By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – French President Francois Hollande met Thursday with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow, in his marathon search for a “Grand and Unique Coalition” against Daesh (ISIL, ISIS) in Syria. One of the sticking points between France and the US on the one side and Russia […]
Putin: Turkey supports Radicalism & We may have to Respond, hence Tourism Ban
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday explained his rationale for asking Russian tourists to leave Turkey, and it is ominous. He anticipates that there may be further “incidents” between Turkey and Russia over Syria policy, and that Moscow may be constrained to “respond.” In that case, […]
This Year Thanksgiving overlaps Paris Climate Summit: Let’s be Thankful we can Do Something
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) — Reprint edn. The popular story about Thanksgiving is an environmental parable that we would do well to remember today. It was a harvest festival in 1621, participated in by the 50 (out of 100) survivors at Plymouth Plantation and 90 Native Americans. Some of these latter, such as […]
Why did Turkey dare shoot down a Russian Plane? The Proxy War in Syria
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Turkish government decision to down a Russian jet operating in the north of the Syrian province of Latakia is breathtaking in its boldness. Russia may no longer be a superpower, but it is a nuclear-armed great power. The newly elected Justice and Development Party (AKP) […]
From Putin To Khamenei: A Koran Copy With Its Own History
By RFE/RL | – – It may not be the original version of the first . . . edition of the Koran, dating back 1,500 years, but it’s still quite a book. In a meeting heavily publicized by Russian media, President Vladimir Putin on November 23 gave Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei one of the […]
Against Trump: 9/11 Muslim Candlelight vigils Sympathizing with US
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The meme that Muslims celebrated the attacks of 9/11 has always been mostly a piece of false propaganda. Most people in the Muslim world were appalled and frightened. There was some Schadenfreude among some Palestinians who had been kicked out of their homes and reduced to […]
8,855 Murders by Firearm in US in 2012 vs. 30 (Equiv. 164) in UK
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Reprint edn. The United States continues to be peculiar in handing out powerful magazine-fed firearms to almost anyone who wants one and not requiring background checks on private purchases even if these are made at gun shows. 80% of civilian-owned firearms world-wide are in the US, […]
‘Very Soon’ US forces will Arrive in Syria; Russia bombs near Turkey
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Turkey’s government is very unhappy today about developments in Syria. President Obama’s special envoy, Brett McGurk, said Sunday that the some 50 men from special operations forces will arrive in Syria in the very near future. But Turkey has been upset that the US troops will […]
“Give us Your Huddled Masses.” But Syrians “Need Not Apply.”
By Brian Glyn Williams | (Informed Comment) | – – Perhaps no words more beautifully define who we are as a people than those etched in that emblem of American freedom that has welcomed countless immigrants to our shores, the Statue of Liberty. At its base, it reads: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your […]
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