After suffering one military defeat after another, the Syrian radical opposition, backed by the support of the West and the monarchies of the Persian Gulf, are increasingly retaliating cruelly against the civilian population. The jihadists seize towns and cultural and religious sites which up to that point had remained outside the combat zone, loudly proclaiming their victories. For example, in response to the advance of the government army into the Qalamoun mountains between Damascus and...

On December 12, 2007, six years ago today, Dr. Paul was a participant at the Iowa Republican Presidential debate. He was asked the following questions: 1) “What sacrifices would you ask Americans to make for debt reduction?” 2) “Realistically, what do you believe you could accomplish in your first year as President?” Dr. Paul goes straight for the U.S. military empire in both of his responses. You can watch them below, or read the transcript after the video: Answer #1) I think it’s absolutely...

One of the first critics to miss the point was Laura Miller. Writing in The New Yorker in 2010, she claimed that “dystopian fiction exists to warn us about the dangers of some current trend,” and she went on to interpret The Hunger Games as “a fever-dream allegory of the adolescent social experience,” her idea being that coming of age in America is now a particularly scathing crucible, with foreboding trends, like bullying and near constant parental surveillance. It was a fine theory, but a...

Far from promoting EU values and democracy the European delegation to Ukraine threatens democratic process, Professor Mark Almond told RT in his extensive analysis of the events in Kiev. RT: The German chancellor and the French foreign minister say they want to meet with Ukrainian opposition leader Vitaly Klitschko - and support his presidential ambitions. Do they see an exit for Yanukovich as a done deed, then? Mark Almond: Well I think they hope so, and I think this is what is deeply...

Welcome to a new series on RPI called “Ron Paul Rewind”! Dr. Paul has a long and rich history of battling every form of U.S. government militarism -- whether it is focused abroad or against American citizens. As much as the interventionists and neoconservatives would love to see that history go down the memory hole, we at RPI will never let that happen. The Internet is full of "Ron Paul was right" video clips, where his past predictions have come to pass and his advice, where taken, has...

One of the most important cases the US Supreme Court will consider this term is Hobby Lobby’s lawsuit challenging the Obamacare mandate that employer-provided health care plans must cover abortion and contraceptives. Hobby Lobby, a corporation owned and managed by a traditional Christian family, argues that the mandate violates their First Amendment rights. Much of the discussion has focused on whether a corporation such as Hobby Lobby can even have First Amendment rights. But the issue of...

Israel is stepping up its efforts to sabotage the agreements reached in Geneva on the issue of Iran's nuclear program. On December 1 the head of the Israeli military intelligence agency AMAN, Amos Yadlin, and former CIA director Michael Hayden simultaneously and in unison, although in different parts of the world, stated that Iran has already crossed the nuclear threshold and is ready to “build several nuclear bombs in a matter of weeks.” In their opinion, requirements for the further...

Those wondering what lies in store for Afghanistan need only look at the way the British Empire ruled Iraq in the 1920’s. As Shakespeare wrote, “what is past is prologue.” Imperial Britain created the state of Iraq after World War I to secure Mesopotamia’s vast oil deposits that had become vital for the Royal Navy. To control this artificial nation seething with unrest, Britain imposed a puppet king, Faisal, and created a native army commanded by British officers. Britain’s colonial rule was...

What if Edward Snowden was made to disappear? No, I’m not suggesting some future CIA rendition effort or a who-killed-Snowden conspiracy theory of a disappearance, but a more ominous kind. What if everything a whistleblower had ever exposed could simply be made to go away? What if every National Security Agency (NSA) document Snowden released, every interview he gave, every documented trace of a national security state careening out of control could be made to disappear in real-time? What if...

We are witnessing the triumph of Ron Paulism in the United States. The corporate media will avoid reporting it. They try their best to ignore Ron Paul's 30 plus year intellectual march through our institutions.But the facts in Pew Research's 50 year survey of US views of "America's place in the world" do not lie: This year the highest percentage of Americans ever -- 53 percent -- agree with the statement that "the US should mind its own business internationally and let other countries get...

Pro-western forces in Ukraine will find it hard to provoke a new revolution, particularly as a potential EU trade agreement would not affect the constitution, John Laughland, director of studies at the Institute of Democracy and Cooperation, told RT. RT: The Ukrainian parliament is right now debating a government no-confidence vote. Would you bet on the prime minister and his Cabinet in this situation? John Laughland: I probably would. I think the rumors of a coup are to be taken with some...