Juan Cole

Thanks to Sam Oglesby for a searching review of my new book “Engaging the Muslim World. Excerpt: “Turning to the most troublesome current foreign policy dilemma, Mr. Cole feels that U.S. policy toward Pakistan and Afghanistan is mistaken. Most of the billions in foreign aid have benefited the military and the elites and not the […]

Thomas Strouse writes in a guest op-ed for IC: Two critical elections will take place in early June that could potentially shape the direction that the Middle East region moves in the near future. Parliamentary elections will be held in Lebanon on June 7 and a presidential election will be held in Iran on June […]

The LAT reports that Iraqi soldiers at a base near Mosul shot and killed two US troops on Saturday and wounded a third. The US soldiers returned fire, killing one of the Iraqis. The LAT says there are increasing fears that Sunni insurgents have infiltrated the security forces. Iranian helicopter gunships attacked villages in Iraqi […]

Gregory Alonso Pirio writes in a guest op-ed for IC:

Aljazeera English reviews the first hundred days of Obama’s policies in Afghanistan. The The NYT explains that Obama is readying a major US military push to cut the neo-Taliban off from their funding sources in the poppy trade. The problem is that a) the Taliban are probably being bankrolled by Gulf millionaires to some extent, […]

AP reports that two car bombs ripped through a commercial district in Shiite East Baghdad (Sadr City) on Wednesday evening, killing at least 41 persons and wounding 68. McClatchy challenges President Obama’s assertion that violence is way down since last year. McClatchy figures show 200 killed in Baghdad alone in April, compared to 99 in […]

Brian Cloughley writes in a guest op-ed for IC: Pakistan’s army continues to face challenges, not the least of which is the growing insurrection by Taliban and Taliban-supporting tribesmen in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) abutting Afghanistan. There has of late been much international criticism of the army for allegedly failing to take action […]

The Pakistani military parachuted soldiers Tuesday into Buner, in the Malakand district of the North-West Frontier Province, to take on the estimated 500 militants who had made a bid to take over Buner. From all accounts, the Pakistani government of Asaf Ali Zardari does not think what happens in Buner is actually very important. But […]

The hundred day benchmark for journalists sizing up a new administration is probably inappropriate on foreign affairs, which are complicated and move slowly. Still, we can assess the changes in approach and tone between the Obama administration and its predecessor this winter and spring, to try to get a sense of where things are going. […]