2020

The Taliban are megarich – The Way Organized Crime Bosses are — and use ill-gotten Wealth to wage war in Afghanistan

By Hanif Sufizada | – The Taliban militants of Afghanistan have grown richer and more powerful since their fundamentalist Islamic regime was toppled by U.S. forces in 2001. In the fiscal year that ended in March 2020, the Taliban reportedly brought in US$1.6 billion, according to Mullah Yaqoob, son of the late Taliban spiritual leader […]

Afghanistan

Anti-War Officer Corps: An American Crisis of Conscience in the Forever Wars

Tomdispatch

By William J. Astore and Danny Sjursen | If you have a moment, how about joining two retired officers, Bill Astore and me, Danny Sjursen, as we think about this country’s catastrophic forever wars that, regardless of their deadly costs and lack of progress, never seem quite to end? Recently, in a podcast chat about […]

African-Americans

Biden Nominates first African-American Secretary of Defense, 250 Years after Crispus Attucks

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President-Elect Joe Biden will appoint retired four-star general Lloyd J. Austin III as his secretary of defense, according to the scoop by Lara Seligman, Tyler Pager, Connor O’Brien and Natasha Bertrand at Politico. Austin will be the first Black secretary of defense in our nation’s history. Austin has, they note, […]

Climate Crisis

Even Conservative Britain Plans to slash carbon emissions 68% by 2030: Banking, Building and Borrowing are key

The Conversation

By Anupam Nanda | – For those conscious of the growing climate crisis and the perilous economic situation, the path out of the coronavirus recession looks like a tightrope. On one side, the urgent need to revive the economy and head off unemployment. On the other, the demand that post-COVID growth is green and sustainable. […]

Artificial Intelligence

By 2030, Today’s World will be Made Over

Richard Penaskovic

This article reviews Mauro F. Guillén’s recent book, 2030: How Today’s Biggest Trends Will Collide And Reshape The Future of Everything, (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2020). $28.99. Guillén is the Zandman Professor in International Management at the Wharton School of Penn and an expert on global market trends. This book has eight chapters, a […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israel legitimises squatter outposts stolen from Palestinians and thus proceeds with silent annexation

Middle East Monitor

By Abdel Nasser Al-Najjar | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – Weeks before the March 2020 General Election in Israel, the main pillar of the right-wing campaign headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was propaganda based around “annexation” of more occupied Palestinian land. The annexation process would have started from the Jordan Valley to […]

Democratic Party

“The Empire Strikes Biden” with Brent Terhune and Juan Cole – Francesca Fiorentini Podcast

Juan Cole

“It’s global hegemony not Adam and Steve! From very real US wars abroad to the imagined “war on Christmas”, Francesca digs deep with comedian Brent Terhune and historian Juan Cole. They discuss what foreign policy might look like under a Biden administration, from the Iran Deal to Israel/Palestine to Russia & China. Plus, the special […]

Donald Trump

Iran sends Oil, Gas Flotilla to Venezuela; will Trump attack it to Sabotage Biden?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Bloomberg reports that a flotilla of ten Iranian vessels is heading for Venezuela. They have turned off their shipboard Automatic Identification System, or AIS, so that US signals intelligence cannot find them easily. The ships typically go around the Cape of Good Hope and then head northwest to Caracas. Will […]

Bill of Rights

Constitution in Danger? Michael Flynn Wants Trump to Declare Martial Law

Everett Wohlers

Boise, Idaho (Special to Informed Comment) – On Tuesday, December 1, Michael Flynn, the beneficiary of President Trump’s recent pardon, published a manifesto calling on President Trump to suspend the Constitution and declare martial law so that the military could organize and run a new election for President to void the recent election which was […]

Archives for 2020