Asia

( Tomdispatch.com ) – For decades, I kept a poster on my wall that I’d saved from the year I turned 16. In its upper left-hand corner was a black-and-white photo of a white man in a grey suit. Before him spread a cobblestone plaza. All you could see were the man and the stones. […]

China

The US and China must cooperate in Face of Climate Armageddon, not fall into New Cold War

Michael T. Klare

( Tomdispatch.com) – This summer we witnessed, with brutal clarity, the Beginning of the End: the end of Earth as we know it — a world of lush forests, bountiful croplands, livable cities, and survivable coastlines. In its place, we saw the early manifestations of a climate-damaged planet, with scorched forests, parched fields, scalding cities, […]

Afghanistan

Leaving Afghanistan was a No-Brainer – the Rise of Illiberal Schmittian Regimes is now the big Danger to U.S.

Scott Corey

By Scott Corey | – (Special to Informed Comment) – On October of 2009, I published an essay on Informed Comment advocating that the US recommit to Afghanistan, with a planned date for withdrawal designed to pressure the Afghan government to better performance. The Obama administration later adopted a policy along similar lines. Although Mr. […]

Afghanistan

Afghan women have a long history of taking leadership and fighting for their rights

The Conversation

By Wazhmah Osman and Helena Zeweri | – Ever since the Taliban recaptured Afghanistan, the question in much of the Western media has been, “What will happen to the women of Afghanistan?” Indeed, this is an important concern that merits international attention. The Taliban has already imposed many restrictions on women. At the same time, […]

Afghanistan

Collective Punishment as War Crime: 90% of Afghan Families Lack enough Food because the West is Punishing the Taliban

Foreign Policy in Focus

By John Sifton | – ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – Afghanistan’s humanitarian situation is spiraling into catastrophe. Millions of Afghans are now facing severe economic stress and food insecurity in the wake of the Taliban’s August takeover, set off by widespread lost income, cash shortages, and rising food costs. Officials with the UN […]

China

China: removing features from country’s biggest mosques the latest move in campaign of Muslim assimilation

The Conversation

By David R. Stroup | In the normally quiet city of Xining, capital of northwest China’s Qinghai province, everyday interactions between the city’s ethnic groups – Han Chinese, Hui Muslim, Tibetans, Turkic Salars and others – usually pass without conflict or fanfare. But thanks to the municipal government’s controversial demolition of the entrance hall of […]

Afghanistan

The Taliban Emirate of ‘No’

Michael Jansen

( Jordan Times ) – The unclaimed murder last weekend of a journalist and two of his relatives while travelling in a car along a road in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province remains a crime to be investigated by the Taliban along with another ten shooting and bombing attacks on Afghan civilians. But, since the Taliban […]

China

Iran’s Hard Line gov’t Ebullient about higher Oil Prices, as China Defies US Sanctions on Tehran

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Iran is a big beneficiary of the run-up in oil prices, with Brent crude hitting a multi-year high of $83 a barrel on Wednesday and the West Texas Intermediate price hitting about $79 a barrel. Analysts expect prices to remain high as we move into winter, when there is extra […]

Asia

Will this Year’s Conference of Parties (COP) 26 Seek Climate Justice for Global South, too?

The Third Pole

By Omair Ahmad | – ( Third Pole ) – Unless the connection between economic security and a green transition is made clear by the media and politicians, the climate summit will remain full of high talk with little content Woman loading charcoal in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. There will be little progress in combating climate […]