Asia

A Different World is Possible: From Yemen War to Afghan Starvation, Our Tragedies are Exacerbated by Letting the US Military-Industrial Complex Run Wild

Vancouver (Special to Informed Comment) – Right now, we have more than enough knowledge, wealth, and the capacity to create a just and prosperous world, but we are nowhere near realizing this dream. One reason is that we are constantly told about so-called “scarcities”, and how expensive it would be actually to help people and […]

Afghanistan

Afghanistan: International Criminal Court to Resume its Inquiry on War Crimes, but Will it Stop with the Taliban?

Human Rights Watch

( Human Rights Watch ) – (The Hague) – The International Criminal Court (ICC) should address grave international crimes committed by all sides when it continues its investigation into the situation in Afghanistan, Human Rights Watch said today. On October 31, 2022, ICC judges announced that the investigation by the Office of the Prosecutor into […]

China

One City in China Plans More Offshore Wind Capacity by 2030 than the Entire United States

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Shenzhen Daily reports that the city of Chaozhou in China’s southern Guangdong Province is planning the world’s largest offshore wind farm, at 43.3 gigawatts. The United States has almost no offshore wind now, but the Biden Administration has a goal of 30 gigawatts by 2030 and the Interior Department […]

Afghanistan

The Ukraine Moment: Lessons from the War on Terror

Karen J. Greenberg

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Ukraine is obviously a powder keg. With each passing day, in fact, the war there poses new threats to the world order. Only recently, Vladimir Putin’s Russia intensified its attacks on civilian targets in that beleaguered land, while threatening to use tactical nuclear weapons and adding Ukraine’s neighbor Belarus to its […]

China

The New Cold War Heats Up Asia: China and the U.S. Face an Unprecedented Crisis

Alfred W. McCoy

( Tomdispatch.com ) – If the world is indeed entering a new Cold War, it bears little resemblance to the final years of that global conflict with its frequent summits between smiling leaders and its arms agreements aimed at de-escalating nuclear tensions. Instead, the world today seems more like the perilous first decade of that […]

Afghanistan

Did Trump’s attempt to Withdraw from Afghanistan and Somalia Prove he Knew he had lost?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – It has long been known that on November 11, 2020, as it became clear that Joe Biden had won, then president Donald Trump signed an order for the complete withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and Somalia before the January inaugural. At the January 6 Commission public hearing on Thursday, […]

Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, Resistance Means Women: Nationwide Protests Follow Deadly Attack on Hazara Girls Taking Exam

Human Rights Watch

By Sahar Fetrat Assistant Researcher, Women’s Rights Division and Fereshta Abbasi Researcher, Asia Division | – ( Human Rights Watch) – The September 30 suicide attack on ethnic Hazara students at Kaaj Educational Center in Kabul has sparked protests by women and girls in provinces across Afghanistan. The attack, which took place as female students […]

China

The World’s Other Nuclear Flashpoint: Mounting Tensions Over Taiwan

Michael T. Klare

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Thanks to Vladimir Putin’s recent implicit threat to employ nuclear weapons if the U.S. and its NATO allies continue to arm Ukraine — “This is not a bluff,” he insisted on September 21st — the perils in the Russo-Ukrainian conflict once again hit the headlines. And it’s entirely possible, as ever […]