International Politics and Economy

(Karen J. Greenberg) In January 2009, Barack Obama entered the Oval Office projecting idealism and proud to be the constitutional law professor devoted to turning democratic principles into action. In his first weeks in office, in a series of executive orders and public statements, the new president broadcast for all to hear the five commandments […]

Islam

Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” video Decried as Blasphemous by Some Muslims

Juan Cole

Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” music video, set in ancient Egypt, has stirred controversy because of a scene where a man is struck down who is wearing a pendant with “God” (Allah) written on it in Arabic. An online petition decries it as blasphemous. Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks points out that in ancient Egypt […]

Barack Obama

Dick Cheney Broke US Military, now blames Obama for Cuts

Juan Cole

Former Vice President Dick Cheney has lambasted the Obama administration for its announcement that it will cut 8% out of the military budget and reduce standing army troop levels to the lowest level since before World War II (from 550,000 at the height of the Iraq War to 440,000). Cheney told CNN he believed that […]

Human Rights

Angelina Jolie launches Syria Refugee Appeal; UNICEF: 2,000 Syrian Children in Lebanon at Risk of Death

Juan Cole

(UNICEF writes): UNICEF report: Silent threat emerging among Syrian refugee children in Lebanon BEIRUT, 25 February 2014 – A UNICEF-led joint nutrition assessment on the situation of Syrian refugees in Lebanon was launched today, revealing malnutrition as a silent, emerging threat. UNICEF, in partnership with Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), the UN Refugee Agency […]

Climate Change

A World Multiply Endangered: Horseman of the Four Apocalypses

Juan Cole

(Ira Chernus) For those of us of a certain age, it seems as if the world has always been ending. It’s easy now to forget just how deep fears and fantasies about a nuclear apocalypse went in the “golden” 1950s. And I’m not just thinking about kids like me “ducking and covering” at the advice of Bert the […]

Arab Spring

As Egyptian Gov’t Falls, Leftist Presidential Candidate seeks Youth Vote

Juan Cole

(Via AFP) Egypt presidential hopeful fears return to autocracy (via AFP) Presidential hopeful Hamdeen Sabbahi said he fears a return to autocratic rule in Egypt, telling AFP that the army chief, a likely election frontrunner, has failed to dispel these concerns. Sabbahi, 59, who came third in the 2012 presidential election… —— Related video: […]

censorship

The Decline and Fall of the Turkish Model

contributors

(By Erdağ Göknar for IslamiCommentary) Erdağ Göknar Most observers agree that Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has mishandled the current political crisis. The AKP, led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, once aspired to civil society and pluralism, but has recently embraced a strain of single-party authoritarianism. The government has sought increased control […]

Crime

4 Darknesses: Internet being Manipulated, Deceived by Western Intel Trolls

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Researchers on online behavior have shown that internet trolls (people who use insincere techniques to disrupt conversations) really are psychopaths, marked by narcisssism, sadism, Machiavellianism. Professors Eric Buckels, Paul Trapnell, and Delroy Paulhus administered surveys to students and found that about 6 percent of them enjoyed messing with other people’s heads on […]

Dissent

Israel’s Curb on Freedom of Speech in Anti-Boycott Law Challenged in Court

contributors

(By Bill Van Esveld) On [last] Sunday, nine Israeli Supreme Court justices heard a petition to revoke the country’s “anti-boycott law” – a law that penalizes people or groups that advocate boycotting Israeli products, institutions or individuals – because it restricts the right to freedom of expression. The anti-boycott law’s critics are as diverse as […]