By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) In a great irony, the Egyptian government attempted to cancel the commemoration of the January 25 revolution four years ago, on the grounds that the late King Abdallah of Saudi Arabia needed to be mourned. The Saudis played a sinister behind-the-scenes role in undermining budding Egyptian attempts at democracy, […]
Yemen Civil War? Masses Rally in Capital & South Secedes
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) — From 1967 to 1990, and again briefly in 1994, South Yemen was an independent country. In the first period, of some 23 years, it had a Communist government, the only one in the Arab world. Today, South Yemen is again an independent state. Since the resignation of united […]
Yemen: Freeze on US Drone Strikes as Gov’t Collapses
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) Thousands demonstrated in Sanaa on Saturday morning against the Houthi take-over of the Yemeni government. Down south in Aden, there were big demonstrations on behalf of workers The murky political situation in Yemen has left the US unable to continue its drone strikes and other counter-terrorism operations, since Washington […]
How Stable is Saudi Arabia?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) This article appeared at The Nation earlier this month. I’m reprinting an excerpt on the occasion of King Abdallah’s death . . . the kingdom faces a severe budget shortfall because of the plummeting price of petroleum. All this instability takes place against a backdrop of substantial regional turmoil. […]
Floods and fires across Southern Africa raise alarm bells on climate change
SABC News | — “Floods and fires across the southern african region are raising alarm bells on climate change once again. These effects are being felt across the globe as sea levels rise, tropical storms smash into coastlines, once-fertile lands battle with floods or drought and permafrost in the polar regions melts. Although Africa contributes […]
Netanyahu Imported by GOP to ensure Iran War
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) — Republican House Majority leader John Boehner secretly invited Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to Washington to address Congress and then once it was set up he let Barack Obama know about it. The reason for bringing Netanyahu is that Boehner wants to craft a super-majority in Congress that […]
Obama to GOP: More Iran sanctions lead to War (& 7 other Foreign Policy points in SOTU)
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) — President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address slighted foreign policy in favor of touting domestic progress and proposing new domestic initiatives. But there were some foreign policy highlights worth underlining. 1. Obama pushed back hard against hawks like Senator John McCain, who want to ramp up a […]
Israel’s Syria Strike: Is it trying to Help al-Qaeda vs. Hizbullah & Iran?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) — There are several questions around the Israeli helicopter gunship strike on Mazari` al-Amal in Syria’s Quneitra Province, which killed Hizbullah personnel and an Iranian general. First, what were the latter doing there? Second, why did Israel strike them? The Israeli cover story, that Hizbullah was planning attacks inside […]
Israeli PM Netanyahu Campaigns to Discredit, Defund Int’l Criminal Court
By Alexandra Halaby – (IMEMC & Agencies) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that the ICC announcement by Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to initiate a preliminary investigation into Israel for possible war crimes committed in Gaza was “absurd” and a “perversion of justice.” Mr. Netanyahu went on to say that decision by the ICC was […]
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