Europe

By Bakr Sidqi | – Amid international neglect of the tragedy of an additional one million displaced individuals from the “de-escalation” zones in the countryside of Idlib and Aleppo provinces, Moscow and Ankara announced that the talks that took place on Monday and Tuesday failed to reach any new understandings. “We did not accept the […]

Russia

In Syria’s Idlib, Turkey is trying to play middle man between Russia and the US – with little success

The Conversation

By Umut Korkut and Tarik Basbugoglu | – The recent turn of events in Idlib, an opposition stronghold in north-western Syria undergoing bombardment by the Syrian military, has put Turkey in a difficult position. Since the end of January, Syrian regime forces have killed 13 Turkish soldiers who were monitoring a tense ceasefire in Idlib. […]

Featured

Will the new, Left-led Ireland Recognize Palestine and Boycott Israeli Squatters?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – That the Left has swept to power in Ireland may position that country to play an important role in the Israel-Palestine conflict. The European Union member states sometimes rail against their irrelevance on foreign policy. Despite Europe’s enormous population (pop. 445 million vs. 320 million in the U.S.) and a […]

Bashar al-Assad

Humanitarian Catastrophe as Syrian Army Advances on Idlib, 750K Displaced since Fall

Middle East Monitor

By Elif Selin Calik | @CalikSelin | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – Last December, Robert Malley, president and CEO of the International Crisis Group, penned an article for the Foreign Affairs magazine, addressing the topic: “The Unwanted Wars: Why the Middle East Is More Combustible Than Ever.” Today, at the peak of the […]

Featured

Has Trump lost Iraq to Russia over his Drone Strike on Baghdad Airport?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Iraqi establishment is interested in strengthening its military cooperation with Russia, as Baghdad seeks an alternative to the United States military after Trump bombed Baghdad airport and killed a high ranking Iraqi military commander. Al-Bawwaba reports that that the Chief of Staff of the Iraqi Army, Lieutenant General Othman […]

Eastern Europe

Britain got its Brexit, but will it also Get an Economic Depression and Lose Scotland and N. Ireland?

John Feffer

By John Feffer | – Edinburgh, Scotland (Foreign Policy in Focus) – If I were the European Union, I’d be wiping my hands, sighing in relief, and slamming the door after the United Kingdom’s long-delayed departure. Britain had been a noisy, pushy houseguest for 47 years, and it was only growing ruder. It spent the […]

Climate Crisis

Coalxit? Germany, 4th Largest Economy, Officially Approves Phase-Out of Coal

Clean Energy Wire

By Benjamin Wehrmann | – ( Clean Energy Wire) – The German government has officially approved the end of coal-fired power production in Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet adopted a law detailing plant shutdowns and compensation payments for coal companies, confirming a commission proposal made last year to end coal no later than 2038. The […]

Antisemitism

Auschwitz 75 years on: preserving survivors’ voices and listening to those of their children

The Conversation

By Sara Jones | – In December 2019, four people were shot dead at a kosher market in New Jersey, a horrific knife attack was perpetrated at a rabbi’s home in a New York suburb, and antisemitic graffiti was daubed on a synagogue and several shops in north London. Despite what many might think, antisemitism […]

Donald Trump

The Trump Organized-Crime Style: Bullying Europe, Bullying Iran and Impeached for Bullying Ukraine

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – I was for my sins watching CNN the other evening and as I remember I saw Chris Cuomo on a panel say that what Trump did in withholding $400 million in congressionally appropriated military aid from Ukraine was not technically a crime. I was astonished, since Cuomo is usually a […]