By Suzan Ilcan, University of Waterloo and Secil Dagtas, University of Waterloo | – The Syrian conflict began in early March 2011 on the heels of the Arab Spring as pro-democracy uprisings in Syria demanded regime change and political reform. The conflict transformed into a war. More than 13 million people have either escaped the […]
Archives for August 2022
Why Fightin’ Joe Biden may be the most Consequential President in Forty Years
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Joe Biden has been easy for the pundit class to write off. He isn’t, unlike Bill Clinton or Barack Obama, a great speechifier. He overcame his childhood stutter, but he still sometimes hesitates just as he gets to an applause line. He is still the little guy who got picked […]
Taliban in Power – One Year On
By Amina Khan | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – On 15 August 2021, the world looked on with trepidation as the situation in Afghanistan reached a critical juncture with the Afghan Taliban assuming power in the country. The takeover was swift, and relatively peaceful, with little resistance from the masses, followed by the […]
Faced with Extremism within its Ranks, US Military has clamped down on racist Speech, including Retweets and Likes
By Dwight Stirling, University of Southern California | – Less than a month after the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin took the extraordinary step of pausing all operations for 24 hours to “address extremism in the ranks.” Pentagon officials had been shaken by service members’ prominent […]
A Military Rich in Dollars, Poor in People: And our Frayed Social Safety Net
Andrea Mazzarino | – ( Tomdispatch.com) – The American military is now having trouble recruiting enough soldiers. According to the New York Times, its ranks are short thousands of entry-level troops and it’s on track to face the worst recruitment crisis since the Vietnam War ended, not long after the draft was eliminated. Mind you, […]
Climate Emergency: Europe Parched, Farms Fallow, as Lakes and Rivers Dry up in worst Drought since time of Christ
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Europe is in the throes of a once-in-500 years severe drought that is making its rivers into shallow streams and its lakes into vanishing puddles. The mighty Rhine in Germany is so low that it may soon not be navigable. The biggest lake in Italy is fast disappearing. These are […]
Afghan Women are refusing to remain Silent One Year after the Taliban Takeover
By Homa Hoodfar, Concordia University and Mona Tajali, Agnes Scott College | – (The Conversation) – On Aug. 15, it will be a year since the Taliban’s forceful takeover of Afghanistan for a second time. In the past year, we have witnessed a rapid return to the religious conservative rule and violation of women’s rights […]
Why Is Iran Executing So Many Prisoners?
By Giovana Faria | – ( RFE/RL ) – With a long list of crimes punishable by death, Iran put at least 314 prisoners to death last year, second only to China, which recorded more than 1,000 executions. The Iran Human Rights organization actually puts the figure at 333. That’s up from 267 executions in […]
Climate Change Threatens the Most Iconic U.S. Landscapes, from Joshua Trees to Wetlands
By Farrah Hassen | – ( Otherwords ) – Over the past decade, I’ve traveled countless times to the desert regions east of San Bernardino in Southern California. In the Mojave National Preserve and Joshua Tree National Park, I’ve been captivated by the desert’s complex and diverse ecosystems — at once beautiful, perilous, fragile, and […]
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