International Politics and Economy

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – After another Stockholm Syndrome performance, on Afghanistan, where he gave the speech National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster wrote for him, Trump on Tuesday returned to form at a rally in Phoenix, Arizona. It was a week and a half after Trump discredited himself with two-thirds […]

Donald Trump

German Politicians think Trump is dangerously close to Neo-Nazis, and they Should know

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The nation of Germany gazed with helpless horror at Trump’s disastrous Tuesday press conference, in which he tried to make a false equivalency between the neo-Nazis and the counter-protesters. Even before Trump’s wretched performance this week, only 11 percent of Germans said they trusted him to […]

Far Right

Remembering the White Rose anti-Nazi Activists

contributors

Global Nonviolent Action Database | Swarthmore University By Aly Passanante | (Edited by Max Rennebohm) | Global Nonviolent Action Database | – – Amidst the omnipresence of violence during World War II, nonviolent protest is often overlooked or unheard of. However, there were several resistance campaigns that took place in Germany, led by its own […]

Bernie Sanders

Bannon must go, but after that, Protesters should listen to Bernie

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Steve Bannon ran, and is still likely pulling the strings at, Breitbart, the “Stormfront” in a business suit with a skinny tie. Bannon once characterized it as enabling what he called the “alt right,” by which he meant a slightly more presentable version of the skinheads, […]

Democracy

Trump’s ‘Election Integrity’ Commission Hearkens Back to Jim Crow

contributors

By Diallo Brooks | (Otherwords.org) | – – Politicians have stolen our right to vote before. They’ll do it again if they get the chance. Joseph Cox watched his friends and neighbors go to the polls for the first time. The fight to get to that moment had been long, bloody, and vicious. But as […]

Democracy

Iraq’s Next Elections will be the most Important in its History

contributors

Mustafa Habib. | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | – – In Iraq, larger political parties disagree on everything except maintaining the status quo: Parliament just passed a law that will badly affect the smaller parties competing in the next elections. It has been said before. But this time it may well be true: Iraq’s next elections […]

Arms Sales

Should Western Countries be Selling Masses of Arms to Saudi Arabia?

contributors

By Riccardo Labianco | (The Conversation) | – – Since the catastrophic Yemeni civil war began in 2015, the British public has woken up to a serious problem: the use of UK-manufactured arms by Saudi Arabia. Various NGOs, campaigners and many MPs are increasingly worried about evidence that since the beginning of the conflict, Saudi […]

Democracy

Guess What Iraq’s Biggest Problem Really Is

contributors

By Pamela Abbott, Andrea Teti and Kevin M. DeJesus | (The Conversation) | – – With the defeat of the so-called Islamic State (IS) on the battlefield looking imminent, Iraq is confronting a monumental challenge: to repair a deeply fractured society fraught with ethno-religious, geographic and socio-economic divisions. It must end infighting within its political […]

Corruption

Accountability: Pakistan PM Resigns After Supreme Court Corruption Ruling

contributors

TeleSur | – – The ruling comes after months of hearings over Nawaz Sharif’s alleged corruption. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif resigned on Friday after the country’s Supreme Court disqualified him from office over corruption claims against his family. The Prime Minister’s office said in a statement that Sharif has “stepped down” despite having “serious […]