How many times have we heard in recent weeks either outright threats to attack Iran mainly emanating from Israel or the more muted posture adopted by the United States that leaves ‘all options' on the table including ‘the military option'? What has Iran done to justify this frantic war-mongering in a strategic region that is sorting out the contradictory effects of the long Arab Spring and is the contested site of energy geopolitics that has replaced territory and minerals as the core issue of world politics?

This fall, Michael Parenti's timing as a writer could not have been better. The independent scholar and lecturer has produced 22 books on political and cultural subjects. But his latest, The Face of Imperialism, jives completely with the current Occupy movement in cities around the world. 

Parenti spoke to rabble.ca this week while on a three-city tour of Ontario university campuses. Parenti's short Canadian tour took him to Toronto (Tuesday), Guelph (Wednesday) and Hamilton (Thursday).