- The Guardian
- Issue #2121
E-International Relations
E-International Relations pitches itself as a world leading international relations open access publication. It publishes articles, reviews, and frequently books that are open-access and accessible to all. Its articles reflect the opinions of the writers. The content is wide and readable.
The authors are almost exclusively academics but the target audience is broader than that.
The content can be irritating. While it is readable, the analysis rarely goes beyond the world of the bourgeois journal. However, if you want to know what is going on in the world, E-International Relations is a useful resource.
Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy is an American magazine that makes the lofty claim that it ‘explains Washington to the world and the world to Americans.’ It seeks to be relatively non-partisan, although there is really no such thing in a world of bourgeois ideas. Much of it is interesting and it offers good background. Some of its content on China is dubious. It is wide ranging in its scope, as the title would suggest.
As its advertising suggests, it “strikes a balance and sparks debate among specialists but also engages non-specialist readers.” It is written with clarity. Its usefulness is limited but Foreign Policy does provide good, if not entirely impartial background information around a wide range of foreign relations topics.
(MEIRP) Middle East Research and Information Project
MEIRP is an independent research group that publishes critical, alternative reporting and analysis, that focuses on state power, political economy and social hierarchies and popular struggles and the role of US policy in the Middle East. It has recently had a string of interesting articles on Lebanon and Israel.
Koori Mail
A weekly newspaper produced by and for Indigenous Australians, the Koori Mail is an almost always positive look at issues affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It’s also a stream of positive news about Indigenous people’s lives. People love to use the term ‘lived experience.’ The Koori Mail is a good way to catch up with a bit.
Monthly Review: an independent socialist magazine
The Monthly Review very nearly remains true to its title – that it is ‘independent.’ It does (to its credit) maintain certain core tenets of Marxist theory, specially that capitalism is prone to breakdown rather than self-regulating. It is a ‘meeting pace’ for an eclectic array of thinkers and academic voices within the broad Marxist tradition. This can be a difficulty. When a hundred flowers bloom, the scent from those flowers can become diffused.
It is a useful tool for those wanting to be kept abreast of ‘academic’ Marxist thought. It certainly promotes thought and therefore theory, but sometimes its refusal to become aligned gets in the way. Its editor once declared that the ‘The Monthly Review … was and is Marxist, but did not hew to the party line or get into sectarian struggles.’ This is its strength and weakness.
Underdog magazine
More an occasional pamphlet of images than a magazine as such, Underdog is produced by some image-lovers in South Australia. It can be found on Facebook. The pictures are always interesting, and often delightful.
