https://znetwork.org/category/topic/politics-gov/ Independent Left News, Analysis, Vision and Strategy Sat, 18 Apr 2026 16:54:49 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://znetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/cropped-Z_logo_512-32x32.png https://znetwork.org/category/topic/politics-gov/ 32 32 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/mexico-is-going-all-in-for-universal-health-care/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/mexico-is-going-all-in-for-universal-health-care/#respond Sat, 18 Apr 2026 16:54:43 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1297038 At her morning press conference on April 7, President Claudia Sheinbaum announced that the credencialización process, or enrollment, for Mexico’s new universal health care service was set to begin. The goal, she explained, was unambiguous: “By the time we leave office, any Mexican will be able to go to any public health institution and receive care for any condition.” [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/mexico-is-going-all-in-for-universal-health-care/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-nypd-reminds-us-that-police-dont-protect-people-only-power/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-nypd-reminds-us-that-police-dont-protect-people-only-power/#respond Sat, 18 Apr 2026 16:44:15 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1297033 In a lawsuit complaining that the New York City Police Department failed to protect a woman from assaults by a Zionist mob, the city’s lawyers are arguing that police have no legal obligation to protect individuals from assault. This defense and its legal precedent are a salient reminder that police do not create safety. Despite billions in [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-nypd-reminds-us-that-police-dont-protect-people-only-power/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/beyond-no-kings-protests-escalating-costs-of-authoritarian-takeover/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/beyond-no-kings-protests-escalating-costs-of-authoritarian-takeover/#respond Sat, 18 Apr 2026 16:39:37 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1297029 ]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/beyond-no-kings-protests-escalating-costs-of-authoritarian-takeover/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/aipac-and-the-pro-israel-lobby-are-wasting-money-on-democrats-and-thats-a-good-thing-for-american-democracy/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/aipac-and-the-pro-israel-lobby-are-wasting-money-on-democrats-and-thats-a-good-thing-for-american-democracy/#respond Sat, 18 Apr 2026 16:18:52 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1297019 The American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and its allies have long been considered one of the strongest lobbies in Washington, exercising outsized influence, especially on U.S. policies toward Israel and the Middle East. Recently, its purported muscle has come under question, and votes in Congress the last two days show why, or at least that [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/aipac-and-the-pro-israel-lobby-are-wasting-money-on-democrats-and-thats-a-good-thing-for-american-democracy/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/democratic-socialism-and-anti-zionism-triumph-in-new-jersey-congressional-race/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/democratic-socialism-and-anti-zionism-triumph-in-new-jersey-congressional-race/#respond Fri, 17 Apr 2026 18:29:44 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1297003 Progressive activist and Democratic Socialist Analilia Mejia, who was endorsed by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the Democratic primary, soundly defeated Republican Joe Hathaway in a special election to represent the 11th  Congressional District from New Jersey, delivering a victory for Democrats in the runup to this fall’s midterm elections. The Associated Press called [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/democratic-socialism-and-anti-zionism-triumph-in-new-jersey-congressional-race/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/in-historic-senate-vote-over-75-of-democrats-vote-to-block-arms-sales-to-israel/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/in-historic-senate-vote-over-75-of-democrats-vote-to-block-arms-sales-to-israel/#respond Fri, 17 Apr 2026 18:22:32 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1296997 On Wednesday night, the Senate rejected a pair of resolutions that would have blocked the sale of bombs and bulldozers to Israel. Although the Joint Resolutions of Disapproval, which were introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) failed to pass, a record number of Senators backed the effort. 40 Senators backed a resolution would have blocked [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/in-historic-senate-vote-over-75-of-democrats-vote-to-block-arms-sales-to-israel/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/four-preliminary-considerations-regarding-the-2026-elections-in-peru/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/four-preliminary-considerations-regarding-the-2026-elections-in-peru/#respond Fri, 17 Apr 2026 18:15:02 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1296991 On Sunday, 12 April 2026, Peru held presidential and parliamentary elections for the 2026–2031 term. The deepening political crisis in which Peru has been mired since 2017, the social and economic crisis—recently characterized by issues of public safety and rising fuel prices, respectively—and the return to a bicameral legislature (Senate and Chamber of Deputies) signaled [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/four-preliminary-considerations-regarding-the-2026-elections-in-peru/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/orban-has-fallen-but-europes-ice-moment-is-just-beginning/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/orban-has-fallen-but-europes-ice-moment-is-just-beginning/#respond Fri, 17 Apr 2026 17:07:17 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1296974 Hungary may be celebrating Peter Magyar’s unlikely win over Viktor Orbán, yet the former PM’s hardline migration politics has already infected the European psyche – forming part of a broader, deeply concerning pattern brewing across the continent. Even as asylum applications and crossings approach levels last seen in 2015, Europe has undergone a profound shift over the past year, [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/orban-has-fallen-but-europes-ice-moment-is-just-beginning/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/for-their-eyes-only/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/for-their-eyes-only/#respond Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:45:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1296964 Back in the relative calm of January, as the media fixated on American threats to invade Greenland, the British government quietly published an intelligence report. Written by a committee of the country’s top spy chiefs, the report warned that within just a few years, the UK could face food shortages and social breakdown.  The cause [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/for-their-eyes-only/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/palestinian-students-are-fighting-for-their-right-to-education/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/palestinian-students-are-fighting-for-their-right-to-education/#respond Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1296976 The scenic campus of Birzeit University sits on a hill near Ramallah, 12 miles northwest of Jerusalem, in the occupied West Bank. Vast blue sky is visible from every road and sidewalk. Palestinian flags wave in the breeze. The familiar campus bustle of classes, friends and events was violently interrupted on Jan. 6, 2026, when [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/palestinian-students-are-fighting-for-their-right-to-education/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-winner-at-the-dncs-latest-meeting-israel-ethnic-cleansing-and-genocide/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-winner-at-the-dncs-latest-meeting-israel-ethnic-cleansing-and-genocide/#comments Thu, 16 Apr 2026 15:55:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1296951 In the aftermath of last week’s big meeting of the Democratic National Committee in New Orleans, supporters of the U.S.-Israel alliance have been quite content. “We’re pleased that the DNC Resolutions Committee rejected a set of divisive, anti-Israel resolutions,” the president of Democratic Majority for Israel said. The CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-winner-at-the-dncs-latest-meeting-israel-ethnic-cleansing-and-genocide/feed/ 1 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/over-100-former-israeli-spies-worked-for-top-us-cybersecurity-firm/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/over-100-former-israeli-spies-worked-for-top-us-cybersecurity-firm/#respond Wed, 15 Apr 2026 19:05:41 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1296899 A company of Israeli military intelligence officers that trained AI to kill human beings are now staffing the United States’ top cybersecurity firms. In their new positions, these ex-spies are responsible for protecting America’s military data, Social Security data, and Nuclear Security Administration data, among other sensitive contracts.  Silicon Valley has long attracted ex-spies looking [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/over-100-former-israeli-spies-worked-for-top-us-cybersecurity-firm/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/israels-restriction-of-aid-into-gaza-leads-to-critical-shortages-in-bread-baby-formula-and-water/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/israels-restriction-of-aid-into-gaza-leads-to-critical-shortages-in-bread-baby-formula-and-water/#respond Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:55:20 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1296907 Amjad Ashour, 50, stands in the nutrition department at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, holding his four-month-old infant as doctors warn him that a lack of formula leads to stunted growth, developmental delays, and serious health complications. His child is already suffering from the shortage. Ashour’s wife, the baby’s mother, is herself malnourished, leaving the [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/israels-restriction-of-aid-into-gaza-leads-to-critical-shortages-in-bread-baby-formula-and-water/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/as-the-green-space-gap-grows-parks-are-becoming-a-global-north-luxury/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/as-the-green-space-gap-grows-parks-are-becoming-a-global-north-luxury/#respond Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:53:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1296906 Sometimes, walking around the concrete jungle of Puebla city, in central Mexico, the only trees I see are the hardy, invasive ones growing out of the cracked walls of abandoned buildings. The government planted a few trees around the city center two years ago, but with no nearby rubbish bins, the young, skinny trees, completely [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/as-the-green-space-gap-grows-parks-are-becoming-a-global-north-luxury/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/kuwait-arrests-journalist-ahmed-shihab-eldin-for-reporting-the-truth/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/kuwait-arrests-journalist-ahmed-shihab-eldin-for-reporting-the-truth/#respond Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:52:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1296908 There are moments when the mask slips—when the language of “national security” is exposed for what it is: a weapon used to silence truth. The arrest and ongoing detention of Palestinian-American journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin by Kuwaiti authorities is one of those moments. Shihab-Eldin is not an unknown voice. An Emmy-nominated journalist whose work spans The [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/kuwait-arrests-journalist-ahmed-shihab-eldin-for-reporting-the-truth/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/dnc-chair-ken-martins-broken-promises-haunt-his-tenure-and-the-party/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/dnc-chair-ken-martins-broken-promises-haunt-his-tenure-and-the-party/#respond Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:51:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1296905 Last week, the Democratic National Committee met in New Orleans for its semiannual meeting. Despite attempts by the event’s organizers to project a united front, it was evident that many of the disagreements that have plagued the party during the Trump era are far from settled. While party leaders publicly expressed their absolute confidence in [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/dnc-chair-ken-martins-broken-promises-haunt-his-tenure-and-the-party/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/is-corruption-no-longer-a-crime/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/is-corruption-no-longer-a-crime/#respond Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:50:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1296901 In an easy-to-miss two-line order in its shadow docket, the US Supreme Court just vacated the corruption conviction of a local official, raising a question: Will the kind of influence peddling that’s now ubiquitous in politics eventually end up being explicitly deemed unprosecutable simply because it’s so ubiquitous? Cincinnati Democratic councilperson P. G. Sittenfeld had been [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/is-corruption-no-longer-a-crime/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/orbans-defeat-in-hungary-signals-far-rights-weakness-not-the-lefts-strength/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/orbans-defeat-in-hungary-signals-far-rights-weakness-not-the-lefts-strength/#respond Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:50:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1296903 According to most mainstream media accounts, a “political earthquake” has taken place in Hungary. The European far right’s poster boy and MAGA darling Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was defeated in a landslide on Sunday by political upstart Péter Magyar. The outcome of this election is indeed politically significant, as the ousting of Orbán by Hungarian [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/orbans-defeat-in-hungary-signals-far-rights-weakness-not-the-lefts-strength/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/law-for-the-lawless/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/law-for-the-lawless/#respond Tue, 14 Apr 2026 17:01:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1296867 Should the United States be bound by international law? Donald Trump doesn’t think so nor does his defense secretary. Last January President Trump told the New York Times, “I don’t need international law.” According to Pete Hegseth, “We will keep pushing, keep advancing, no quarter, no mercy for our enemies.” Not only has “no quarter” [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/law-for-the-lawless/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/hungarys-fake-democratic-revolution-from-orbans-mafia-to-peter-magyars-neoliberal-circus/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/hungarys-fake-democratic-revolution-from-orbans-mafia-to-peter-magyars-neoliberal-circus/#respond Tue, 14 Apr 2026 17:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1296879 The international liberal commentariat is celebrating again. Viktor Orbán, the long-reigning right-wing strongman of Hungary, has been defeated in the April 2026 elections by Péter Magyar, a slick, photogenic opposition leader who stormed to power in a matter of months. Headlines scream “democracy wins,” “Orbánism is over,” and “a new dawn for Europe.” Don’t believe [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/hungarys-fake-democratic-revolution-from-orbans-mafia-to-peter-magyars-neoliberal-circus/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/book-burning-by-any-other-nameeven-and-indeed-especially-on-the-leftis-despicable/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/book-burning-by-any-other-nameeven-and-indeed-especially-on-the-leftis-despicable/#comments Tue, 14 Apr 2026 17:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1296855 There is a publishing house in Germany called Unrast Verlag that recently came to my attention. From its web site, I think it’s anarchist-aligned or at least anarchist-supportive and also seriously feminist. It appears to be quite well established as the site lists about 650 authors. I can’t read German, but I heard from a [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/book-burning-by-any-other-nameeven-and-indeed-especially-on-the-leftis-despicable/feed/ 7 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/get-money-out-of-politics/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/get-money-out-of-politics/#respond Tue, 14 Apr 2026 17:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1296885 Individuals and corporations alike can spend infinite sums of money to influence elections and push candidates that will support and – at the very least – not oppose their interests. The Supreme Court protected such unlimited spending in its Buckley v. Valeo (1976) decision by classifying independent expenditures – which support or oppose a clearly identifiable candidate but are [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/get-money-out-of-politics/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/zvideo/can-the-left-still-win-varoufakis-corbyn-polanski-blakeley/ https://znetwork.org/zvideo/can-the-left-still-win-varoufakis-corbyn-polanski-blakeley/#respond Mon, 13 Apr 2026 21:00:13 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=video&p=1296842 Can the left still win, and what does resistance look like in a time of war, inequality, and political crisis? At DiEM25’s Resistance Is Existence event in London, Yanis Varoufakis is joined by Jeremy Corbyn, Zack Polanski, and Grace Blakeley for a powerful panel on Gaza, class power, democracy, and the future of the left. [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/zvideo/can-the-left-still-win-varoufakis-corbyn-polanski-blakeley/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/zohran-mamdani-on-using-government-to-fight-for-the-many/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/zohran-mamdani-on-using-government-to-fight-for-the-many/#comments Mon, 13 Apr 2026 20:45:42 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1296835 On Sunday, April 12, Zohran Mamdani delivered a speech reflecting on his first one hundred days as New York City’s mayor. His remarks are reprinted here. It is a Sunday night in New York City. And while some prepare for the week ahead, for many, the workday has only just begun. Tonight, in the northern [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/zohran-mamdani-on-using-government-to-fight-for-the-many/feed/ 5 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-institutional-collapse-of-indian-democracy/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-institutional-collapse-of-indian-democracy/#respond Mon, 13 Apr 2026 17:03:03 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1296819 West Bengal is due to vote for a new Assembly on April 23 and 29. The voter lists stands finalised – with one mortal glitch: for the first time in the electoral history of the republic, an Indian’s fundamental right to exercise franchise will, in all likelihood, stand forfeited because of an institutional failure to [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-institutional-collapse-of-indian-democracy/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-many-people-have-the-us-and-israel-killed-in-iran/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-many-people-have-the-us-and-israel-killed-in-iran/#respond Mon, 13 Apr 2026 16:56:31 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1296816 After the breakdown of talks in Pakistan, the ceasefire between the US and Iran is more fragile than ever, and now seems likely to give way to a new phase of the war. The ceasefire and talks have failed to end Israel’s devastating attacks on Lebanon or to negotiate international access to the Strait of [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-many-people-have-the-us-and-israel-killed-in-iran/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/we-need-a-theory-of-change-that-recognizes-the-democratic-establishment-has-been-doing-it-wrong/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/we-need-a-theory-of-change-that-recognizes-the-democratic-establishment-has-been-doing-it-wrong/#comments Sun, 12 Apr 2026 14:59:49 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1296797 Recently the political director of a major labor union reminded me that we need a theory of change to build a fairer and more just society. That challenge struck me as worth exploring. What theory of change do we need? Let’s start with the No Kings mobilizations. The theory of change behind No Kings is [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/we-need-a-theory-of-change-that-recognizes-the-democratic-establishment-has-been-doing-it-wrong/feed/ 2 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trump-hegseth-and-the-colonial-language-of-war-crimes/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trump-hegseth-and-the-colonial-language-of-war-crimes/#respond Sun, 12 Apr 2026 14:43:58 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1296788 He’s out of ideas, a mind running on empty.  Increasingly, he is also short of reason, zapped by geopolitical addling and meddling.  Now that US President Donald J. Trump has reached an uneasy understanding with Teheran that a two-week ceasefire should apply to the warring parties (Israel, as usual, has its own elastic interpretation as it continues [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trump-hegseth-and-the-colonial-language-of-war-crimes/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/serbias-government-is-targeting-the-public-university/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/serbias-government-is-targeting-the-public-university/#respond Sun, 12 Apr 2026 14:14:50 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1296775 In the seventeenth month of a student-led mass movement in Serbia, the death of a student at the Faculty of Philosophy triggered an orchestrated attack on the University of Belgrade by the country’s government-police-tabloid complex. On the eve of the police raid, protesters gathered in front of the rectorate, and the rector delivered a historic [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/serbias-government-is-targeting-the-public-university/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/zvideo/will-the-u-s-and-europe-break-up-trump-says-he-may-pull-out-of-nato-as-iran-war-criticism-mounts/ https://znetwork.org/zvideo/will-the-u-s-and-europe-break-up-trump-says-he-may-pull-out-of-nato-as-iran-war-criticism-mounts/#respond Sun, 12 Apr 2026 14:00:01 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=video&p=1296769 The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has deepened rifts with several European countries. The Spanish government has been most outspoken in its opposition to the war, and U.S. allies like Germany and the United Kingdom have voiced some criticism while providing logistical support for the assault on Iran. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has tried to smooth over [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/zvideo/will-the-u-s-and-europe-break-up-trump-says-he-may-pull-out-of-nato-as-iran-war-criticism-mounts/feed/ 0