( Middle East Monitor ) – There is an old saying that you should not put the fox in charge of the hen house. It makes perfect sense, and yet that’s exactly what Western governments are increasingly starting to do when it comes to their freedom of speech policies. All bluster about “cancel culture” aside, […]
Archives for November 2020
What President-Elect Biden and all Americans owe the Black Voters who Saved our Democracy
By Tracey L. Rogers | – ( Otherwoods.org) – Black voters waited in 10-hour lines to show up for Joe Biden. Now Biden needs to return the favor. During a pandemic that has killed Black people at disproportionate rates, we still managed to save our democracy by getting out the vote in what may have […]
Biden’s Cabinet could fix what Trump Broke, but can they get their Ambitious Agenda Past the GOP Senate?
By John Hawkins | – The “team of rivals” was the term historian Doris Kearns Goodwin used to describe US President Abraham Lincoln’s cabinet. It included three men who had run against Lincoln for the Republican nomination for president in 1860: William Seward (secretary of state), Salmon Chase (treasury secretary) and Edward Bates (attorney general). […]
Hyper-Patriarchal Saudi Arabia equates mild Feminism with Terrorism, as Sen. Murphy calls on Biden to review ties with Kingdom
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Al Jazeera points to the call by Senator Chris Murphy addressed to the incoming Biden administration urging a review of US ties with Saudi Arabia, given the kingdom’s miserable human rights record, including its mistreatment of feminist dissident Lujjain Hathloul, 31. Ms. Hathloul was produced in court on Wednesday. She […]
Moving past apartheid: A one-state Solution for Israel-Palestine is not ideal justice, but it is just and possible
( Middle East Monitor) – Once again, Europe’s top diplomats expressed their ‘deep concern’ regarding Israel’s ongoing illegal settlement expansion, again evoking the maxim that Israeli actions “threaten the viability of the two-state solution”. This position was communicated by EU Foreign Affairs Chief, Josep Borrell, on November 19, during a video-conference with Palestinian Authority Foreign […]
How Will Biden Change U.S. Policy On Russia, Iran?
By Todd Prince | – ( RFE/RL) – As a candidate, Joe Biden said he would reverse many of the foreign-policy initiatives of the Trump administration, such as withdrawing the United States from international agreements, and work to repair the transatlantic relationship that he contends has been the key to stability in Europe over the […]
Kylie Moore-Gilbert has been released. But will a prisoner swap with Australia encourage more hostage-taking by Iran?
By Ian Parmeter | – Australian-British academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert’s release from an Iranian prison after more than two years’ detention is certainly a welcome development. However, the circumstances raise some uncomfortable questions for Australian and Western diplomats related to Iran’s penchant for using hostage-taking as a bargaining chip for the release of its own citizens […]
No Thanksgiving for the Palestinian Children of Gaza: UN says Israelis deprived them of $16.7 Bn., potable Water
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) issued a report Wednesday on the effects of the continued illegal Israeli blockade of the 2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which began in 2007. UNCTAD has concluded that from 2007 to 2018, the Israeli blockade cost the people of […]
How Biden and Kerry could rebuild America’s global climate leadership
By Dolf Gielen and Morgan Bazilian | – John Kerry helped bring the world into the Paris climate agreement and expanded America’s reputation as a climate leader. That reputation is now in tatters, and President-elect Joe Biden is asking Kerry to rebuild it again – this time as U.S. climate envoy. It won’t be easy, […]