Europe

By Maja Zivanovic and Jean Fernand Koena ( RFE/RL ) – Russia is reducing its military footprint in Syria and shifting some of its assets from the Middle Eastern country to Africa, flight data and satellite imagery analyzed by RFE/RL appear to show. Moscow seems to have withdrawn a significant amount of military equipment from its […]

Featured

Irony is Dead: Netanyahu cannot Attend Auschwitz Ceremony for Fear of Arrest on ICC Warrant for War Crimes

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Israeli newspaper Arab 48 reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not be able to travel to Poland for the 80th annual commemoration of the liberation of the Auschwitz Nazi death camp because he fears being arrested on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court at the […]

Featured

Closing Israeli Embassy does not Deter Ireland from Recognizing Palestine, Joining Genocide Case against Netanyahu Gov’t

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The current Israeli Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, is likely a war criminal by virtue of serving in the cabinet of a government pursuing a genocide. He nevertheless had the gall to accuse the Prime Minister of Ireland of being a bigot, closing the Israeli embassy in Dublin on the grounds […]

Bashar al-Assad

What the Fall of Assad says about Putin’s Ambitions for Russia’s Great-Power Status

The Conversation

By Stefan Wolff, University of Birmingham (The Conversation) – The lightning-fast collapse of the Assad regime in Syria has sent shock waves across the Middle East. The disposal of the dictator whose family had ruled the country with an iron fist for more than half a century has triggered a potentially seismic shift in the […]

Featured

Assad’s Fall is a Reminder that Russia is not a Global power but a Regional One

Hamdullah Baycar

Trabzon, Turkey (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – When former U.S. President Barack Obama referred to Russia as a “regional power” at the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague, he minimized Moscow’s global influence while recognizing its ability to a have an impact on events within its immediate vicinity. Obama further downplayed the notion […]

Featured

Why Iran can’t Stand up for the al-Assad Government: Russia isn’t Offering Air Support

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The strategic situation in Syria is dire for the Baathist government of Bashar al-Assad. Typically in military history, if an invader takes the capital of the other country, it secures its victory. Damascus is the prize. Damascus has an Achilles heel. It is landlocked, deep in the south of the […]

Bashar al-Assad

Syria as Putin’s Afghanistan: How a Radical Fundamentalist take-over of Damascus could Change the Middle East

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The collapse of the Baathist government of Syria in the north of the country, as the al-Qaeda affiliate HTS (Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham or the Levant Liberation Council) advanced into Aleppo and Hama, could reconfigure the Middle East. The rapidity of the advance and the Muslim fundamentalist leadership of the fighters […]

Climate Crisis

In Sunny Spain, cheap Solar Power set to overtake Wind Generation, backed by Socialist Government and Co-ops

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Spain’s photovoltaic electricity production is set to surpass its wind power, according to China’s Xinhua news agency. Spain is Europe’s champion at producing solar power, because some of its regions are especially sunny — think Seville. The Global Energy Monitor puts it this way: “The country has more utility-scale solar […]

European Union

Why the EU’s Stance on Israel is starting to Change

The Conversation

Catherine Gegout, University of Nottingham (The Conversation) – The EU has stood in solidarity with Israel since the start of the war with Hamas, and has been consistent in saying the country has the right to defend itself. But the EU has always said that this has to be done in line with international law, […]