International Politics and Economy

( RFE/RL) – Antiestablishment protests have raged across Iran for months, despite a brutal state crackdown in which hundreds of demonstrators have been killed and thousands more detained. Triggered by the death of a young woman died after she was arrested by Iran’s morality police in mid-September, the ongoing nationwide protests have become the longest-running […]

Displaced and Refugees

Who will Help Rohingya Women and Demonstrate Global Leadership?

The Conversation

By Deeplina Banerjee, Western University | – The UN Security Council recently adopted its first resolution on Myanmar in more than seven decades. The resolution demanded an end to the violence and called on Myamnar’s military junta to release all political prisoners. In 2021, the military seized power in the country in a violent coup […]

NATO

Can NATO and the Pentagon Find a Diplomatic Off-Ramp From the Ukraine War?

Medea Benjamin and Nicholas J.S. Davies

( Code Pink) – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, known for his staunch support for Ukraine, recently revealed his greatest fear for this winter to a TV interviewer in his native Norway: that the fighting in Ukraine could spin out of control and become a major war between NATO and Russia. “If things go wrong,” […]

Authoritarianism

Iran Leader Khamenei seems to Back-Pedal from Punishing Women for “Poor Veiling” after Months of Protest

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – According to the official Iranian press, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the “August Leader” of Iran, met Wednesday with hundreds of professional women and spoke about the controversies wracking the country regarding veiling. He stressed that the veiling of women is firmly part of Islamic law and there can be no retreat […]

Employment

Why Many Turkish People who migrated to European Countries are worse off than those who stayed at Home

The Conversation

By Sebnem Eroglu, University of Bristol | – (The Conversation) – Many people migrate to another country to earn a decent income and to attain a better standard of living. But my recent research shows that across all destinations and generations studied, many migrants from Turkey to European countries are financially worse off than those […]

Authoritarianism

Two Iranian Teens Reportedly Sentenced To Death Over Protests

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

By Ardeshir Tayebi | – Iran has reportedly sentenced two teenagers to death for “corruption on Earth” and “waging war against God” among other charges often used by the judiciary to help the government quell nationwide unrest sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in police custody. The U.S.-based activist group HRANA quoted […]

censorship

Sudan Military-Civilian Pact Omits Key Justice Reforms, including an End to Impunity (HRW)

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch – (Nairobi) – Sudan’s political actors and international partners should ensure that progress on human rights and accountability for serious human rights violations are central to any new transition, Human Rights Watch said today. This includes an end to the violent crackdown against peaceful protesters, releasing arbitrarily detained protesters, and taking concrete […]

Corruption

The Republican Sleight-of-Hand: McCarthy Failed on his first Try because He is George Santos

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Republican Party failed to elect a Speaker of the House on Tuesday. The ostensible reason is that 20 of the fascist so-called “Freedom Caucus” representatives voted against him. Six voted for Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the biggest liar in politics since Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise […]

nuclear weapons

Imagining a World Without Nuclear Weapons

H. Patricia Hynes

Greenfield, Mass. (Special to Informed Comment) – January 22 marks the second anniversary of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, a global lifeboat supported by 70% of the world’s countries. Meanwhile, the US Department of Energy’s 2023 budget request for nuclear weapons’ upgrade is more than $21 billion and close to $8 […]