The rush for Persian black gold is on. European business executives have made a beeline to Tehran to line up deals in the lucrative oil and gas arena with the easing of some sanctions against the Islamic Republic. While only a small fraction of sanctions have been eased, European oil executives know the rush is on. They do not wish to be left out even if the Americans--and Canadians--are absent from the scene.
Businessmen, diplomats and politicians are making a beeline to Tehran with proposals and offers reflecting Iran’s position as the most important regional player and the place to be.
The unipolar world so loudly proclaimed by the US after the demise of the Soviet Union is dead. A multipolar world has emerged, as witnessed at BRICS fifth summit in Durban, South Africa.
America’s role as the sole superpower is not only over but it is becoming the pauper power with thousands of factory closings, jobs shipped overseas, its debt reaching the sky and its military having been thoroughly defeated. America’s dream has become a nightmare for most people.
The US and its western allies, especially Britain, France and Germany have not only targeted Muslims accusing them of all kinds of wrongdoing without much evidence, even charities that are involved in helping the victims’ families are being targeted. The witch-hunt is on in earnest.
With the collapse of the western financial system, Muslim economists have an excellent opportunity to present the model of Islamic Iqtisad to provide social and economic justice to all. They will also find a ready audience among non-Muslims.
After incurring trillions of dollars in war costs, the Americans are no closer to securing Afghanistan. The Afghan have proved once again that invading Afghanistan is a fool and a graveyard for invaders.
The era of US unilateralism has ended. Apart from its European allies — and there too, only some of them — the rest of the world has dismissed Washington’s demands to impose oil and trade embargo on Iran.
Informed observers wonder about the timing of the announcement. The US Geological Survey had known about these deposits as early as 2004 although until now this was a closely guarded secret known only to a few in the US...
Until Muslims present viable economic solutions, they will not achieve the revelational purpose of Islam which is to construct a society based on the sovereignty of Allah (swt) and justice. Islam is a way of life that takes into consideration the human soul and the material body. Part of that material body is the economic necessities of a human being which Islamic law addresses.
The interim deal recently struck in Geneva by the World Trade Organisation's 147 members, which purports to commit rich countries to slashing their trade-distorting farm-subsidies and opening their markets to agricultural products, has been described variously as "historic" and as a "catastrophe for the poor"...
THE GLOBAL GAMBLE: WASHINGTON’S FAUSTIAN BID FOR WORLD DOMINANCE by Peter Gowan. Pub: Verso Books, London/New York, 1999. Pbk: 320. £13.00 / $ 20.00
The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to much drum-beating in western capitals about the victory of capitalism over communism. Western commentators, intoxicated by their belief in the 'effortless superiority' of the west, made dire predictions about the imminent collapse of the People's Republic of China as well. Where caution should have prevailed, the imagination was allowed to run wild.
