Featured

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Thursday, the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, passed a resolution asking European Union member states to recognize a Palestinian state. It isn’t the first time that the European Parliament has given support to Palestine recognition, but this resolution is the first directly to call on member states to undertake […]

Asia

While Trump Fiddles, China declares Eurasia Open for Business at At Shanghai Cooperation Org. Summit

Neil Thompson

Beijing raised its profile at the annual Shanghai Cooperation Council summit of non-Western countries just by providing a forum. London (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – China hosted the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Council (SCO) last week at its port of Tianjin, drawing a crowd of world leaders from 20 non-Western countries. The […]

Featured

Top 4 Reasons Netanyahu Bombed Negotiators’ Offices in Qatar

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bombed the building being used by civilian Hamas negotiators in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday, in the midst of ongoing indirect negotiations with them. Five low-level Hamas members were killed, along with a Qatari security guard, but the top negotiators survived. Earlier this […]

Featured

How the Heartbreaking Story of 5-Year-Old Hind Rajab begot an Effective Human Rights Foundation

Dan Steinbock

As The Voice of Hind Rajab is winning over Hollywood, the real-life story is fostering complicity allegations against the Israeli military and Western complicity. New York (Special to Informed Comment, Feature) – Recently, The Voice of Hind Rajab won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize in Venice after a 23-minute standing ovation. The docudrama is […]

Featured

Morocco Produces 1 gigawatt of Solar Panels Annually, as it turns to Floatovoltaics

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Morocco continues to be a pioneer in renewable energy in Africa and the Arab world. The International Trade Administration notes of Morocco, “Total installed capacity from renewable energy sources stands at 4,550 MW, corresponding to 38.2 percent of total installed electrical capacity.” The country plans to generate 56% of its […]

Featured

Genocide Scholars: Israel is Committing a Genocide in Gaza, and we Should Know

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On the last day of August, 2025, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, a scholarly body with more than 500 members, passed a resolution with 86% support of those who voted, concluding that Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza. These scholars study genocide professionally, researching it, theorizing it, and […]

Featured

A Reluctant (Iranian) Exile: Minister without Portfolio

Joseph Richard Preville

A Review of Minister Without Portfolio: Memoir of a Reluctant Exile by Hooman Majd. Detroit (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Everybody needs a home. For Iranian-American writer Hooman Majd, finding a home was an elusive pursuit. He lays out his lifelong struggle for identity and belonging in his wonderful new book, Minister Without Portfolio: […]

Climate Crisis

Global Solar skyrockets 64% in H1, as Trump SecEnergy Wright gets Schooled

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Ember energy consultancy reports that in the first half of 2025, the world put in 380 gigawatts of new solar capacity. That compares to 232 gigs in the first half of 2024, for a 64% increase. By the end of June, 2022, the world had only installed 90 new […]