Nèdeem Elmahjoub's blog

Sisi government "the most repressive" in Egyptian history

Boris Johnson to the UK people: "many more families are going to lose loved ones before their time.” Boris Johsnon to Yemenis killed by Saudi airstrikes: "When I was foreign secretary I signed off on sales of more arms to the Saudi Kingdom. Many more civilians, including women and children, are going to lose loved ones before their time." BAE Systems sold £15 worth of arms to Saudis during Yemen assault

£1bn of taxpayers' cash to help foreign countries buy British arms

Imperialism and internationalism

For 'Palestinian peace process' read 'Iran war process' My comment: I would add one important element to enlarge the "international relations" picture: control of the region by the US, a hegemon, and Israel, an ally, has to be viewed vis-a-vis a rival or rivals. Iran is one, but China and Russia are two others and it is very crucial that their powers is undermined. The US has lost is loosing its primacy is south east Asia. The Middle East has to remain a levrage for its geo-political and economic primacy, not for oil (America doesn't need Middle Eastern oil), and not only for the arms industry (the arms sales is still a fraction of the American GDP), but of capital outflows (as the author mentioned. It assist the more or less stagnating Western, especially European economies and maintaining domestic consent/stability/wealth) and hegemony and/or over others. Related (from the archive):  My interview with the author about his book Hamas: A Beginner'

AngloArabia: Why Gulf Wealth Matters to Britain

What is common in these two stories? 1. Canadian PM " Trudeau has denied wrongdoing and says any lobbying by him or his inner circle for engineering giant SNC-Lavalin was done to protect jobs. SNC-Lavalin is one of the world's largest engineering and construction companies. The company faces fraud and corruption charges in relation to approximately C$48m ($36m; £28m) in bribes it is alleged to have offered to Libyan officials between 2001 and 2011, when Muammar Gaddafi was in power." In 2016 Canada was the second provider of weapons to the Middle East.  2. " UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia ruled lawful . Equipment sold to Saudi Arabia includes Typhoon and Tornado fighter jets, as well as precision-guided bombs. The sales contribute to thousands of engineering jobs in the UK, and have provided billions of pounds of revenue for the British arms trade."

Business first Billions of pounds and jobs "The British government has no British values" You British women who want to liberate backward Muslim women from oppression, what are you up to these days?

"‘By mid-2017 Yemen faced total humanitarian disaster, its first famine since the 1940s and the world’s worst cholera epidemic.’ The situation was unprecedented and avoidable: both famine and cholera were ‘the result of a civil war dramatically worsened by foreign intervention'." — Helen Lackner Yemen's turn Note: Tariq Ali's position on Syria has been shameful. 

Gulf Cooperation Council arms race

HSBC, your local lethal bank  Besides its recent crimes in Mexico and Switzerland, here is another one

Being complicit in mass murder is legal, court rules After all the business of England is business. " The sales contribute to thousands of engineering jobs in the UK, and have provided billions of pounds of revenue for the British arms trade."

Trudeau's double game is interesting to follow ... Meanwhile he presides over a government that is now the second arms supplier to the Middle East. Six months after assuming office, his government signed a $12 billion arms sales to Saudi Arabia .

American, Canadian, and European arms sales to the Middle East 2011-2014