International Politics and Economy

By Josh Stearns According to the Supreme Court, police need a warrant to search the cellphones of people they arrest. The unanimous decision, which was handed down this week, is being heralded as a major victory for privacy rights and a landmark case with implications far beyond cellphones. The New York Times reports, “The ruling […]

censorship

Ruling Hindu Tea Party wants to “Develop” India for its 1%

contributors

By Gyanendra Pandey New Delhi Through the President’s address to Parliament on June 9, 2014, the newly elected Indian Government has officially outlined its short and longer-term agenda. The emphasis, as expected, is on faster economic growth. Questions of welfare and security for the poor and disadvantaged are, however, very superficially addressed. This has to […]

Bush

Blackwater: Nice State Dept. you have here, shame if Anything happened to It

contributors

State Department official documented in memo that mercenary threatened him just weeks before Nisour Square massacre By Jon Queally As the trial continues against Blackwater mercenaries accused of a bloody massacre that took place in Iraq in 2007 and left seventeen civilians dead, new documents reveal that just weeks prior to that incident a State […]

Books

What the Arab Youth Movements have Wrought: Don’t Count them Out Yet

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole via Tomdispatch.com Three and a half years ago, the world was riveted by the massive crowds of youths mobilizing in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to demand an end to Egypt’s dreary police state. We stared in horror as, at one point, the Interior Ministry mobilized camel drivers to attack the demonstrators. We watched […]

Arab Spring

Photo of the Day: Egyptian Youth Demanded end to Military Trials for Civilians

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole Now On the June 30 anniversary of the determined masses gathered in their millions at Tahrir Square and in city centers throughout Egypt, demanding a recall election for then Muslim Brotherhood president Muhammad Morsi, Tahrir Square in Cairo was blocked off and deserted. Early on Monday, two bombs were detonated outside the […]

Iraq

Barzani: Kurdish Rule To Stay In Kirkuk

contributors

Via RFE/RL Iraqi Kurdish leader Masud Barzani has said that there is no going back on autonomous Kurdish rule in the oil-rich city of Kirkuk and other northern towns that Kurdish fighters are now defending against Sunni Islamist militants. Speaking at a press conference on June 27 with British Foreign Secretary William Hague in the […]

censorship

The Fate of Dissenters in Al-Sisi’s Egypt: The New “Disappeared”

contributors

By Jihad Abaza As Abdel Fattah el-Sissi assumes his new role as Egypt’s president, enforced disappearances are on the rise in the Middle East’s most populous country, according to a recent press release by Amnesty International. Dozens of civilians have been kidnapped by police in plainclothes and detained at military camps since the 2011 uprising, […]

Democracy

A Subtle Alchemy: US Finds it easier to Occupy Abroad than to Withdraw

contributors

By Alan McPherson In 2003, former secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld infamously foresaw victory in Afghanistan and Iraq as demanding a “long, hard slog” and listed a multitude of unanswered questions. Over a decade later, as President Obama (slowly) fulfills his promise to pull all US troops from Afghanistan, a different set of questions emerges. […]

Dissent

Iraqi Idol: Tikrit Woman who Confronted ISIS Becomes Internet Sensation

contributors

By Osama Hassan | Tikrit Sad story: Tikrit woman Umiyia Jibara was killed by an ISIS sniper. In a country currently full of sad tales, the tragic death of a Tikrit women’s affairs adviser has drawn particular attention. The Sunni Muslim woman was supporting her family as they stood against Sunni Muslim extremists when she […]