Asia

David Tyfield | (The Conversation) | – – The Trump administration’s hostility towards climate action and research leaves a void in global climate politics. Could China step up? The world’s largest absolute emitter could certainly use US inaction as an excuse to backslide on its promises of greenery. But China could instead see this as […]

Asia

Isolated Saudi Arabia pivots to Asia; but will it spread Extremism There?

contributors

By Babak Mohammadzadeh | (The Conversation) | – – Capital cities across Asia spent the last month rolling out the red carpet for a rarely seen visitor: Saudi Arabia’s ageing King Salman, accompanied by a hundreds-strong diplomatic entourage including senior princes, businessmen and ministers. Taking in Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Japan, China and the Maldives, the […]

Africa

Does Trump’s slashed Foreign Aid Budget give China the Advantage?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The US foreign aid budget is not mainly about helping the poor. It is an instrument for buying influence in countries important to the US. The poorest countries in the world do not get much help from the US. Israel, which is a wealthy country, gets […]

Afghanistan

“Dear Nasemi: ‘I’m Sorry.'” (ICE doesn’t Keep out Afghan-American Coffins)

contributors

By Jonathan S. Addleton | (Informed Comment) | – – Dear Nasemi – I’m sorry. It is hard to believe that it was almost four years ago that we walked together along a dusty Zabul road in southern Afghanistan. I was a few yards ahead of you when we heard the first of two explosions, […]

Afghanistan

Afghanistan: We Lost a long Time Ago, and are Still at War

Juan Cole

William J. Astore | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | – – America’s war in Afghanistan is now in its 16th year, the longest foreign war in our history. The phrase “no end in sight” barely covers the situation. Prospects of victory — if victory is defined as eliminating that country as a haven for Islamist terrorists […]

Islam

Why ISIL is Targeting Tolerant Sufi Islam

contributors

By Peter Gottschalk | (The Conversation) | – – On Feb. 16, 2017, a bomb ripped through a crowd assembled at the tomb of a Sufi saint, Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, in southeastern Pakistan. Soon thereafter, the so-called Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. In recent times, such attacks have targeted a variety of cherished […]

Afghanistan

The Misuse of American Military Power and Mideast Chaos

contributors

By Danny Sjursen | (Tomdispatch.com) | – – The United States has already lost — its war for the Middle East, that is. Having taken my own crack at combat soldiering in both Iraq and Afghanistan, that couldn’t be clearer to me. Unfortunately, it’s evidently still not clear in Washington. Bush’s neo-imperial triumphalism failed. Obama’s […]

China

Has Trump quietly surrendered to Russia and China?

contributors

Michael T. Klare | ( Tomdispatch.com) | – – If there’s a single consistent aspect to Donald Trump’s strategic vision, it’s this: U.S. foreign policy should always be governed by the simple principle of “America First,” with this country’s vital interests placed above those of all others. “We will always put America’s interests first,” he […]

China

Could Trump’s War of Words with China turn Hot?

contributors

By Rajan Menon | ( Tomdispatch.com) | – – Forget those “bad hombres down there” in Mexico that U.S. troops might take out. Ignore the way National Security Adviser Michael Flynn put Iran “on notice” and the new president insisted, that, when it comes to that country, “nothing is off the table.” Instead, focus for […]