2020

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Pence-Harris debate was what disagreements among normal people might look like, as opposed to the weird behavior of Trump in the first presidential debate. While pundits are saying that it lacked fireworks, that is not true if you define fireworks as policy disagreement as opposed to mud wrestling. The […]

Israel/ Palestine

Palestinian Refugees expelled by Israel to Lebanon are caught in its Multilayered Crisis

Al-Shabaka

By Jaber Suleiman | – (Al-Shabaka) – The disastrous explosion that struck Beirut’s port on August 4, 2020, greatly exacerbated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which followed on the heels of the severe financial crisis that had led to massive popular protests in late 2019. The Lebanese economy is now in almost total collapse […]

China

Is US Ally Pakistan tempted instead by China-Iran Deal?

Middle East Monitor

Arhama Siddiqa | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – It is no secret that despite international sanctions, Iran is known for leaving Western powers at a loss, sometimes by making what are considered to be outrageous statements, on other occasions with similarly outrageous actions. In July, the New York Times ran a story on […]

Donald Trump

When America Sneezes, does the whole World catch Cold? Foes and Allies eye a Sick White House

The Conversation

By Monti Datta | – America’s national security officials are on alert and global markets shook – at least briefly – following the announcement that President Donald Trump tested positive for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. As someone who studies the U.S.‘s image, I am curious about the geopolitical implications of the leader of the […]

Cults

Fundamentalist Pastor and Trumpie John Hagee, who sued over Pandemic Shutdown, Contracts COVID-19

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Last summer, the mayor of San Antonio, Ron Nirenberg, ordered all schools closed until September 7 as a mitigation measure against the spread of the coronavirus. Texas had a major outbreak this summer, one of the country’s worst hot spots. Texas has had over 800,000 cases and 16,444 deaths. Fundamentalist […]

Saudi Arabia

The Catastrophic Saudi War in Yemen heads for more Disasters, for Yemenis

Middle East Monitor

By Yaseen Tamimi | – ( Middle East Monitor) – The commander of the Southern Transitional Council in Yemen, Aidarus Al-Zoubaidi, appeared last month in the guise of a full-fledged president, surrounded by Saudi Arabian guards, meeting figures who are said to be separatist southerners and raising the separatist flag alongside the Saudi flag. All […]

Canada

Free at Last! How my Electric Car let me Escape the clutches of Big Carbon and Mideast Oil Dictatorships

Richard Foltz

Montreal (Special to Informed Comment) – As someone who regularly teaches courses on both Middle Eastern and environmental subjects, I have long been keenly aware of the double implications of participating in an economy that simultaneously destroys the planet while supporting human rights-abusing dictatorships. From the moment the first electric vehicles hit the market I […]

Authoritarianism

Surviving the long Trump Pandemic+ or, 210,000 didn’t Have to Die

Frida Berrigan

(Tomdispatch.com ) – After all these months and 210,000 deaths, you’d think I’d be used to it all, but I’m not. It doesn’t seem even a little normal yet. I’m still full of absences, missing so much I used to take for granted: hugs and handshakes, rooms crowded for funerals and weddings, potluck dinners and […]

Climate Crisis

How ExxonMobil’s plan to Surge its CO2 output is Like Trump’s plan to Deal with the Coronavirus