Europe

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Fox white nationalist pundit Tucker Carlson asked last night what is so bad about Putin. Kremlin Carlson had provoked a firestorm the previous week when he said that he took Russia’s side against Ukraine in the current low-intensity war between the two. When criticized, he said he was joking. Russia […]

Climate Crisis

Turning point in Climate Activism? Germans Block Coal Mines with their Bodies

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Deutsche Welle reports that that more than 1,000 green activists made their way past police lines and blocked trains at 3 important coal mines in eastern Germany on Saturday. A few clashes took place between police and protesters. The environmental group End of the Road claimed more like 4,000 people […]

Israel/ Palestine

In Search of Mideast Empire? Why is Russia Cozying up to Hamas?

Middle East Monitor

By Adnan Abu Amer | @adnanabuamer1 | – Hamas and Russia have in recent months have shared a remarkable series of official visits and telephone calls, which led observers to conclude that the two sides are strengthening their relations. Russia’s rapprochement with Hamas shows the latter’s need for Moscow, being a major capital in the […]

Russia

Russian Troops Triumphantly take over US Bases in Syria, Show off Social Media Skills

Global Voices

By Milan Czerny | – (GlobalVoices.org ) – For Russian soldiers, posting from the battleground was strictly forbidden. Then all of a sudden, it wasn’t “Yesterday they were here, today it’s us.” On October 15, the Russian conflict journalist Oleg Blokhin published several videos on social media of himself visiting the former US military base […]

Germany

Brexit decides Tesla to Open Gigafactory in Germany in Win for E-Mobility

Clean Energy Wire

By Sören Amelang | – Tesla’s announcement to build a “gigafactory” for e-car production in Germany is likely to speed up the slow shift to electric mobility in the country, politicians and mobility experts have said. Media called the announcement a “head-on attack” on the country’s mighty carmakers BMW, Daimler and VW that will force […]

Donald Trump

No, Russia isn’t taking over the Middle East from the US

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – There has been a lot of talk of Russian reassertion in the Middle East and angst (except in Donald Trump) about a deterioration of the US position there. Neither of these propositions, of a Russian assertion or a US decline, is supported by much evidence. And a US disengagement from […]

Constitution

Fitting: Trump will be Impeached for Chasing a Fantastical Conspiracy Theory about Ukraine

John Feffer

(Foreign Policy in Focus) – When it comes to Ukraine, Trump has been manipulated as deftly as a mindless marionette. It’s going to cost him. In fantasy sports, participants draft their own dream teams out of the rosters of existing players. That’s what Donald Trump has done with Ukraine. He and his advisors have created […]

Climate Crisis

Germany’s Carbon Dioxide Emissions to Fall “Markedly” in 2019 as Energy Use Declines

Clean Energy Wire

By Benjamin Wehrmann and Julian Wettengel | – Germany is headed for second consecutive year of substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, as a sharp drop in coal consumption is driving a decline of the country’s overall energy use in 2019. If this trend continues, the country could get much closer to its 2020 climate […]

Donald Trump

The Ukraine Whistleblowers and the Question of Partisanship

Foreign Policy in Focus

By Hannah Gurman and Kaeten Mistry | – ( Foreign Policy in Focus) – This moment should spark a conversation about the place of national security whistleblowing in a democratic society. “We must determine the whistleblower’s identity,” tweeted Donald Trump, who has become obsessed with finding and punishing the individual(s) that blew the whistle on […]