Politics

By Arash Javanbakht | – People have always used fear for intimidation of the subordinates or enemies, and shepherding the tribe by the leaders. Recently, it appears that Pres. Trump has used fear by suggesting in a tweet that four minority congresswomen go back to the places they came from. There is a longstanding history […]

Donald Trump

Notorious Moments in Modern History when Dictators Sent their own Citizens “Back”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump’s crowds have started chanting “Send her back!” referring to Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), a Somali-American who came as a refugee when a child and was naturalized. The idea that some citizens are less loyal or less patriotic or less deserving of residency than other citizens is not new in […]

Far Right

Why Tucker Carlson is Wrong to attack Ilhan Omar for her Dissent

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Tucker Carlson has veered further and further toward unadorned white nationalism as Rupert Murdoch’s declining “Fox News” has failed to find viewers in the younger generation and risks losing cultural influence. Having positioned itself on the right of the Republican Party, once it lost the Young Republicans it had no […]

Elections

Can Democracy meet Challenge of Far Right Populism, from Brazil to Italy to India and US?

John Feffer

(Foreign Policy in Focus) – Democracy faces a global crisis. And this crisis couldn’t be coming at a worse time. If you’re a supporter of Donald Trump — or Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil or Matteo Salvini in Italy — you probably think that democracy has never been in better health. Recent elections in these countries […]

Climate Crisis

After Immigration, Europe’s Next Big Left-Right Divide is Climate Action

Clean Energy Wire

By Rachel Waldholz | – ( Clean Energy Wire) – The European elections delivered major gains for Green parties in several countries, as voters signalled a strong desire for more aggressive action on climate change. In Germany, the Green surge was especially strong. The party doubled its support, coming in second to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s […]

Donald Trump

On Anniversary of D-Day: Would Trump have bothered, or Been on Other Side?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – I grew up in the shadow of World War II. It ended only seven years before I was born. I had an uncle who had been at the Battle of the Bulge. My father was too young to serve, but was inspired by the fight against fascism and joined as […]

Far Right

Are World’s Democracies finally turning on Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp/Fox ‘Cancer on Politics?’

The Conversation

By Denis Muller | – There is mounting evidence that Australia is sick of Rupert Murdoch and the political propaganda machine he runs in the guise of a news organisation. In January, [center-left Labor Party leader] Bill Shorten rebuffed an open-ended offer to meet Murdoch whenever the opposition leader was in the United States. According […]

Far Right

Is the World Doomed to Far Rightwing Soft Dictatorship?

John Feffer

(Tomdispatch.com) – In the Americas, the Trump tsunami has swept across both continents and the “pink tide” of progressivism has all but disappeared from the southern half of the hemisphere. In Europe, with the recent exception of Spain, the left has been banished to the political margins. In Africa and Asia, socialism has devolved into […]

Donald Trump

Revealed: Trump-linked US Christian fundamentalists boost European Far Right with Dark Money Millions

Open Democracy

By Claire Provost and Adam Ramsay | – ( OpenDemocracy.net) – US Christian right ‘fundamentalists’ linked to the Trump administration and Steve Bannon are among a dozen American groups that have poured at least $50 million of ‘dark money’ into Europe over the last decade, openDemocracy can reveal today. Between them, these groups have backed […]