Featured

Auburn, Alabama (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – There’s a history to the war between Russia and the West going back to the Cold War and the unification between East and West Germany. Thomas Friedman once asked George Kennan, (the architect of the US Cold War strategy on containment), what he thought about NATO expansion, […]

Featured

Why are Tunisia’s Relations with Iran Warming Up?

Mohamed Jegham

Istanbul (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Tunisia’s President Kais Said has strengthened relations between Tunisia and Iran are to an unprecedented level. Tunisia, in response to Iran’s announcement of visa waivers for 28 countries including Tunisia, has also lifted visa requirements for Iranian nationals. Tunisia is one of the few majority Sunni Muslim countries […]

Climate Crisis

New Labour Government in UK Unleashes Onshore Wind, with 61% of British Electricity now Low-Carbon

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The new Labour government in Britain last week took steps to remove the ban on onshore wind farms instituted by the Conservative government, which made it possible for such projects to be forestalled even by a single objection. Gavin McGuire at Reuters reported that for the first time this winter, […]

Donald Trump

From “Hang Mike Pence,” to “Paul Pelosi Hammered” to “Shooting Trump” — Political Violence is Deadly to Democracy

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – American politics has entered the most dangerous phase of its nearly 250-year existence, with the assassination attempt on Donald J. Trump on July 13 in Pennsylvania. As of this writing, the gunman and one audience member are being reported dead, and two other audience members are in critical condition. One […]

Featured

Biden now falsely Claims Netanyahu has “accepted” Detailed Peace Plan, as Israeli Atrocities Continue

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – At his rally in Detroit on Friday afternoon, President Joe Biden at one point said, “That’s why I put together a detailed plan that the United Nations accepted that the Israelis accepted that the Palestinians have accepted to end this war. This war must end must end.” Biden probably would […]

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Biden’s $270 mn Gaza Aid Pier to be Mothballed, but “Famine has spread across the Entire Gaza Strip”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Navy Times reports that the US aid pier at Gaza will be permanently decommissioned. The $270 million pier could not be reattached this week because of heavy seas. President Joe Biden announced the pier in his State of the Union address, pledging that “massive amounts” of humanitarian aid would […]

Featured

The Great Soccer Massacre: Israeli Air Force Kills 29 Refugees as it tries to get at one Militant

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Turkish news service TRT reports from wire services that an Israeli air strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in Khan Younis, where people had gathered to watch a soccer match, killed at least 29 persons on Wednesday evening. The weapon was an American-provided 250-pound bomb of the sort used […]

Authoritarianism

The French showed us how to Fight SCOTUS’s Immunization of Trump for 2nd-Term Despotism

Dan Dinello

Chicago (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – The MAGA Supreme Court created a lawless presidency with their opinion on Trump immunity last week. In doing so, it obliterated a basic principle of American constitutional government: “No one is above the law.” Enabling abuses of power, the 6-3 decision on Trump v. United States gives Trump such vast immunity […]

Featured

Can Iran’s New Reformist President Deliver?

Fariba Amini

Newark, Delaware (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Elections in Iran have predictable outcomes. The men picked by the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, engage in a quasi-debate on TV, but usually the hand-picked guy is bound to win. This year saw a minor upset. The 2024 presidential election took place after the former President and […]