(By Juan Cole) Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Sunday warned that Crimea’s referendum on seceding from Ukraine pose the threat of a “domino effect” in Eurasia. Will Russia’s rush to referendum and the outcome affect other populations who want to secede, throughout the world? Will it destabilize the current world order? Davutoglu likely had […]
RIP: Tony Benn – “We’ll never have Democracy as long as Big Business can buy Both Parties
British socialist stalwart Tony Benn dies at 88 (via AFP) Political foes and allies paid tribute to Tony Benn, the totem of the British left who spearheaded the movement against the Iraq war, following his death on Friday aged 88. A Labour cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s, Benn was a widely respected… […]
Irony Alert: Climate Change Threatens delivery of Energy from Oil and Gas
By Bobby Magill Follow @bobbymagill Oil refineries and drilling platforms in the U.S. are vulnerable to sea level rise and greater storm surge. Fuel pipelines, barges, railways and storage tanks are vulnerable to melting permafrost and severe weather…
Israelis slam Kerry over “Jewish State” Remarks as Abbas Rejects Demand
(By Juan Cole) Right wing Israeli officials over the weekend expressed rage at US Secretary of State John Kerry for saying that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu should “drop” his demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Israel Ha-Yom reported, ‘Deputy Education Minister Avi Wortzman (Habayit Hayehudi) said: “At a time when the […]
Clean Energy Created Nearly 80,000 Green Jobs In America During 2013 Alone
America’s clean energy economy created nearly 80,000 green jobs in 2013, benefitting virtually every state across the country even as looming market and policy uncertainty threaten to shrink green growth. Solar, energy efficiency, and public transportation…
Four Reasons Syria Refugees are a Bigger Story than Malaysian Air MH 370
It is a tragedy that the 239 passengers on Malaysian Air MH 370 never made it to Beijing, and appear to have been the victims of a hijacking that went horribly wrong. But the hours and hours of US cable television speculation about the fate of the flight during the past seven days are a […]
Crimean Tatars fear Russian Rule
Crimean Tatars fear a future under Russia (via GlobalPost) BAKHCHYSARAI, Ukraine — Crimean Tatars know a few things about oppression. In the past two or so centuries, this tight-knit Muslim group has been colonized by the Russian Empire, deported en masse by the Soviet Union and denied the most basic of rights… ——– Related […]
Syria: Kurdish Women Soldiers take on Extremist Jihadis
DW writes, “According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 people have died in the civil war in Syria so far. The real number of dead is probably much higher. Many “Free Armies” have formed in the country, and they all want one thing: to topple Bashar al-Assad.” DW: “Syria: Kurdish women soldiers against jihadists […]
A Russo-Iranian Bloc against the United States?
(By Juan Cole) Russian President Vladimir Putin called his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani on Thursday, according to PressTV. The Russian press added that “A Kremlin statement said Putin had underlined to Rouhani that any solution to the Ukrainian crisis must take into account the interests and the will of people in all of the former […]