Featured

Review of Avi Shlaim, Three Worlds: Memoirs of an Arab-Jew (London: Oneworld, 2023). Munich (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Avi Shlaim is an Israeli-British scholar who has authored six books on the history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the role played in it by the Kingdom of Jordan. His work has earned him a […]

Climate Crisis

Devastating Earthquake showed Resiliency of Morocco’s Solar and Wind Farms, as it Meets its Paris Commitments

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – One advantage of solar and wind as renewable sources of energy is that they appear to be especially resilient in the face of natural disasters. A paradox of the battle against human-caused climate change is that some of our best tools, such as low-carbon hydroelectric power, are also the most […]

Featured

ISIL Extremists Bomb Mosques in Pakistan, in Bid to outlaw Celebrating the Birth of the Prophet Muhammad (Yes)

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Muhammad Shahid at The National (Dubai) reports that there were two attacks on mosques in northern Pakistan on Friday. The bigger explosion targeted worshipers in Mastung, Baluchistan, near the provincial capital of Quetta. This bombing appears to have been aimed at Muslims who were staging a public procession to commemorate […]

Climate Crisis

Macron Pledges to end Coal by 2027, to get to 60% Renewables by 2030, and to Ramp up French EV Production; Is it Enough?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Kim Willsher reported this week at the Guardian on French President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement of a “French environmental plan” (l’écologie à la Française). Its centerpieces involved phasing out coal by 2027 and reducing fossil fuels in France’s energy mix from 60% today to 40% in 2030. France doesn’t use much […]

Climate Crisis

Sister Cities in Climate Crisis: New Orleans, Basra, Alexandria face Saltwater Intrusion, Fresh Water Shortage

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Eric Zerkel and Angela Fritz at CNN report on the great saltwater intrusion that is threatening drinking water over the next few months in New Orleans and towns to its south. The Mississippi delta was created by the silt deposited as the great river flowed south into the Gulf of […]

Featured

Taliban in Tel Aviv: Israel Joins Middle East in Clashing over Gender Segregation, Women’s rights in Public Sphere

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Haaretz reports that at public prayers for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, at Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv on Sunday evening, Ultra-Orthodox activists attempted to put up banners as separators to allow for the segregation of male and female worshipers. This action was seen as a provocation by liberal […]

Featured

Iraqis Tortured by US at Abu Ghraib have Never Received Justice or Compensation

Human Rights Watch

The US government has apparently failed to provide compensation or other redress to Iraqis who suffered torture and other abuse by US forces at Abu Ghraib and other US-run prisons in Iraq two decades ago. Iraqis tortured by US personnel still have no clear path for receiving redress or recognition from the US government though […]

Featured

Iran’s Denials and Delusions at the United Nations

Fariba Amini

Newark, Del. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Frankly, it was hard to watch last weekend’s interview of Farid Zakaria of CNN with Iran’s current president, Raisi. It was embarrassing. As usual it was all denial and delusion on the part of the highest official of the Islamic Republic. When Raisi’s men showed up at […]

Australia

In First, Rooftop Solar Alone provides 101% of South Australia’s Electricity Demand

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Giles Parkinson at RenewEconomy in Australia reports that rooftop solar briefly generated 101% of South Australia’s electricity demand on Saturday around 2 pm local time. This milestone is important, since it was reached entirely with rooftop solar on residential and business edifices rather than with industrial-scale solar farms, of which […]