Gaza protests in the US and freedom of expression
Protest movements against Israel's operations in Gaza have sparked a reexamination of the limits of freedom of expression in the United States. Efforts by pro-Israel groups to equate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism have become organized and systematic. The campaign, conducted through advertisements in media outlets and lobbying activities in Congress, aimed to convey the message that crowds taking to the streets to defend Palestinian civilians were contributing to the rise of anti-Semitism. However, censorship applied by some of the world's leading universities to groups supporting Palestine, the fear of being labeled as anti-Semitic, and threats to withdraw support from influential donors demonstrated how the boundaries of academic freedom could be defined. The experience of a prominent figure losing their job or being marginalized due to their pro-Palestinian stance also illustrates how organized political forces can effectively use the trauma of anti-Semitism as a weapon.
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Maximum insecurity haunts world politics
There is almost a consensus among scholars and observers of world politics that we are entering a new phase in international relations. This is expected to be another period of great power rivalry.
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It is finally over. The election battle in the United States which has been on the agenda for more than a year now came to an end. The long and tiring debates among dozens of Democratic candidates started in late 2019. Everybody knew that it would be a long campaign process due to increasing polarization in American society.
We have seen similar scenes previously only in the movies. In TV series, such as "Designated Survivor," there was an attack on the heart of the democracy in the U.S. – the U.S. Congress.
The 2020 election is going to be one of the most significant in recent history for the U.S. Earlier this column examined the several reasons why this is such a critical election year for America, including the COVID-19 pandemic, an economic crisis and deep divergences in the worldview of the two candidates.
Following the election of Donald Trump in November 2016, U.S. economist Mark Perry in his book "The Pentagon’s Wars: The Military’s Undeclared War Against American Presidents" wrote that there was overwhelming support for the new leader among members of the military.
Vice presidents, US elections and Biden's chance
In the U.S. presidential electoral campaigns, there are several critical turning points that determine the fate of the elections. The three presidential debates and the announcement of the vice presidential candidates are among the most important of these turning points. These moments are considered some of the key junctures where the presidential candidates can make some changes in their campaign trajectory. Although many scholars have asserted that the presidential elections are primarily about the presidential candidates and the candidates for vice president do not matter much, the selection process and the announcement of the vice presidential candidates generate a lot of discussions and increase the focus on the campaigns. The vice presidential candidate selection is an opportunity for the presidential campaign to put a message across to a significant group of electorates. The downside is it is a one-time shot, and the vetting and selection processes need to be carried out as thoroughly as possible in order to prevent mistakes.
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Russia and US elections: Another hoax, or not?
The 2016 presidential election in the U.S. is being remembered not only as an election that many pollsters and political analysts failed to predict, but also for the debates about Russian meddling in the elections. Even before the inauguration of President Donald Trump, the tensions between the U.S. and Russia had begun to rise in regard to the activities of Russian operatives in the U.S.
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After a long COVID-19 interval, the two U.S. presidential candidates launched their campaigns and started to meet voters. Trump campaign prefers to organize large rallies in the battleground states, despite a rise in the number of COVID-19 infections there. Joe Biden's campaign, on the other hand, chose to organize small gatherings as per social distancing rules and broadcast the former vice president's remarks online.
Last week U.S. President Donald Trump officially launched his presidential campaign by speaking in different rallies in Oklahoma, Arizona and Wisconsin.
Almost 10 years ago a series of books and articles were written discussing the decline of the United States and what can happen after its fall from superpower status. The financial meltdown of 2008 together with the unending wars of Iraq and Afghanistan made many believe that the U.S. would not be able to come back from such major challenges.
The Republican People’s Party (CHP) chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has been claiming for weeks that the Turkish government intended to “incite street protests in order to declare a state of emergency.”
The outrage over George Floyd’s death at the hands of a racist police officer, which triggered riots in 140 cities across the United States and forced President Donald Trump to threaten military action against protestors, highlighted the importance of "the streets." Attempts to reshape politics through street protests have repeatedly captured the world’s attention over the last three decades. The Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, along with other anti-communist uprisings across Eastern Europe, was hailed as a new wave of democratization. Although that revolution resulted in Czechoslovakia’s partition, most observers celebrated its peaceful nature.
The events that have unfolded in the wake of the killing of George Floyd will surely take their place in the history books. The nature of the demonstrations and the violence will likely be pored over by academics for years.
A wave of protests has been shaking the United States for the past week. The riots, which started in Minneapolis when a white police officer caused an African American's death by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes, spread to 25 major cities. As the initially peaceful anti-racist protests took a violent turn, the United States government deployed the National Guard and military units. The media reports, depicting streets on fire, luxury stores being looted and soldiers on the ground, make the U.S. seem like a Middle Eastern or African nation grappling with civil war.
In the last few days, some of the commentators started to argue that the chaos and the violence in some of the American cities after the death of George Floyd is reminiscent of the anarchy in the streets of Gotham City. Both in the sequels of "Batman" and in the movie "Joker," Gotham represents a decaying city with social unrest and frequent riots.
