By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – An anonymous source has handed over to a German newspaper massive amounts of data from the Panama-based, German-run law firm Mossack Fonseca. The firm specialized in providing clients with offshore accounts, which are typically used to avoid taxes or hide ill-gotten gains. Given the enormous problem […]
Syrian Ceasefire in Tatters as al-Qaeda & allies attack in South Aleppo
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The London pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat reports that the rebel opposition allied with al-Qaeda broke the ceasefire Saturday morning, taking several villages and towns in the southern hinterlands of Aleppo. The attack was launched with suicide car-bombers who detonated their payload, targeting Syrian Arab Army troops and […]
3 Surprising reasons Saudi Arabia may be getting out of the Oil Business
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Saudi crown prince Muhammad bin Salman announced Friday that Saudi Arabia would use its oil assets to back a $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund. The move suggested to many observers that the kingdom is preparing for a likely end of the petroleum business and transitioning to […]
Turkey’s Erdogan exports Press crackdown to US as his guards manhandle Journalists in DC
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Turkish President Erdogan visited Washington DC this week to participate in the deliberations on nuclear weapons. He brought with him some bad habits and some bad actors in his security detail, according to WaPo’s Ishaan Tharoor. Some pro-Kurdish protesters gathered to protest Erdogan’s visit. Then when […]
Syria Endgame: Are Russia and US Planning overthrow of ISIL in al-Raqqa?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Russian press had been complaining that the West was ignoring its defeat of terrorism in Syria. But now the Russian press is saying that the US and the Russian Federation are jointly planning to liberate the Syrian city of al-Raqqa, the capital of the phony […]
The Trump Doctrine: End NATO, Patrol Mosques, Nukes for Japan & Allies
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Anderson Cooper’s interview with Donald Trump on Tuesday evening had the advantage of allowing come-backs and close questioning. At one point Cooper pointed out to Trump that he sometimes behaved like a 5-year-old, as with his attacks on Heidi Cruz. At another, he wondered why Trump […]
After Brussels, the Strategy of ISIL/ Daesh
By Paul Rogers | (OpenDemocracy) | – – Tunisia, Paris, and now Brussels: escalating attacks on western targets reflect a shift of focus by ISIL. The security consultancy IHS Jane’s has just completed an assessment on the risk of an armed attack in Europe. Its report was published a few days before the assaults in […]
How Green Energy is already taking over the World
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – In 2015 energy companies invested more in new renewables power plants in 2015 than in fossil fuel plants for the first time in history. The majority of these plants were planned for the developing countries, which is a sign that the technology is viewed as now […]
Fall of Palmyra: Syrian regime races to take ISIL’s ‘Berlin’ and forestall ‘Partition’
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – That massive Russian air strikes and a determined infantry and armor assault by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) on the ancient city of Palmyra could dislodge from it a few hundred or at most a couple thousand Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) fighters is not all that surprising. […]
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