Eric Draitser

Eric Draitser is a political analyst and host of CounterPunch Radio.  You can follow and support his work at CounterPunch and patreon.com/ericdraitser.

The Hunger Games: How Modern Imperialism Creates Famine Around the World

Countries like Yemen, Chad and South Sudan have been devastated by famine and starvation in recent years, with millions of people suffering despite a global surplus of food. But the problem is not a lack of resources – they are starving due to the effects of unending Western imperialism.

Eric Draitser
By Eric Draitser
A South Sudanese refugee sits on a mat outside a communal tent with his brother at the Imvepi reception center, where newly arrived refugees are processed in northern Uganda Friday, June 9, 2017. (AP/Ben Curtis)

“[Famine] seems to be the last, most dreadful resource of nature…the power of population is so superior to the power in the earth to provide subsistence for man, that premature death must in some shape or other visit the human race.” - Thomas Malthus, “Essay on Population” NEW YORK (Analysis)-- I’ve never known hunger, not in a real sense. And

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The Sordid History Of State Sponsored Terrorism Against Iran

For decades, Western empires have waged a silent war against Iran, using tactics ranging from supporting known terrorist groups to deposing the country’s leaders and leveraging regional rivalries. The war continues today, even as the U.S. condemns Iran for sponsoring terrorism itself.

Eric Draitser
By Eric Draitser
Mideast Iran assassination

NEW YORK (Opinion)-- With blood still fresh on the streets of Tehran after last week’s deadly terror attack, the U.S. was quick to condemn the attacks. But in a sadly predictable move, President Donald Trump’s White House also blamed the victim, condemning Iran as a sponsor of terrorism. While this may seem like merely the latest instance of

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The Strategy Behind Washington’s Destabilization Of Venezuela

Venezuela represents everything that the U.S. opposes in the region: socialism, anti-imperialism, economic independence via energy exports and a viable ally for China, Russia, Iran and other countries that oppose the hegemonic designs of Washington.

Eric Draitser
By Eric Draitser
An anti-government protester wields a shotgun taken from security forces during clashes in Caracas, Venezuela, May 8, 2017. The protest movement has drawn masses of people into the streets nearly every day since March, has left some three dozen dead. (AP/Ariana Cubillos)

NEW YORK (Analysis)-- The corporate media continues to churn out endless stories detailing repression, state violence and socioeconomic collapse in Venezuela. Conspicuously absent from their stories, however, is the fact that much of the turmoil in the Bolivarian Republic is a result of an economic and psychological war being waged against the

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NATO’s War Of Resources Is Causing A Humanitarian Crisis In West Africa

As millions suffer from hunger, disease, illiteracy and grinding poverty in the Lake Chad region of West Africa, a sinister game of resource extraction and exploitation is playing out, with geopolitics at the heart of it all.

Eric Draitser
By Eric Draitser
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power speaks with Multinational Joint Task Force Commander Maj. Gen. Lamidi Adeosun, right, as she departs their headquarters in N'Djamena, Chad,, April 20, 2016. (AP/Andrew Harnik)

NEW YORK -- (Analysis) In late February 2017, Norway hosted an international humanitarian conference on Nigeria and the Lake Chad region in hopes of attracting major donors to fund relief work.  As Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Børge Brende explained, “The conference has three aims: to raise awareness about the crisis, to gain more support

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How The CIA And A Tech Startup Are Arming Police, Intelligence Agencies

Police officers and private security contractors are getting hi-tech help with their surveillance efforts – and the CIA is picking up the tab.

Eric Draitser
By Eric Draitser
Police using 'Public Eye' surveillance software.

NEW YORK-- It is run out of a quiet, unassuming office on a tree-lined avenue in Bethesda, Maryland.  The rows of hip restaurants are offering young urban professionals all the grande-iced-sugar-free-vanilla-soy-lattes they could ever need. However, this serene suburban idyll belies the fact that serious work for the police state is taking place

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Trump’s Russia Charm Offensive Is Meant To Isolate Iran, China

Donald Trump and his administration have been conspicuously cozy towards Russia since coming into power. But their friendliness is likely motivated not by genuine interest in improving relations, but by a desire to control and contain Iran and China.

Eric Draitser
By Eric Draitser
A poster on the street with a portrait of U.S. President Donald Trump and a sentence referring to a quotation of Iranian Leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 10, 2017. (AP/Vahid Salemi)

NEW YORK -- Donald Trump’s presidential campaign rhetoric was a cocktail of ostensibly nationalist economics and isolationist foreign policy that was viewed by much of the punditocracy as a sharp break from traditional U.S. policy. But while his words seemed to be filled with promise, his actual policies have, rather predictably, shown themselves

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Labor Leaders Stump For Trump As White House Prepares Attack On Workers

Organized labor has been under attack in the US for at least forty years, and the ascendance of Donald Trump to the presidency signals a new and dangerous period not just for trade unions, but for the entire working class.

Eric Draitser
By Eric Draitser
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrives at the residence of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Wednesday, May 18, 2016, in New York. (AP/Mary Altaffer)

  NEW YORK --- (Analysis) The sight of leaders of a number of major trade unions praising President Donald Trump after their meeting with him on Jan. 23 is perhaps the perfect illustration of everything wrong with the labor movement. More importantly, it demonstrates just how hollow President Trump’s rhetoric about defending workers and

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