By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Russia is so far winning big in Syria, and making Moscow’s projection of force in the Middle East a reality that the other great powers have to recognize. As Russia has emerged as a major combatant against Syrian al-Qaeda and against Daesh (ISIS, ISIL), it is […]
Tahrir 5 Years Later: The Hurdles to Democratization & Arab Youth Revolts
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – A frequently met-with Western political and often journalistic narrative of the 2011 youth revolts in the Arab world is that idealistic young people came out into the streets and managed to overthrow four dictators, but then the essential Arab nature (violent, fanatical, tribal and sectarian) came […]
Dragon & Phoenix: Khamenei Lauds New Sino-Iranian ‘Strategic Partnership’
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Iran’s clerical leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, spoke Saturday on the occasion of the state visit to Iran of Chinese President Xi Jinping. He said, “The government and people of Iran have always looked and are still looking for expanding relations with independent and trustworthy countries like […]
Turkey-Russia Tensions Spike as Russia moves into Northern Syria
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Russian air strikes in Syria are coming closer and closer to the Turkish border in Latakia in the northwest, and there are rumors that Russia is looking at establishing an airbase at Qamishli in the largely Kurdish northeast of Syria. Turkey risks having Russia as a […]
Netanyahu demands more billions from US after Iran Deal, insults US Envoy, Steals more Land
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – At the Davos World Economic Forum, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu insisted that the deal between the UN Security Council and Iran limiting its enrichment program to purely civilian uses had made Israel less secure, and that it must therefore be granted tens of billions of […]
No, Gov. Snyder, Flint’s water wasn’t poisoned by “Government”: It was by your Appointee
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Perhaps it is inevitable but it is a shame that some people are gaming out how to profit politically from the lead poisoning of the children of Flint, Michigan (pop. 99,000). In the state capital, the Establishment is trying to blame the crisis on “government” or […]
Palin for Trump: ‘Political Correctness’ (anti-racism) is a Suicide Bomb Vest
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The term “political correctness” has a long and varying history, but what do Donald Trump and Sarah Palin mean when they attack it? They are using it to mean anti-racism. A day after Martin Luther King Day, Sarah Palin endorsed Donald Trump for president in Ames, […]
Israeli PM Netanyahu Still trying to derail Iran Nuclear Deal
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – BBC Monitoring reports that over the weekend, even as the great Powers were certifying that Iran was in compliance with the UNSC deal permitting only civilian enrichment of uranium, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who had attempted to derail the negotiations, continued to try to derail […]
Daesh/ ISIL carries off 400 Women & Children from Deir al-Zor to a fate worse than Death
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) on Sunday attacked an isolated outpost of the Syrian Arab Army in a few neighborhoods in the north of the city of Deir al-Zor, which are surrounded by Daesh from every side. The SAA also still controls a military airfield just north of […]
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