Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Monday morning, according to Iran International, Iranian hackers defaced the front page of the Israeli newspaper the Jerusalem Post and the Twitter feed of the Hebrew-language daily Maariv [Evening]. They posted an image, which stayed up a couple of hours, of a missile aimed at the Shimon Peres Negev […]
Biden’s 4 Biggest Mideast Challenges in 2022
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Biden faces severe challenges in the coming year, but in my view the for-profit news often either focuses on the wrong ones or misinterprets the nature of the obstacles. Here are some of the major challenges: 1. Iran While many foreign policy hawks and inside-the-beltway pundits see the Iranian […]
A Warm thanks to Informed Comment Readers – The Best People
From Juan Cole Thanks to a last minute surge of support, we had a great year again with regard to fundraising, and we hope to do great things with your support. Informed Comment readers have improved the site tremendously over the years with their feedback and suggestions, and in a world where so little seems […]
New Year Joy: the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – I am rewriting a previous essay here, quoting some extra poems different from the ones I used last year, but my big points remain the same. After the dark year of 2021, I thought it might be nice to talk about poetry and rebirth today. The quatrains or Rubaiyat attributed […]
Top 3 Pieces of Good News in 2021 – Because Optimists are the Problem Solvers
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – News corporations think good news does not sell, which is why you see so little of it on television or on the front page of news web sites. Executives at for-profit news believe their corporations benefit, just as do social media platforms, from provoking your fight or flight reflexes– making […]
The Unbearable Double Standard of the US Press, judging Biden Harshly and Abruptly Forgetting Trump’s Bizarre Antics
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – I am not the only analyst to see an extraordinary set of double standards applied in the US media to Joe Biden in comparison with Donald Trump. It is almost as if reporters and anchors are willing to forget every one of Trump’s perfidies but never willing to forget even […]
From Palestine to Afghanistan, Top 6 Ways our World Changed in 2021
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – It is time to look back at 2021 and consider the most consequential developments, as covered here at Informed Comment. 1. The most important change was that the Republican Party has abandoned democracy, as witnessed by its reaction to the attempted Trump coup of January 6, 2021. The GOP has […]
Juan Cole on his new Book “Peace Movements in Islam” (Simon Mabon’s Podcast)
Many thanks to Simon Mabon, Professor of International Politics at Lancaster University and prominent Middle East specialist, for hosting me on his Sepad Podcast to speak about my new edited book, Peace Movements in Islam This book results from two conferences held at the International Institute of the University of Michigan to explore the theme […]
Desmond Tutu, the Nonviolent Foe of Two Apartheids – South Africa and Israel-Palestine
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Ofeiba Quist-Arcton reports at NPR that Desmond Tutu has died in Cape Town, South Africa. He was 90. Tutu was an amazingly courageous voice against the white nationalist Apartheid system in South Africa, which segregated Blacks and deprived them of a good education and economic opportunities, and which attempted to […]
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