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Articles by John Feffer
Is the Far-Right Wave Receding?
Originally published in Hankyoreh. The victory of incumbent Lula in the Brazilian presidential election was a surprise. The longtime leftist politician ran second in the first round behind far-right challenger Flavio Bolsonaro—the son of disgraced former leader Jair Bolsonaro—and no one in the history of Brazilian democracy had come from behind to win in the second round. But by mounting a huge get-out-the-vote effort, Lula defied all predictions.
Brazil After the Elections
In Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s electoral victory over Flávio Bolsonaro on October 25 is a monumental win for the left. It could also be the start of perhaps the weakest chapter of his political career after he starts his fourth term on January 5, 2027. After all, he faces a Federal Senate (Upper House) and Chamber of Deputies (Lower House) where the Liberal Party (LP) of Bolsonaro holds the most seats.
Remembering Mexican Leader Cuauhtemoc Cardenas
Cuauhtemoc Cardenas should have been remembered as one of the great presidents of Mexico, which he certainly would have been. He ran for president three times, in 1988, 1994, and 2000, and each time the old political system used fraud to deny him victory. In 1988, it was the most obvious, as he was leading in the count when the counting computers suddenly “went down.” When they went back up the next morning, Raul Salinas, the most corrupt president in modern Mexican history, had miraculously won.
Bankrolling American Empire in the Philippines
Originally published in TomDispatch. During the Cold War, the Subic Bay Naval Base in the Philippines was a key enabler of U.S. military operations in the Pacific and beyond. It served as a critical support facility for the U.S. war in Vietnam and a transit point for U.S. weapons destined for American military personnel in the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
Washington’s War, Beijing’s Tanks
Donald Trump insists that oil is moving through the Strait of Hormuz above pre-war levels. Brent crude settled at $117.38 on Friday and was still trading near $114 on Monday, a day after Qatari mediators arrived in Tehran to head off the next round of fighting. The market heard the president and kept bidding. It has cause. The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran is in its ninth month, and October has been its worst month yet for shipping.
Democracy Wins in Brazil!
The president who lost the first round won the runoff in an unprecedented turnaround. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva finished behind Flávio Bolsonaro in the first round on October 4, 2026, with 45.16 percent of the vote to Bolsonaro’s 47.03 percent. Reuters called him the underdog heading into the runoff. Three weeks later, Lula had 64 million votes and a fourth term. It is the first time since Brazil’s return to democracy that a first-round loser has won a runoff. It was not luck.
Serbian Students Show the World How It’s Done
Two years ago, Serbian students started their protests, endorsed by many citizens, in an honest, almost naive way. They declared that they wanted the end of corruption, press freedom, prosecution of the culprits behind the collapse of the Novi Sad rail station canopy, and, ultimately, another Serbia altogether. Students persistently claimed that entering politics was not their aim. But given all the issues they called in question, politics remained the name of the game.
Free the Kremlin’s Political Prisoners—and Stop Sending It New Ones
In late September, The Atlantic reported that U.S. President Donald Trump had greenlit plans to offer Russia sanctions relief in exchange for the release of political prisoners. With peace talks still deadlocked after more than a year of U.S. diplomacy, sanctions remain a vital check on Russia’s ability to wage war against Ukraine. In the following weeks, however, Trump struck a diesel deal with Vladimir Putin and waived new sanctions on Russian oil and gas.
President Apocalypse
Originally published in TomDispatch. Do I even faintly believe the times I’m living in? The simple answer is: no. Every now and then, I try to imagine going back in time to tell my long-dead parents about the world of President Donald Trump, which just happens to still be mine as well. Of course, they simply wouldn’t have believed it, not for a single second. To put it in the context of their time on this planet, the only equivalent I can imagine would be if Sen.
Saving Lives in North Korea
Photoraph Source: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen – CC BY-SA 3.0 For everyone who has worked in and around North Korea, Kathi Zellweger has been a role model. As the director of international operations at the Catholic charity Caritas, she oversaw food aid to North Korea in the 1990s when it was overwhelmed by famine. Later, she worked in Pyongyang for the Swiss government on various development projects.
Saving Lives In North Korea – Book Review
Kathi Zellweger’s memoir Miss Kathi, co-authored with Mike Chinoy, chronicles her 75 trips to North Korea from 1995 to 2019, including famine-era food aid for Caritas and five years living in Pyongyang for the Swiss government, documenting starvation that authorities otherwise concealed.
The Next Minab - FPIF
On a recent Piers Morgan show, the guest was Robert Pape, a University of Chicago political scientist. The subject was a set of wars that now feed each other: Russia and Ukraine, the Yemen and Saudi Arabia, the United States and Israel against Iran. Pape, who founded the Chicago Project on Security and Threats, turned to the danger of moral certainty in war.
Arms Control, not Ukraine, Should Be on the Superpower Agenda
Asked at the White House whether he would sit down with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping on the sidelines of next month’s APEC summit in Shenzhen, Donald Trump steered the conversation from Ukraine to warheads. “We would have it to talk about nuclear weapons and denuclearization,” he said. Russia, he added, “has been fine on Ukraine.” In the same exchange he suggested it was time for someone other than Volodymyr Zelensky to negotiate for Kyiv. Two proposals now ride on one invitation.
Saving Lives in North Korea
For everyone who has worked in and around North Korea, Kathi Zellweger has been a role model. As the director of international operations at the Catholic charity Caritas, she oversaw food aid to North Korea in the 1990s when it was overwhelmed by famine. Later, she worked in Pyongyang for the Swiss government on various development projects. When that assignment ended, she continued to remain engaged through an NGO she founded to provide the supplies needed for cataract operations in North Korea.
Saving Lives in North Korea
Originally published in Korea Quarterly. For everyone who has worked in and around North Korea, Kathi Zellweger has been a role model. As the director of international operations at the Catholic charity Caritas, she oversaw food aid to North Korea in the 1990s when it was overwhelmed by famine. Later, she worked in Pyongyang for the Swiss government on various development projects.
Havana Syndrome Needs Laws With Teeth
In July, the Pentagon announced that it had paid nearly $3 million to personnel affected by Havana Syndrome and renamed its investigating team the Directed Energy Bio-Effects Cross-Functional Team. The government is spending money, organizing research, and treating directed energy as a security concern.
The Pentagon’s Secret Budget
Originally published in TomDispatch. News reports that next year’s U.S. military budget will top out at $1.5 trillion if President Donald Trump gets his way are misleading at best. The true total, if Trump’s proposal passes, could be at least $1 trillion higher. Long before Trump took office, U.S. taxpayers have spent far more on the Pentagon — and its wars — than most know.
The Attraction of the Far Right in Brazil
If Flávio Bolsonaro wins the presidential run-off in Brazil on October 25, he would extend the region’s run of Trump-aligned right-wing governments. His opponent, incumbent Luiz Inácio ‘Lula’ da Silva, ran two percentage points behind Bolsonaro in the first round. No candidate finishing second has won since the institution of democratic elections in 1989. Meanwhile, the remaining candidates that captured nearly 8 percent of the vote are largely center-right.
The Attraction of the Far Right in Brazil
If Flávio Bolsonaro wins the presidential run-off in Brazil on October 25, he would extend the region’s run of Trump-aligned right-wing governments. His opponent, incumbent Luiz Inácio ‘Lula’ da Silva, ran two percentage points behind Bolsonaro in the first round. No candidate finishing second has won since the institution of democratic elections in 1989. Meanwhile, the remaining candidates that captured nearly 8 percent of the vote are largely center-right.
Washington’s Diesel Waiver Ends the Moral Case for Secondary Sanctions
In August 2025, Donald Trump put an extra 25 percent tariff on Indian goods because New Delhi kept buying Russian oil, lifting the total duty to 50 percent. India held out for more than five months. In February it gave way. Trump’s executive order lifting the penalty recorded that India had committed to stop importing Russian oil “directly or indirectly.” On October 9, Washington became a buyer itself.
Thailand Hosts a Controversial Guest
Perhaps the two international agencies that would score lowest in popularity among Thais would be the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. This is why many Thais have greeted with consternation the news that these sister agencies will be holding their 2026 fall meeting in Bangkok from October 12 to 18. Mention the World Bank, and the first thing that comes to mind in this country is the Pak Mun Dam.
Portugal Tests Whether Law Can Constrain Empire
This month, Portuguese prosecutors opened an investigation into whether the center-right government of Prime Minister Luís Montenegro legally authorized the United States to use the Lajes Air Base in the Azores during the war on Iran. The probe was triggered by a complaint from the Left Bloc that opposed the war. This is the kind of story that has implications beyond Lisbon.
Why Did Brazilians Turn Away from Lula?
In the first round of the presidential election in Brazil, the son of the disgraced former leader of the country managed to eke out a first-round victory against the incumbent. Flávio Bolsonaro won about 47 percent of the vote to 45 percent for Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Lula). They will go head to head in a run-off on October 25. For many analysts, Donald Trump is the key factor in the race, both his influence and his active intervention in the elections.
Trump Is Not Finished with Iraq, Despite Military Withdrawal
The Trump administration is implementing a new imperial scheme to gain control of Iraq’s oil. Although President Trump appears to be winding down U.S. involvement in Iraq, declaring on September 30 that “we’re getting the hell out of there,” he is working on a new plan to crack open the country’s oil industry.
Indigenous Women Forged Peace Before the United Nations
The international system is having a legitimacy crisis. It has never been more obvious that the institutions charged with maintaining peace are struggling to produce it. But perhaps the problem isn’t simply that today’s institutions aren’t working. Perhaps the definitions of peace, democracy, and governance are too narrow.
The Geopolitical Earthquake Of The Iran War – OpEd
The Iran War has inflicted heavy economic damage on Iran, cost the Pentagon tens of billions, closed the Strait of Hormuz and driven up global energy, food and transport prices, with the IMF warning of a possible recession if fighting continues.
The Geopolitical Earthquake Of The Iran War - OpEd - Eurasia Review
Politics 5 hours ago Zelensky unleashes on Trump as Russia diesel deal rallies Ukraine’s supporters The Hill - Laura Kelly, Filip Timotija • 5h Kyiv’s allies, including those in President Trump’s circle, are rallying around Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, pushing back against Trump’s … Houthis 11 hours ago Saudis probe how defense systems failed to stop deadly Houthi attack on Riyadh airport Associated Press - By SAMY MAGDY • 11h CAIRO (AP) — Saudi Arabia has launched an investigation...
Coming Back to the Scene of the Crime
In the decade between 1987 and 1997, Thailand’s economy was red hot, leading the pack of the so-called Southeast Asian tiger cubs with an average GDP growth rate of 8 per cent. Then came the apocalypse. On July 2, 1997, the Thai baht collapsed, as the Central Bank of Thailand ended efforts to prop it up. This triggered a regional chain reaction known as the Asian Financial Crisis.
The Geopolitical Earthquake of the Iran War
Photograph Source: NAVCENT Public Affairs – Public Domain The Iran War has claimed thousands of lives, most of them in Iran itself. The war has cost Iran as much as $300 billion in economic damage. For its part, the Pentagon spent nearly $44 billion through mid-September to wreak that amount of havoc. For advocates of the war—but no one else—that’s a good return on investment.
What an Oppressive Regime Feels Like from the Inside
Political scientists have a fairly dry checklist for what makes a regime oppressive: it silences dissent, it turns state power against its own people, it treats international law as optional, and it punishes anyone—institution or individual—who tries to hold it accountable. Read as a list, it sounds abstract or like something that happens elsewhere, in a dictatorship in a Third World country maybe. For Americans, such a definition no longer feels abstract anymore. Let’s start with the silencing.
Ukraine No Longer Needs Washington’s Permission to Hit Back
Volodymyr Zelensky announced it in five short lines: “FP-7. First combat use. Thank you for the result. Next up: production. Glory to Ukraine!” On October 1, Ukraine fired its first homemade ballistic missile in combat. Kyiv will not say what it hit. The missile carries a 200-kilogram warhead, and its maker, the Kyiv firm Fire Point, puts its maximum range at 300 kilometers. A longer-range version is promised before the year is out. Its heavier sibling, the FP-9, is designed to fly 850 kilometers.
The Geopolitical Earthquake of the Iran War
— from Foreign Policy In Focus The Iran War has claimed thousands of lives, most of them in Iran itself. The war has cost Iran as much as $300 billion in economic damage. For its part, the Pentagon spent nearly $44 billion through mid-September to wreak that amount of havoc. For advocates of the war—but no one else—that’s a good return on investment.
The Geopolitical Earthquake of the Iran War
The Iran War has claimed thousands of lives, most of them in Iran itself. The war has cost Iran as much as $300 billion in economic damage. For its part, the Pentagon spent nearly $44 billion through mid-September to wreak that amount of havoc. For advocates of the war—but no one else—that’s a good return on investment.
Did Biden Fail at the Border?
Nearly two years after the end of Biden’s presidency, the U.S. southern border has undergone a complete reversal. The millions of arrivals, the Central American caravans, and the unaccompanied children that the Trump administration used daily as proof that Biden had failed at border security have given way to an administration that now measures its success in absences.
Dispatches From the Culture Wars - October 6, 2026
Dispatches From the Culture Wars — October 6, 2026 Published October 6, 2026 Why the Far Right Gets Elected Violent Sexism at Cornell The Terrorism Pretext for Repressing Speech New Record Hit for Book Bans Getting Ready for Midterms — and ICE Working in the White House Rampant Islamophobia The Manufacture of Trad Wives A New System of Labor Upends Farmworker Power Americans Like Socialism After All Why the Far Right Gets Elected By John Feffer, Foreign Policy in Focus The far right continues...
The UN Cut 2,900 Jobs: Did It Fix Anything?
The world leaders that gathered at the United Nations last month speaking about trust, reform, and the future of cooperation. Down the hall, the organization’s finance office was working on a plainer question: whether the cash will arrive in time to meet payroll. Any comptroller would recognize the pattern.
Is AI About to Destroy Humanity?
In his celebrated short stories about robots, science fiction author Isaac Asimov devised three laws to prevent machines from overpowering humans. First of all, robots could not, under any circumstances, harm humans. Following from this prime directive, they had to follow human orders and also preserve their own existence. Asimov’s stories explored all the possible conflicts arising from the actual implementation of these laws. Today, no such laws govern artificial intelligence.
Why Washington Should Understand Indonesia’s Strategic Autonomy
Indonesia’s strategic autonomy is often described as a diplomatic effort to avoid choosing sides. Increasingly, it is something more practical: an effort to avoid having too few choices. From Washington’s point of view, Jakarta’s simultaneous engagement with the United States, China, Russia, ASEAN, and other partners can look like a balancing act. From Indonesia, however, the calculation is also shaped by geography and development.
Is the AI Threat a Corporate Strategy?
In recent weeks, media coverage has amplified warnings from corporate CEOs and whistleblowers claiming that artificial intelligence (AI) poses an existential threat to humanity. The central argument emerging from the industry is a call to slow the pace of AI development out of imminent fear that humanity may soon lose control. How did an industry poised to transform humanity for good suddenly become one characterized as a threat to its very existence?
The Iran War Is Becoming an Election Issue
For much of the year, the war with Iran was treated in Washington as a foreign-policy problem: a question of military objectives, nuclear policy, deterrence, and negotiations. As the November 3 midterm elections approach, it is becoming something else as well. The war is now part of the domestic political argument over prices, congressional authority, and what Americans expect their government to do abroad. That shift matters because the midterms are not a referendum on foreign policy alone.
Authoritarian Governments Use INTERPOL as Tool of Transnational Repression
For a dissident living abroad, repression does not always arrive as a threat from an intelligence service. It may appear at an airport check-in desk, a border crossing, a bank compliance review, or an immigration interview. The trigger can be an entry in INTERPOL’s information system—placed there by the same government the dissident fled. This is one of the quieter mechanisms of transnational repression.
Lula, Trump and The Limits of a New Monroe Doctrine
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Donald Trump spoke back to back at the United Nations on September 22, twelve days before Brazil votes. Lula told the General Assembly that “Brazilian democracy belongs to Brazilians” and that Brazil “does not belong in anyone’s backyard.” He never named the United States. He did not have to.
Is AI About to Destroy Humanity?
Artificial intelligence. Photo: Elekes Andor / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons In his celebrated short stories about robots, science fiction author Isaac Asimov devised three laws to prevent machines from overpowering humans. First of all, robots could not, under any circumstances, harm humans. Following from this prime directive, they had to follow human orders and also preserve their own existence.
Is AI About to Destroy Humanity?
— from Foreign Policy In Focus In his celebrated short stories about robots, science fiction author Isaac Asimov devised three laws to prevent machines from overpowering humans. First of all, robots could not, under any circumstances, harm humans. Following from this prime directive, they had to follow human orders and also preserve their own existence. Asimov’s stories explored all the possible conflicts arising from the actual implementation of these laws.
Is AI About to Destroy Humanity?
Originally published in Hankyoreh. In his celebrated short stories about robots, science fiction author Isaac Asimov devised three laws to prevent machines from overpowering humans. First of all, robots could not, under any circumstances, harm humans. Following from this prime directive, they had to follow human orders and also preserve their own existence. Asimov’s stories explored all the possible conflicts arising from the actual implementation of these laws.
Why Decapitation Doesn’t Necessarily Defeat a Regime
In the first hours of the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran on February 28, 2026, a major strategic assumption was put to the test. If the head of the Islamic Republic were removed, would the regime itself collapse? The opening strikes killed Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, along with a number of the country’s senior military and security commanders. Operationally, the attacks demonstrated that the attackers could reach the highest levels of Iran’s leadership.
Donald Trump Unlikely to Meet Kim Jong Un
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un now occupies a different position from the one he had at the Hanoi Summit with Donald Trump seven years ago. Between 2019 and 2026, in both efforts to arrange a summit, Trump used a similar political approach to engage. But Kim Jong Un was taking a practical and “national interest” approach. Their difference in approach has not changed. For example, Trump is thinking of a political spectacle that will benefit him.
Beyond the Summit: The Real Foundation of China-U.S. Stability
Washington’s posture toward Beijing in recent years was defined by a formula of dealing “from a position of strength.” Yet, during the 2026 summit in Washington between President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump, both nations formally inaugurated a brand-new strategic framework: a “constructive strategic stability relationship based on respect, fairness, and reciprocity.” This was not a subtle rephrasing; it was an explicit acknowledgement of geopolitical reality.
Alliance Leash: The Iran War and America’s Right to Say No
On September 15, the House of Representatives voted 220–204 for a resolution directing the removal of U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran. The vote placed lawmakers’ positions on continued involvement on the record ahead of November’s midterm elections. It also gave concrete form to the question behind the “alliance leash” metaphor: whether supporting an ally has displaced independent American judgment. The boundary should be clear.
Will Trump Grab a French Island?
On September 19, French President Emmanuel Macron touched down in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, France’s last remaining territory in North America. The tiny fishing archipelago is home to fewer than 6,000 people, all of them full French citizens, and it is relatively unknown even to those living in the Francophone parts of Canada.
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