“I think the big tragedy of the Cuban Revolution was that it became dependent on the Soviet Union, and it became dependent on the Soviet Union under a very reactionary bureaucratic regime led by Leonid Brezhnev.” ThinkingBigsRevolutionTragedyUnionsDependentSovietRegimesSoviet UnionCubanReactionariesCuban RevolutionBrezhnev Author:Tariq Ali
“In the West, since the collapse of communism and the fall of the Soviet Union, the one discipline both the official and unofficial cultures have united in casting aside has been history.” Has BeensFallCultureUnitedDisciplineUnionsWestCommunismOfficialsSovietCollapseSoviet UnionCasting Author:Tariq Ali
“Continuous wars - which we have now had since 2001 - starting with Afghanistan, continuing on to Iraq. And even since Iraq, it's been more or less continuous. The appalling war in Libya, which has wrecked that country and wrecked that part of the world, and which isn't over by any means. The indirect Western intervention in Syria, which has created new monsters. These are policies, which if carried out by any individual government, would be considered extremist. Now, they're being carried out collectively by the United States, backed by some of the countries of the European Union.” IfsWorldMeanWarCountryStatesGovernmentWould BeIndividualUnitedUnited StatesPolicyUnionsWesternStartingIraqMonstersAfghanistanContinuingSyriaInterventionExtremistEuropean UnionLibyaIndirectContinuing On Author:Tariq Ali
“The European Union is a union of the extreme center. It's a banker's union. You see how they operate in country after country, appointing technocrats to take over and run countries for long periods. They did it in Greece; they did it in Italy; they considered it in other parts of Europe.” LongCountryRunningPeriodsEuropeUnionsExtremesGreeceBankersEuropean Union Author:Tariq Ali
“The European Union is effectively a union dominated by the German political and economic elite. Its main function is to serve as a nucleus for financial capitalism and to ease the road for that capitalism. The other functions just irritate everyone: it's undemocratic; decisions are not made by parliament; the European Parliament is not sovereign.” MadePoliticalDecisionEconomicCapitalismFunctionUnionsFinancialEaseElitesSovereignParliamentEuropean UnionNucleus Author:Tariq Ali
“The European Union has lost virtually all of its credibility amongst large swaths of the European population.” LostUnionsPopulationCredibilityEuropean Union Author:Tariq Ali
“Effectively, the EU is a very powerful bureaucracy, dominated now by the German elite, which is backed by the rest of the European Union members.” PowerfulMembersUnionsElitesBureaucracyVery PowerfulEuropean Union Author:Tariq Ali
“I think another crisis, which is being predicted now and which will be worse than what we saw in 2008, could bring the European Union down unless there are huge reforms from within to democratize, to give more power to the regions, etc. If this doesn't happen, the European Union will fall.” IfsThinkingGivingHappensFallSawsHugeCrisisUnionsReformEtcRegionsEuropean Union Author:Tariq Ali
“At the time of German Reunification, it was no secret that Germany would soon become the strongest political entity in the European Union. And that has happened.” PoliticalSecretHappenedUnionsGermanyStrongestEntityEuropean UnionReunification Author:Tariq Ali
“There are huge political problems in Germany, but German economic power is something which was bound to happen. The way out of this situation is through the further democratization of the European Union and a changing of its structures.” WayProblemHappensPoliticalSituationEconomicHugeStructureUnionsBoundsGermanyEuropean UnionEconomic PowerDemocratization Author:Tariq Ali
“If there is a Greek exit from the Eurozone, I think the German elite will be quite pleased that they can then use that to restructure the Eurozone and make it a zone where only strong countries are allowed in. There would then be two tiers within the European Union, which is in fact already happening. But you cannot simply get rid of German control by raising the specter of the Third Reich. That's ahistorical.” IfsThinkingTwoCountryFactsUseStrongHappeningsThirdsUnionsGreekZoneElitesExitEuropean UnionRestructureEurozone Author:Tariq Ali
