Eastern Europe

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Dan Sabbagh (in Kyiv) and Patrick Wintour report in The Guardian that recent Russian drone, rocket and missile attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure have knocked out nearly a third of Ukraine’s power stations. Facing severe battlefield losses and the potential isolation of Crimea with a bombing of the bridge connecting it […]

Authoritarianism

QKremlin? Russians say they Fear a NATO Invasion will Make their Children Gay

Richard Foltz

Montreal (Special to Informed Comment) – On October 17 the Russian Book Publishers Union sent a letter to the Russian Duma expressing concern thata proposed bill against “LGBT propaganda” could lead to the banning of numerous works of classic literature, including books by Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Ostrovsky and many others. The proposed bill is merely the […]

Arms Sales

Iranian drones used by Russia in Ukraine show that there’s already one Victor in that War: Iran

The Conversation

By Aaron Pilkington, University of Denver | – The war in Ukraine is helping one country achieve its foreign policy and national security objectives, but it’s neither Russia nor Ukraine. It’s Iran. That was starkly clear on the morning of Oct. 17, 2022, as Iranian-made drones attacked civilian targets in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. Russia used […]

Russia

Is it Time to Ban Nuclear Weapons? and Home Runs?

Tomdispatch

By Robert Lipsyte | – ( Tomdispatch.com ) – The time has come to ban The Bomb. Of course, all those nuclear ones in the arsenals of the “great” powers, but — since I’m a sportswriter by trade — let’s start with the home run. Call it a four-bagger, a dinger, a moon shot, or […]

Donald Trump

US officials, having Stabbed Palestinians in the Back for Decades, now “Offended” that President Abbas doesn’t Trust them and Wants Russia Involved

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Barak Ravid at Axios reports that Biden administration officials are furious about remarks by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas saying he lacked confidence in the US as a mediator. What Ravid does not say is that Washington has no right, none, to get on a high horse. Since the US sponsored […]

Eritrea

Why does the Ukraine War overshadow the Middle Eastern Wars?

John Feffer

( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – The war in Ukraine has dominated the headlines in U.S. and European newspapers, not to mention outlets in other parts of the world. The explosion this weekend that destroyed part of the bridge connecting Crimea to the Russian mainland, along with Russia’s retaliatory missile attacks on Ukrainian cities […]

Displaced and Refugees

Welcoming Russians Who Refuse to Fight

Foreign Policy in Focus

By David Cortright |- ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – The sudden mass exodus last week of Russian men fleeing military service is a positive development. It is a sign of shifting political momentum in Russian society against the war. So why have Finland and other European governments barred Russians from entering as tourists, […]

Featured

As Saudis stab Biden in the Back with OPEC+ Oil Cut, Only Electric Vehicles can Make US Independent

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In a major blow to President Joe Biden, on Wednesday, OPEC+ took steps toward cutting the oil production of the members by 2 million barrels a day. Jackie Northam at NPR reports the views of analysts who believe that Saudi Arabia and Russia drove the decision in order to get […]

Featured

Proliferation and Nuclear Winter: If Putin drops an Atom Bomb on Ukraine, Iran, Saudi Arabia — Everyone — will Want a Bomb

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Russian President Vladimir Putin again threatened on Friday, as he announced the annexation of four provinces from Ukraine, to use nuclear weapons, presumably as a last resort, in his war on Ukraine. Putin said, according to Reuters, “The United States is the only country in the world that has twice […]