2022

By Linda C. McClain, Boston University and Nicole Huberfeld, Boston University | – The first major election since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade saw abortion rights on the ballot in a record number of states. The outcomes of these initiatives suggest that when Kansas voters in August 2022 rejected a proposed constitutional amendment […]

Democratic Party

Biden Holds Red Wave to a Ripple, as Trump Loses Big Time in Midterms

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Over the past 40 years, midterm elections have typically been quiet affairs in which only 38% to 40% of voters show up at the polls, and those who vote skew toward the older, wealthier and whiter spectrum of the electorate. In contrast, in presidential election years, the turnout tends to […]

Israel

Israel: The Right-Wing Netanyahu is Back but can he Govern with Far, Far Right “Allies”?

The Conversation

By Guy Ziv, American University School of International Service | – Israel’s political magician has done it again. Having been turned out of office in 2021 as the first sitting Israeli prime minister to be indicted – and with his corruption trial still underway – Benjamin Netanyahu has made another stunning comeback. After four inconclusive […]

Syria

Syria: Parties to the Conflict Aggravate Cholera Epidemic (HRW)

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – Turkish authorities are exacerbating an acute water crisis that is believed to have given rise to the deadly cholera outbreak spreading across Syria and into nearby countries, Human Rights Watch said today. All parties to the conflict need to ensure the right to clean water and health for everyone […]

Israel/ Palestine

With Israeli Expulsionists in Power, US SecState Blinken can’t Assuage Palestinian Fears With talk of defunct “Two-State Solution”

Ramona Wadi

( Middle East Monitor) – With Likud’s Benjamin Netanyahu set to return as Israeli prime minister, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, spouting yet another round of futile rhetoric about improving the quality of life for Palestinians and, of course, reaffirming Washington’s adherence to the — surely defunct […]

Climate Crisis

One Billionaire emits a Million times more CO2 than an Average Person, as Protesters block Private Planes at Amsterdam

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Oxfam has a new study, Carbon Billionaires: The investment emissions of the world’s richest people. The Executive Summary says that they concluded that quite apart from the 3,300 or so billionaires, the wealthiest one percent in the world emit twice as much carbon dioxide as the bottom 50%. The top […]

Authoritarianism

Politics and pulpits: Christians and Republicans team up to watch the Polls Tuesday

Minnesota Reformer

By Deena Winter | – The Minnesota Reformer BUFFALO — A flag hanging from a telephone pole marked the turnoff to the Land of Promise. It was unseasonably warm for late October, but three dozen Minnesotans chose to spend their Saturday here, at a church on the north side of Beebe Lake. Inside a building, […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israel: On the Road to International Isolation with the Rise of domestic Fascist Parties

Middle East Monitor

Adnan Abu Amer | – As Benjamin Netanyahu, head of the Likud party that won the Israeli elections, rushes to form his new government, unprecedented international and US warnings have been made calling for right-wing Knesset members not to participate. These include Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich of the Religious Zionist party, as their participation […]

Africa

Armed Conflict and Climate Change: how these two Threats play out in Africa