Featured

By Juan Cole Despite the Iraqi parliament’s failure to reach a quorum on Tuesday, in a clear slap in the face to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other incumbents running for another term, on Friday Mr. al-Maliki insisted that he remains a candidate for a third term as prime minister. Sunni and Kurdish parliamentarians on […]

Apartheid

Americans need to Answer: When Will Palestinians get their Fourth of July?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole Americans are commemorating the Fourth of July today, the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The grievances that the four million inhabitants of British North America had in 1776 were not felt by them to be narrow or specific but rather universal, and so too was the remedy. They laid against the […]

censorship

Can Tony Blair Mess up Egypt even Worse?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has agreed to advise the government of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Blair maintains that he will not be paid to do so, but critics suggest that he will have an opportunity to engage in influence-peddling with British firms investing in Egypt. Blair is rumored to […]

Arab Spring

Juan’s Interviews re: “The New Arabs,” Majority Report, The World, Daily Beast

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole Today is the anniversary of the overthrow of Muhammad Morsi in Egypt, one year ago. I have a detailed account of this event and of the movement that led up to it in my new book, The New Arabs, which came out Tuesday. Here are some interviews I’ve done around it recently. […]

Featured

Syrian Opposition: Baghdadi “Caliphate” lame attempt to take Spotlight off his Crime Spree

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s proclamation of himself as “caliph” is rather like the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan declaring himself the Holy Roman emperor. A small criminal/ terrorist group making claim on an archaic institution is more worthy of ridicule than awe. Having offended educated Muslims around the world, the extremely […]

Apartheid

In the Deaths of 3 Israeli Teens, Likud Policies are also Implicated

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole The kidnapping and killing of three Israeli squatter youth whose parents usurped Palestinian land has produced a paroxysm of hatred and calls for reprisals in Israel. Whoever is responsible for it, the killing of the youth was a horrid and inexcusable crime, and the heart of any parent goes out to the […]

Books

What the Arab Youth Movements have Wrought: Don’t Count them Out Yet

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole via Tomdispatch.com Three and a half years ago, the world was riveted by the massive crowds of youths mobilizing in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to demand an end to Egypt’s dreary police state. We stared in horror as, at one point, the Interior Ministry mobilized camel drivers to attack the demonstrators. We watched […]

Arab Spring

Photo of the Day: Egyptian Youth Demanded end to Military Trials for Civilians

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole Now On the June 30 anniversary of the determined masses gathered in their millions at Tahrir Square and in city centers throughout Egypt, demanding a recall election for then Muslim Brotherhood president Muhammad Morsi, Tahrir Square in Cairo was blocked off and deserted. Early on Monday, two bombs were detonated outside the […]

Featured

The Debacle of the Caliphates: Why al-Baghdadi’s Grandiosity doesn’t Matter

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole Ibrahim al-Badri, a run-of-the-mill Sunni Iraqi cleric, gained a degree from the University of Baghdad at a time when pedagogy there had collapsed because of the Saddam Hussein dictatorship and international sanctions. After 2003 he took the name Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and turned to a vicious and psychopathic violence involving blowing up […]