International Politics and Economy

by Dario Sarmadi (trans. by Samuel Morgan) | ( EurActiv.de) | – – After the attacks carried out on women in Cologne on New Year’s Eve, the German government wants to act quickly and tighten the asylum law. Meanwhile, verbal and physical violence against migrants has escalated. EurActiv Germany reports. The events that unfolded in […]

Authoritarianism

Do Drug Gangs in Mexico kill more than ISIL? & other Big Security threats that will Surprise You

contributors

By Natasha Ezrow | (The Conversation) | – – This has been a remarkably violent year – and many of the worst threats to human security that have dogged people all over the globe are no less a problem than they were a year ago. Here, in no particular order, are some of the biggest […]

Featured

In Retrospect: A Year of Sharpening Contradictions

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) Reprint, revised Note: The horrific murder of 12 persons and the wounding of 11 in the attack on the staff of the satirical weely Charlie Hebdo by terrorists on January 7 this year was followed on the evening of 13 November by six coordinated attacks, killing 130 people, including […]

Democracy

Rare victory for Freedom of speech in Turkey, as Pianist allowed to quote Omar Khayyam

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – In a rare victory for freedom of speech in Turkey, the country’s Supreme Court of Appeals has completely overturned a lower court ruling that sentenced world-famous pianist Fazil Say to a suspended sentence of 10 months in prison. Say’s crime? To tweet out passages from the […]

Featured

Top 5 Things for which We should be grateful to Arabic Writing

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – When a teacher in rural Augusta county, Virginia, decided to expose her students to the Arabic script (a piece of calligraphy writing out the Muslim profession of faith), the backlash from some furious parents so hinted at violence that county schools had to be closed for […]

Elections

Saudi’s Suffragists: Women vote for first time, are elected to City Councils

contributors

By Katherine Mackenzie | (Inter Press Service) | – – ABU DHABI (IPS) – The triumph of 19 women in what is being seen as a landmark and historical election in a largely traditional and conservative country is a massive gain for women. A United Arab Emirates (UAE) daily newspaper called this a right step […]

Left Politics

Will Spain’s Bernie Sanders be a power Broker in wake of Elections?

contributors

By Paul Kennedy | (The Conversation) | – – Although Spain’s two big parties technically remain the largest after this year’s general election, they find themselves in a radically transformed political landscape – and neither has a clear mandate to govern. The Popular Party (PP), which secured its best ever result in 2011, winning 186 […]

Arms Sales

US Arms sales don’t Fight Terrorism & War, they Provoke Them

contributors

By Jeremy Ravinsky | (Foreign Policy in Focus) | – – Nothing recruits terrorists like corrupt security forces committing human rights abuses with impunity. (Photo: U.S. Marine Corps / Flickr) Recent, disparate terrorist attacks have shown that far from being “degraded and destroyed,” the Islamic State’s reach is growing. Unwilling to commit large numbers of […]

Democracy

In the Middle East’s New Century, can Western Imperialism stop Thwarting Democracy?

contributors

By Jeffrey D. Sachs | (Project Syndicate) | – – Jeffrey D. Sachs | (@JeffDSachs) – – NEW YORK – The United States, the European Union, and Western-led institutions such as the World Bank repeatedly ask why the Middle East can’t govern itself. The question is asked honestly but without much self-awareness. After all, the […]