2023

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Although King Charles III will, like his predecessors going back to Henry VIII, be styled “Defender of the Faith,” he intends the phrase to be understood in a pluralistic rather than exclusivist manner. Harriet Sherwood at The Guardian reports that before Charles takes the oath on Saturday, the Archbishop of […]

Climate Crisis

Germany overtakes Spain to become leading solar PV market in Europe

Clean Energy Wire

By Jessica Bateman | – Tagesspiegel Background ( Clean Energy Wire ) – An analysis of solar power markets in Europe has declared Germany the leading solar PV market in the region. According to the analysis conducted by Aurora Energy Research and reported in Tagesspiegel Background, strong political support and a large market have helped […]

Climate Crisis

Energy Projects play a significant Impact in Turkiye’s presidential Elections

Middle East Monitor

Dr Umud Shokri ushukrik ( Middle East Monitor ) – As Turkiye’s economy continues to grow at a rapid pace, its energy demand is also increasing, leading to a growing concern over the country’s dependence on energy imports, which is seen as a threat to its national security. In 2022, Turkiye’s energy import expenses […]

China

Can China broker Peace in Yemen – and further Beijing’s Middle East Strategy in the Process?

The Conversation

By Mahad Darar, Colorado State University | – After nearly a decade of grinding conflict, Yemen looks to be inching toward a peace deal. Talks between the Houthi movement controlling much of the country’s north and Saudi Arabia, the regional power backing an anti-Houthi coalition in the war, are ongoing and being encouraged by international […]

Featured

Iran’s President Raisi in Damascus for Victory Lap, Expanded Trade

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Hard line Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi took a victory lap in Syria this week. He led an Iranian delegation of officials and cabinet members to Damascus for consultations with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Among those in the entourage were Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, and Oil […]

Africa

Sudan: the longer the Conflict Lasts, the higher the Risk of a regional War

The Conversation

By May Darwich, University of Birmingham | – The 2019 Sudan uprisings that ousted long-time dictator Omar al-Bashir and installed a military-civilian transitional government gave hope that the northern African country could finally transition to democratic rule. The country has been ruled by the military for most of its independence since 1956. But Sudan’s bumpy […]

China

Can the U.S. Adjust Sensibly to a Multipolar World?

Medea Benjamin and Nicholas J.S. Davies

( Code Pink) – In his 1987 book The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, historian Paul Kennedy reassured Americans that the decline the United States was facing after a century of international dominance was “relative and not absolute, and is therefore perfectly natural; and that the only serious threat to the real interests […]

Arms Sales

This is not Your Grandfather’s Military-Industrial Complex: Unwarranted Influence

Tomdispatch

By Ben Freeman and William D. Hartung ( Tomdispatch.com ) – The military-industrial complex (MIC) that President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned Americans about more than 60 years ago is still alive and well. In fact, it’s consuming many more tax dollars and feeding far larger weapons producers than when Ike raised the alarm about the […]