By Brian Whitmore | ( RFE/RL ) | – – He wasn’t ostracized. He wasn’t isolated. And certainly nobody threatened to shirtfront him. In the space of a year, Vladimir Putin has gone from being the pariah of Brisbane to being the star of Antalya. The contrast between last year’s G20 summit in Australia and […]
Archives for November 2015
A New Yalta? Can France Craft an alliance of Putin & Obama against Daesh/ISIL?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – French President Francois Hollande is seeking a new relationship with Russia after the attacks on Paris by Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) and the Russian conclusion that a bomb downed a Russian airliner in Egypt’s Sinai last month. Le Monde reports that France and Russia have agreed on […]
2003: Iraqi Governors who did not want Americans in their Country
“Could we have a prudent pause?”
Obama to Hawks: You can’t Occupy all the Countries in the Middle East
By John Hickman | (Informed Comment) | – – There was something very reassuring about President Obama’s delivery of a carefully reasoned explanation for his Middle East foreign policy during Monday’s Press Conference in Antalya, Turkey. Against the anxious handwringing of the reporters and the improbable outrage of pundits, the president exhibited his trademark self-possession […]
Swedish FM worries about Muslim & Palestinian Youth Despair, draws Israeli Rebuke
By IMEMC | – – Following the Paris attacks on Friday, Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom made a connection between Islamic State extremism and the Israeli occupation, causing a feud between the two governments, that the Israeli Foreign Ministry summoned its Swedish envoy on Monday. In an interview with a Swedish TV channel, following the […]
Paris attacks: how effective has the military response been?
By Scott Lucas | (The Conversation) | – – Even as Parisians were trying to assess the scale of the attacks by Islamic State (IS) which killed 132 people on November 13, politicians were promising a decisive and effective military response. French President Francois Hollande assured, “We will be merciless toward the barbarians of Islamic […]
Non-Christian Refugee
Top 10 Reasons Governors are Wrong to Exclude Syrian Refugees
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Some half of US governors have announced their opposition to their states taking in Syrian refugees after the Paris attacks. Although they can bother refugees, they can’t actually dictate to people who are here legally where they can live. But anyway, here are the reasons for […]
Whether Jewish Refugees in ’30s or Syrians today, USA Falls Short of own Ideals
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Reprint ed., slightly revised. More than half of US governors have abruptly announced that they will not welcome Syrian refugees. Governors cannot actually tell people in America where they can live. Germany, a country of 80 million, will take in 800,000 refugees this year, many of […]