International Politics and Economy

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 […]

Featured

41% of Trump Supporters want to bomb Aladdin and Jasmine

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Public Policy Polling asked US voters if they favored bombing “Agraba.” Some 30% of Republicans said “Yes!” Obviously, this is a a little bit of a trick, since voters being asked such a question assume it is a real policy issue. But wouldn’t you want to […]

Corruption

GOP Congress plans $100 bn. tax cut as Xmas Present for Corporations

contributors

By Jessica Schieder | (Otherwords.org) | – – This year-end tax package is a grab bag of gifts for corporations and a lump of coal for working families. Given the commitment House Republicans profess to balancing the federal budget, you’d think tax breaks for profitable businesses would be a low priority. But this holiday season, […]