Bichler & Nitzan, ‘הדרך לעזה: על משטרי הכוח וכנסיות האל העליון היחיד (The Road to Gaza: On Modes of Power and Supreme-God Churches)’

Abstract מלחמת הקודש המתנהלת בין המיליציות הרבניות לבין המיליציות האיסלמיות הינה מסוג חדש. אבל הדרך למלחמה בעזה נסללה עוד לפני כששת אלפים שנה, בעת שקמו לראשונה משטרי המלוכה-כהונה במסופוטמיה. אוליגרכיות אלה היו הראשונות שיצקו תשלובת חזקה של מלך עריץ בארמון וכוהני אל-עליון במקדש. ילידי המזרח התיכון היו הראשונים בהיסטוריה האנושית שזכו בכבוד להתקיים כנתינים כנועים […]

Continue Reading

Bichler & Nitzan, ‘The Road to Gaza, Part II: The Capitalization of Everything’

Abstract Our recent article on ‘The Road to Gaza’ examined the history of the three supreme-God churches and the growing role of their militias in armed conflicts and wars around the world. The present paper situates these militia wars in the broader vista of the capitalist mode of power. Focusing specifically on the Middle East, […]

Continue Reading

Noble, ‘Follow the Money: The Political Economy of Petrodollar Accumulation and Recycling’

Abstract This thesis makes two unique contributions to the International Political Economy literature. It presents the first comprehensive, empirical investigation of petrodollar accumulation and recycling spanning the period 1980-2021. It also corrects the misconception that petrodollar recycling in the 1970s and 1980s involved the extension of loans to developing countries using fractional reserve banking and […]

Continue Reading

Alberta’s Rockefeller coups, Part 6: The Financial Frauds of American Empire Are Driving Climate Disaster, But Both Could Still Be Thwarted

Regan Boychuk Author’s Note: John D. Rockefeller Sr. had the last laugh about American anti-trust law and the muck-raking media before descending to Dante’s 9th Circle in May 1937. The oil industry’s center of gravity had begun shifting towards Texas after Spindletop in 1901, but Rockefeller coups across North America in 1931, 1935, 1938, and 1940 […]

Continue Reading

Petrodollars and Profit: Rethinking Political Economy through the Middle East

Max Ajl A review of Jonathan Nitzan and Shimshon Bickler’s The Scientist and the Church. Originally published at Jadaliyya Howard Page, a director at what was then Exxon, was once asked, “What would have happened if Iraq production had also surged during the 1960’s,” like that of Saudi Arabia and Iran. He responded, “I admit […]

Continue Reading

No. 2014/04: Bichler & Nitzan, ‘Still About Oil?’

Abstract During the late 1980s and early 1990s, we identified a new Middle East phenomenon that we called ‘energy conflicts’ and argued that these conflicts were intimately linked with the global processes of capital accumulation. This paper outlines the theoretical framework we have developed over the years and brings our empirical research up to date. […]

Continue Reading