International Politics and Economy

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A particularly unperceptive and unfeeling wag came up with the bon mot defining a “socialist” as someone kept up at night by the fear that somewhere someone was making money. (Socialists are actually haunted by people working but not making money because the capitalist class is stiffing them). But by […]

Authoritarianism

Duke U. Faculty reply to Trump Dept of Ed. demand for Negative Teaching on Islam and Palestinians

contributors

Letter: 62 Duke faculty respond to Department of Education directive letter to the editor By Concerned Faculty October 3, 2019 | ( The Duke Chronicle) – We appreciate the recent statement on academic freedom from President Price and Provost Kornbluth following the US Department of Education’s investigation of the Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East studies. […]

Climate Crisis

The New Age of Protest

John Feffer

(Foreign Policy in Focus) – People are hitting the streets to protest government inaction, repression, and corruption. Does that mean democracy is in trouble or stronger than ever? By John Feffer, October 2, 2019. Print School strike for climate in Melbourne (Julian Meehan via Flickr) Led by young people, climate strikers blocked traffic on two […]

Arms Sales

Forget Nukes: Now for the Hypersonic Weapons Race

Rajan Menon

( Tomdispatch.com) – Hypersonic weapons close in on their targets at a minimum speed of Mach 5, five times the speed of sound or 3,836.4 miles an hour. They are among the latest entrants in an arms competition that has embroiled the United States for generations, first with the Soviet Union, today with China and […]

Corruption

Bribery & High Crimes and Misdemeanors: Did Trump finally go Full Impeachable in Ukraine Calls?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that in the course of his conversation in July with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump pressed him on eight separate occasions to investigate Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden. Biden when vice president is known to have pressured the Ukrainian government to fire a prosecutor […]

Donald Trump

Trump again Tries to Get Ilhan Omar Killed à la Heather Heyer with Lies about Dancing on 9/11

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – One of the “very fine people” Trump praised at the Charlottesville riot by Nazis and Klansmen rammed his car into a crowd of counter-protesters (i.e. ordinary people) and killed Heather Heyer on August 12, 2017. Trump appears to be angling for one of his Volk to do the same thing […]

Elections

What Israel’s Inconclusive Elections and Gridlock Means for Palestinians and the Mideast

The Conversation

By Martin Beck | – With no clear winner in September’s Israeli elections, both the incumbent prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his only serious contender, Benny Gantz, will now set about trying to form a governing coalition. Both are tarnished by the result. Contrary to elections held in April when Netanyahu’s right-wing party, Likud, and […]

Elections

Palestinian-Israeli Joint List Gains Seats, as Netanyahu’s Demonization Backfires

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Binyamin Netanyahu appears to have fallen short in his quest for a majority of 61 in the 120-seat Israeli parliament or Knesset. As I write, his far-right Likud Party is tied 32 to 32 with its center-right rival, Blue and White. Netanyahu campaigned frenetically and acted a little unbalanced during […]

Elections

Israel elections: who women vote for and how it’s shifting

The Conversation

By Einat Gedalya-Lavy | – Israelis are heading to the polls in a unique election. The vote on September 17 is the first time Israelis will vote in two elections in the same year, after the Likud party, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, failed to form a new coalition government following the April 2019 […]