Europe

By Massimo D’Alema and Tariq Ramadan | ( EurActiv.com ) | – – To escape from extremism and xenophobia, Europe needs to carve a European Islam, not an Islam composed of communities influenced by their countries of origin . . . Europe is in a paradoxical situation. The tragic challenges that shook Europe in 2015 […]

Featured

Syrian Ceasefire: A Signal that Russia is winning the War?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Whether or not the cessation of hostilities in Syria holds, it is a major turning point in the revolution and civil war that began in 2011. As of Saturday morning in Syria, the major fronts between the regime and the Muslim Brotherhood factions were quiet. There […]

Petroleum

The Saudi-Russian Oil Price Freeze is about Power, not Money

contributors

By Nafis Alam | (The Conversation) | – – Saudi Arabia and Russia, the world’s two most powerful oil producers, have reached a tentative agreement to freeze oil production at its current levels. As the first deal between an OPEC and non-OPEC member in 15 years, it marks a significant declaration of intent. But it […]

France

France: Turkish-Russian ‘War’ Possible over Syria

contributors

TeleSur | – – The French president said Russia and Turkey could engage in war over Turkish involvement in Syria as Russia called for an urgent U.N. Security Council. There is risk of a Turkish-Russian war as a result of Ankara’s involvement in Syria, French President Francois Hollande warned Friday, as Russia called for a […]

Featured

Syria: 500 Turkey-backed Sunni Arab Fighters Cross to defend Azaz from Kurds

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – This morning, according to the Syria Observatory and the Arabic press some 500 Sunni Arab rebels based in Turkey crossed back into Syria to help defend the town of Azaz from the YPG miitia of Syrian Kurds, which is advancing on the city. They were allowed […]

military

Are Outside Interventions in Syria undermining Int’l Law & our own Security?

contributors

By Ingvild Bode | (The Conversation) | – – Since 2012, the war in Syria has lurched from one escalation to another. Syrians have been subjected to large-scale military force not only by their own government, but also by an array of rebel groups, Islamic State (IS), a US-led coalition and other states. The results […]

Russia

Syria: Instead of a Cease-Fire, have Great Powers unleashed new Proxy Wars?

contributors

By Baher Kamal | (Inter Press Service) | – – MADRID (IPS) – – When 25 million Syrians–half of them refugees abroad or at home and the other half terrorised by daily bombing, learnt that major world leaders in their meeting in Germany launched an unprecedented confrontation threatening with unleashing World War III, instead of […]

European Union

Muslims in Europe: A Crisis of Liberalism, not a Clash of Civilizations

contributors

Column » ‘By the Book’ with Joseph Preville by JOSEPH RICHARD PREVILLE and JULIE POUCHER HARBIN | ISLAMiCommentary | – – Are Muslims embraced as part of the mosaic of Europe? Or, are they considered and treated as outsiders, foreigners, and invaders? Political Scientist Peter O’Brien deconstructs this issue in his new book, The Muslim […]

Russia

Russia Says World in ‘New Cold War’ over Syria

contributors

TeleSur | – – "Sometimes I wonder if it’s 2016 or if we live in 1962," Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told the Munich Security Conference, Saturday. The world has sunk into a “new Cold War” as a result of the mounting tensions between Russia and the West over conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry […]