By Ibrahim Sirkeci | (The Conversation) | – – On July 15, a group within the Turkish military staged a coup. It failed. But since then, the Turkish government has restricted rights and freedoms of its people. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has stepped up the pressure on Fethullah Gulen and his supporters. Gulen, a […]
Trump, the Big Easy, and the Environment
By Arlie Russell Hochschild | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | – – [This essay has been adapted from Arlie Hochschild’s new book, Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right (The New Press), which will be published on September 6th.] Sometimes you have to go a long, long way to discover truths […]
The Russian Challenge to U.S. Policy in Africa
Gregory Alonso Pirio and Robert Pittelli | Informed Comment | – – The United States and its Western allies, for the most part, consider the Cold War long over, and with the sanctions levied against Russia in 2014 in response to its confiscation of Crimea from the Ukraine, many in the corridors of Washington tend […]
The Great Mexican Wall Deception
By Todd Miller | (Tomdispatch.com) | – – At the federal courthouse, Ignacio Sarabia asks the magistrate judge, Jacqueline Rateau, if he can explain why he crossed the international boundary between the two countries without authorization. He has already pleaded guilty to the federal misdemeanor commonly known as “illegal entry” and is about to receive […]
It Could Happen To You: How Trump Could Make America Less Democratic
By David M. Faris | (Informed Comment) | – – Could Donald Trump destroy American democracy? While he muses carelessly about assassinating Hillary Clinton and frequently spitballs plainly illegal ideas like inviting foreign powers to intervene in American elections, it is less clear exactly how Trump would threaten the basic institutions of U.S. democracy. But […]
The Short-Lived Russia-Iran Axis
By Michael G. Roskin | (Informed Comment) | – – Russian use of an Iranian airbase led some to see a Russia-Iran axis. They jumped the gun and surmised too much. In less than a week, Tehran, perhaps remembering that the constitution of the Islamic Republic prohibits foreign bases on Iranian soil, pulled Iranian permission. […]
Ex-president Saleh offers ‘all Yemen’s facilities’ to Russia
By Brian Whitaker | ( al-Bab.com) | – – In a TV interview today, Yemen’s ex-president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, appeared to invite Russian military intervention in the country’s conflict. He talked of reactivating old Yemeni agreements with the Soviet Union and offfered “all the facilities” of Yemen’s bases, ports and airports to Russia. Saleh seemed […]
Israel planning new Squatter settlement near Bethlehem to ‘cut Palestine’s West Bank in two’
Ma’an News Agency | – – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Israeli authorities have been conducting a land survey in the southern occupied West Bank near Bethlehem in order to declare state lands to build a new settlement, a move which Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah called “another step towards cutting the West Bank in two” on […]
The Republicans who fear that Trump isn’t Belligerent Enough
By Rebecca Gordon | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | – – What Does It Mean When War Hawks Say, “Never Trump”? The Enemies of My Enemy May Be War Criminals By Rebecca Gordon It’s not every day that Republicans publish an open letter announcing that their presidential candidate is unfit for office. But lately this sort […]