Asia

By Solaiman M. Fazel | (Informed Comment) | – – Two days after a deadly blast in Kabul’s diplomatic quarter, why did thousands of residents and civil society activists participate in a protest near Kabul’s presidential palace calling for the resignation of President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Dr. Abdullah Abdullah? There are several lingering […]

Bangladesh

The Climate Catastrophe Trump Promotes: Bangladesh between Flood and Drought

contributors

World Bank | (Video Clip) – – “Due to its geographical position, Bangladesh is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change impacts. Watch how communities in areas afflicted by recurring floods or droughts are finding solutions to cope with climate change.” World Bank: “With or Without Water: Coping With Climate Change in Bangladesh”

Asia

Apocalypse Soon: Does Trump Downgrade of Diplomacy in Koreas threaten us All?

contributors

By Rajan Menon | ( Tomdispatch.com) | – – Defense Secretary James Mattis remarked recently that a war with North Korea would be “tragic on an unbelievable scale.” No kidding. “Tragic” doesn’t even begin to describe the horrors that would flow from such a conflict. The Korean peninsula, all 85,270 square miles of it, is […]

Afghanistan

Could public anger over Kabul Bombing shake Afghan Government?

contributors

By Frud Bezhan. ( RFE/RL) | – – How did a sewage tank truck packed with explosives penetrate a heavily fortified area of the Afghan capital and carry out the deadliest attack in Kabul since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001? That is the question angry Afghans want the government to answer, and provide some explanation […]

Asia

Trump’s Great Retreat, from Asia Too

contributors

John Feffer | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | – – Asia has been the future for more than a generation. When Americans try to glimpse what’s to come, images of the Pacific Rim flood the imagination. For movie audiences in 1982, the rain-soaked Los Angeles of Blade Runner looked like downtown Tokyo. By 2014, the City […]

China

Trump, Paris Accords and the End of the American Century

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – As Trump seems likely to pull out of the Paris Climate accord, he will be creating several kinds of leadership vacuum. One is a vacuum of global political leadership. Another is a vacuum of corporate and technological leadership. In short, renouncing American commitments on Climate is […]

Afghanistan

Is US Winning its Longest War? Huge Bomb Hits Kabul Embassy Row, kills at least 80

contributors

TeleSur | – – Health ministry spokesman Ismael Kawoosi said: “They are still bringing bodies, and wounded people to hospitals.” A powerful vehicle bomb has hit the diplomatic area of the Kabul. The blast reportedly claimed the lives of at least 80 people and injured another 350. Civilians are said to make up a large […]

Coal

Coal in Death spiral as India cancels 14 gigs, and Solar prices Plummet

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – China and India have knocked the United States off the top spot of the index of best places to invest in renewables. Analysts cite the impact of Trump’s policies in favor of coal and petroleum. Meanwhile, as Trump talks up a return of coal in the […]

China

Is China Now the Adult in the Room? Xi and Macron Consult

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Donald Trump preferred the Neofascist Marine Le Pen as president of France, who wanted to pull out of NATO and the European Union. Trump’s own Environmental Protection Agency advisers are resigned because of his attack on the science of climate change. Trump is mulling pulling out […]