Democracy

EurActiv.com | – – Thousands of protesters carrying effigies of Donald Trump marched through Brussels on Wednesday (24 May) after the US president arrived for talks with the EU and NATO. “Trump not welcome,” said banners waved by the crowd, which police said numbered around 9,000. Organisers put the size of the demonstration at 12,000. […]

Elections

Rouhani’s win a Victory for Reform, will Trump waste Opportunity?

contributors

By Shahram Akbarzadeh | (Informed Comment) | – – In Iran’s election, Hassan Rouhani’s re-election was not a forgone conclusion. Criticism of Rouhani’s performance focused on growing unemployment, as the economy was not keeping pace with new entries into the workforce. Official rates put unemployment at 12% but this rate is estimated to be much […]

Elections

The Iranian Election: It’s the Economy, Stupid!

contributors

By Stella Morgana | The Conversation | – – On May 19, Iranians will choose their next president and determine what direction the country will take. The race has become tighter now that Tehran’s conservative mayor Mohammad-Baghar Ghalibaf has withdrawn his candidacy and backed the hardliner cleric Ebrahim Raisi. Raisi is the main competition for […]

Elections

Iran Election: Rouhani charges Rivals are ‘Executioners & Jailers’ in Risky Move

contributors

By Golnaz Esfandiari | ( RFE/RL ) | – – Less than two weeks before voting in Iran’s presidential election, incumbent Hassan Rohani has risked crossing the political establishment’s “red lines” in an unusually blunt attack against two conservative rivals. In a campaign speech in the western city of Hamedan, Rohani said on May 8 […]

Elections

Iran: Will Voters’ Economic Gloom Doom Rouhani’s Reelection Bid?

contributors

By Nader Habibi | (The Conversation) | – – Markets breathed a collective sigh of relief after Emmanuel Macron won the French presidency. But there’s another vote this month that’s just as consequential yet has received far less attention: Iran’s May 19 presidential election. If the incumbent moderate Hassan Rouhani doesn’t win a second term, […]

Elections

No Woman Has Ever Run For Iranian President. Will Azam Taleghani Be The First?

contributors

By Golnaz Esfandiari. | ( RFE/RL) | – – Update: Ms. Taleghani has been disqualified. Her journey is still amszing. On April 14, a tiny, frail-looking woman wearing a chador and using a walker made her way slowly up the stairs of Iran’s Interior Ministry in Tehran. Seventy-three-year-old Azam Taleghani was there to register as […]

Democracy

Can a New Era of Progressive Protest Revolutionize our values in Age of Trump?

contributors

By Ira Chernus | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | – – You could hear the deep sadness in the preacher’s voice as he named “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today — my own government.” With those words, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., launched a scathing indictment of America’s war in Vietnam. It was […]

Corruption

Is the Public turning on Trump over Russia Ties, Sessions’ Perjury?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Americans have become deeply concerned about Russia. Some 75% of them see it as a very or moderately serious threat. This, according to an ORC/ CNN opinion poll. They are ranking it just after North Korea and Iran. This level of anxiety about Moscow is irrational, […]

Constitution

Reflections by a Middle Easterner on the Electoral College as a Remnant of Elite Tribalism

Juan Cole

By Hsain Ilahiane | (Informed Comment) | – – The Founding Fathers wrote the electoral college in the United States Constitution. In late summer 2004, I became a naturalized United States citizen in Des Moines, Iowa. The following November election day, with my voting card in hand, sure-footed and full of excitement, I walked over […]