Greece, because of the policies being pushed by the EU ... it is a complete and utter joke.
Visit Democracy Now! to watch the interview in full. -
Verso Authors at the 2012 Brooklyn Book Festival!
Verso Books authors will appear on panel discussions alongside over 280 distinguished writers and thinkers at this year's Brooklyn Book Festival, the borough's seventh and largest international literary conference to date. Writers and book enthusiasts are expected to stage a veritable take over of Brooklyn, as the festival has expanded to twelve venues from Willamsburg to Gowanus presenting over 140 panels from September 17-23rd.
From David Harvey on American cities in the new economy, to Simon Crithley on the quest for the conversational sublime and Tariq Ali on the global revolution, we sincerely hope you visit our outstanding authors as they discuss and debate some of the most pressing issues of the moment. -
Tariq Ali with Noam Chomsky on The Julian Assange Show
Appearing on The Julian Assange Show alongside renowned linguist and political theorist Noam Chomsky, "street-fighting novelist" Tariq Ali argues the "infectious" Arab Spring has spread to the US and Russia, and is still underway. Criticising the "extreme centre", a political consensus of centrist neoliberal orthodoxy that destroys political diversity and opposition, Ali talks about how the speed and flair of the Arab Spring caught everyone, from dictators and their sponsors to the Western media, by surprise.
Assange, Ali and Chomsky continue to discuss the "new hope" that resides in South America Bolivarian movements, and the democratic crisis in the Eurozone.
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Tariq Ali interviewed in CounterPunch
Earlier today, CounterPunch published an interview with author and filmmaker Tariq Ali. Ali's recent book, The Obama Syndrome, predicted the failure of Obama's first term, and Ali discusses why Democrats are still supporting him—and why they will still vote for him—in his conversation with CounterPunch's Collin Harris.
The crux of the argument is what Harris refers to as "lesser evil-ism," or the idea that, despite his faults, Obama is better than the other option. Ali argues that Obama is able to get away with far more than the Bush administration was because of his public image and the willingness of his middle-class liberal supporters to turn a blind eye to his actions. As Ali says of what would have happened if George W. Bush had attempted to pass the National Defense Authorization Act, "One can even imagine Senator Obama jumping up and down in manufactured rage denouncing these assaults on the Constitution."
Visit CounterPunch to read the interview in full.