Sean Nevins

Sean Nevins is a Washington DC based staff writer for MintPress focusing on foreign affairs, and the intersection of politics and policy. His work has appeared on Link TV, Inter Press Service, and The Real News Network. He has lived and reported from all over the world and holds a Master’s in Asian Studies (focus: Pakistan) from Lund University in Sweden.

From Arkansas To Beijing: Wal-Mart Is Eating The Earth

MintPress attended a recent panel discussion on how Wal-Mart workers are organizing — or failing to organize — to protect their rights everywhere from “Bentonville to Beijing.”

Sean Nevins
By Sean Nevins
Traders and their dependents attend a rally to protest against foreign direct investment (FDI) in the retail sector in New Delhi, India

WASHINGTON --- Sam Walton opened the first Wal-Mart in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas. Since that time, the retailer has made its way around the globe, shutting down small businesses and trampling on workers’ rights in its quest to deliver “everyday low prices.” Wal-Mart represents what Nelson Lichtenstein describes as the heart of “a new era of

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‘Pay-To-Stay’ Fees Ensure Prisoners Keep Paying Long After They’ve Done Their Time

“Once someone is arrested, they are then subject to a whole host of criminal justice fees,” one expert tells MintPress. Indeed, fees are tallied from a person’s arrest to their reentry back into society — everything from booking to postage costs, to transportation, to room and board.

Sean Nevins
By Sean Nevins
An inmate stands at his cell door at the maximum security facility at the Arizona

WASHINGTON --- An incessant wave of protests has hit the country since the death of Mike Brown last August in Ferguson, Missouri, and a growing movement of activists are organizing around issues related to the criminal justice system. Yet there’s perhaps little attention being paid to another major injustice hitting the people trapped in that

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Billion Dollar Israeli Gas Grab Behind Past 15 Years Of War On Gaza

When gas was discovered in Palestine in 1999, Yasser Arafat proclaimed it was a “gift from God.” So what’s stopping the country from exploiting that gas to the tune of an estimated $2.5 billion to $7 billion, and relieving a host of development problems? MintPress investigates.

Sean Nevins
By Sean Nevins
An elderly Palestinian walks past a destroyed building in Gaza

Energy consumption in the Mediterranean is estimated to increase by up to 50 percent over the next 25 years. The heightened demand comes at a time when gas in the Levant Basin, estimated to contain 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil and an average of 122 trillion cubic feet of gas, is being divvied up among nations with territorial claims to

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Countries Dependent on Foreign Oil Are More Likely to Go to War in Oil-Exporting Countries

Countries dependent on foreign oil are far more likely to intervene in conflicts in oil-exporting countries than countries with no known oil resources. Yet oil is rarely stated as the official reason for intervention.

Sean Nevins
By Sean Nevins
Iraq | Oil

Behind the seemingly ceaseless violence infecting the Middle East in countries such as Syria, Iraq and Libya, lies a simple motive: stabilizing gas and oil markets so powerful countries can feed the incessant demand of industries and enterprises which give those countries a competitive advantage in the world market. There are myriad other

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American Citizen Returns To US After 500-Day Hunger Strike In Egyptian Jail

When Mohamed Soltan arrived in Washington, he was greeted by a crowd of family, friends and activists, who had all been lobbying for his release since 2013.

Sean Nevins
By Sean Nevins
Egyptian-American Mohamed Soltan arriving in Dulles Airport on the day of his release, 30 May 2015

Egyptian-American Mohamed Soltan arriving in Dulles Airport on the day of his release, 30 May 2015 WASHINGTON --- Mohamed Soltan, an Egyptian-American activist and graduate of the Ohio State University, returned to the United States on Saturday after being held for almost two years by Egyptian authorities. During his imprisonment, Soltan

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As the Sun Sets On Some Patriot Act Provisions, Will The Sun Rise On Civil Liberties?

Some of the most controversial surveillance mechanisms of the Patriot Act expired on Sunday night as a result of pushback from concerned citizens and some in Congress, who have taken up their interests. A reform bill, the USA Freedom Act, will vote on later in the week.

Sean Nevins
By Sean Nevins
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. holds up his cell phone as he speaks before announcing the start of his presidential campaign, in Louisville, Ky. Key Patriot Act anti-terror provisions, including bulk collection of Americans’ phone records, expire at midnight unless senators come up with an 11th hour deal in an extraordinary Sunday afternoon session.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. holds up his cell phone as he speaks before announcing the start of his presidential campaign, in Louisville, Ky. Key Patriot Act anti-terror provisions, including bulk collection of Americans’ phone records, expire at midnight unless senators come up with an 11th hour deal in an extraordinary Sunday afternoon

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CIA Whistleblower Kiriakou Joins Anti-War Activists To Write Letters To Political Prisoners

He spent 30 months in federal prison for blowing the whistle on the CIA’s government-sanctioned torture practices. Now John Kiriakou joins activists from the anti-war group Code Pink to write letters to other activists, dissenters and perceived political prisoners.

Sean Nevins
By Sean Nevins
John Kiriakou, former CIA analyst and operations officer, talks at Code Pink’s Pink House in Washington DC on May 20 in support of activists writing letters to political prisoners, who were incarcerated for whistleblowing and other activities.

John Kiriakou, former CIA analyst and operations officer, talks at Code Pink’s Pink House in Washington DC on May 20 in support of activists writing letters to political prisoners, who were incarcerated for whistleblowing and other activities. WASHINGTON --- On Wednesday, CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou joined activists at Code Pink’s

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