Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – AFP reports that Trump has said, “American ships, both military and commercial, should be allowed to travel, free of charge, through the Panama and Suez canals!” He went on to allege that “both routes” would not exist in the first place without the United States. News organizations have probably lost […]
- Africa (253)
- Asia (1,254)
- Australasia (35)
- Authoritarianism (390)
- Canada (8)
- Culture (564)
- Economy (1,067)
- Agriculture (3)
- Banking (67)
- Boycotts (1)
- Carbon Footprint (6)
- Corporations (54)
- Cryptocurrency (2)
- Debt (21)
- Degrowth (1)
- Democratic Socialism (20)
- Demographic Decline (1)
- Development (26)
- Downward Mobility (1)
- Employment (118)
- Food Insecurity (21)
- Homelessness (16)
- Industry (5)
- Inequality (426)
- Inflation (5)
- infrastructure (10)
- Insurance (1)
- Investment (93)
- Market Crash (12)
- Middle Class (61)
- Monopolies (8)
- Neoliberalism (204)
- Plutocracy (631)
- Poverty (208)
- Poverty (15)
- Regulation (3)
- Retirement (1)
- Sanctions (4)
- Tariffs (3)
- Taxes (37)
- Technology (3)
- Trade (117)
- Weapons sales (7)
- Education (186)
- Energy (1,753)
- Batteries (52)
- Coal (140)
- Electricity Cost (2)
- Fossil Fuels (329)
- Fracking (50)
- Geothermal (7)
- Green ammonia (5)
- Green Energy (422)
- Green Hydrogen (8)
- Heat Pumps (6)
- Hydroelectric (1)
- Hydroelectric (15)
- Mining (1)
- Natural Gas (107)
- Nuclear Energy (160)
- Petroleum (302)
- Power Grid (12)
- Pumped Hydro (6)
- Solar Energy (421)
- Tar Sands (13)
- Wave Energy (9)
- wind energy (346)
- Environment (2,718)
- Climate Change (1,663)
- Acidification of Oceans (54)
- Agriculture (26)
- Biodiversity (13)
- Climate Refugees (4)
- CO2 (128)
- Dehydration (5)
- Denialism (149)
- Desalinization (4)
- Desertification (160)
- Divestment (2)
- Dust Storms (6)
- Environmental Investment (1)
- Extreme Heat (396)
- Extreme Weather (298)
- Flooding (138)
- Food Supply (3)
- Forests (18)
- Green New Deal (41)
- Green Recycling (2)
- Greenwashing (3)
- Mass Extinction (62)
- Methane (20)
- Net Carbon Zerio (8)
- Nitrous Oxide (2)
- Rainforests (19)
- Rivers (12)
- Sea Level (338)
- Soil Carbon Release (14)
- Super Storms (265)
- wildfires (240)
- Wood Buildings (1)
- Climate Crisis (1,351)
- Drought (295)
- Ecology (10)
- Ecology (1)
- Environmentalism (393)
- Green Transportation (256)
- Ice Melt (139)
- Invasive Species (2)
- Islands (1)
- Oceans (103)
- Oil Spills (8)
- Pollution (234)
- Water (97)
- wildlife (21)
- Climate Change (1,663)
- Europe (1,386)
- Featured (4,245)
- Haiti (1)
- Health (710)
- History (363)
- Human Rights (1,627)
- Apartheid (263)
- censorship (320)
- Death Penalty (30)
- Disappeared (4)
- Displaced and Refugees (581)
- Food Insecurity (30)
- Gay rights (29)
- Genocide (63)
- Human Rights Watch (91)
- Indigenous Rights (1)
- Migrants (4)
- privacy (21)
- Rights (90)
- Slavery and Trafficking (16)
- Starvation (4)
- Torture (102)
- Trans Rights (3)
- Transgender Rights (4)
- Unlawful Imprisonment (109)
- Unlwful Killing (81)
- War Crimes (422)
- War Rape (9)
- International Politics and Economy (2,125)
- Arms Sales (73)
- BRICS (3)
- Corruption (268)
- Crime (132)
- Democracy (336)
- Dissent (448)
- Domestic Terrorism (15)
- Drones (113)
- G20 (1)
- Guns (9)
- Hacking (8)
- Immigration (21)
- Immigration (4)
- Islamophobia (383)
- Migrants (2)
- military (125)
- nationalism (117)
- NATO (37)
- Neocolonialism (1)
- Peace (144)
- Policing (2)
- Politics (309)
- Politics&Culture (21)
- Propaganda (13)
- Smuggling (1)
- Juan Cole (270)
- Latin America (102)
- media (485)
- Middle East (10,013)
- Arab World (5,303)
- Iran (1,355)
- Israel (955)
- Israel/ Palestine (3,647)
- Israel/Palestine (9)
- Kurds (294)
- Red Sea (1)
- Turkey (601)
- Turkiye (128)
- Patriarchy (10)
- racism (472)
- religion (1,518)
- robots (3)
- Romance (1)
- science (174)
- Secular (West) (9)
- Secularism (30)
- Spirituality (22)
- Statelessness (15)
- Stranded Assets (1)
- Surveillance (280)
- Terrorism (1,096)
- Tolerance (6)
- Uncategorized (8,082)
- United Nations (177)
- Urbanization (4)
- US Foreign Policy (1,378)
- US politics (5,478)
- Anti-War Movement (13)
- Campaign Finance (31)
- Censors (22)
- Central Intelligence Agency (63)
- Charity (1)
- Civil Rights (96)
- Congress (80)
- Conspiracy Theories (23)
- Constitution (408)
- Courts (15)
- crime (12)
- Democratic Party (975)
- Democratic Socialists of America (22)
- Domestic Terrorism (20)
- Drone Warfare (27)
- Espionage (124)
- Ethnicities (393)
- Far Right (398)
- FBI (48)
- Federal Government (1)
- Foreign Policy (204)
- Gay Rights (17)
- Guns (97)
- Immigration (249)
- Israel Lobbies (130)
- Marijuana (4)
- Militarization (274)
- National Security State (477)
- Native Americans (40)
- Nuclear arsenal (7)
- penitentiaries (6)
- Pentagon (576)
- Police (43)
- prison reform (9)
- Private Prisons (2)
- Progressive Politics (13)
- Puerto Rico (30)
- Religious Right (15)
- Reproductive Choice (68)
- Republican Party (3,080)
- Supreme Court (133)
- Voter suppression (36)
- Whistleblowers (7)
- Xenophobia (9)
- Veterans (35)
- Voting Rights (16)
- War (620)
- White Supremacists (237)
- wikileaks (8)
- women (568)
- workers (234)
- Writing (5)
- Youth (216)
Arab World
Lebanon: Indiscriminate Israeli Attacks on Civilians must be Investigated as War Crimes (HRW)
Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – Two unlawful Israeli strikes on the northeastern Lebanese town of Younine between September and November 2024, which killed 33 civilians, 15 of them children, were apparent indiscriminate attacks on civilians, Human Rights Watch said today. At least one of the attacks used an air-dropped bomb equipped with a United States-produced […]
Trump Administration to draw Down Troop Presence in New, Fundamentalist Syria
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Tara Copp at AP reports that the Trump administration will withdraw some of the 2000 troops now based in southeastern Syria. Some 600 will come out, leaving about 1400. The US has 8 small bases there and will close 3 of them. According to the UAE press which draws on […]
Iraq’s Climate Crisis is a Human Rights Crisis
Sarah Sanbar Iraq Researcher, Middle East and North Africa Division ( Human Rights Watch ) – By any metric, Iraq’s environment is under severe pressure. Lakes, rivers, and marshlands are shrinking, and in some cases entirely disappearing. Sandstorms are increasing in frequency and severity, resulting in hospitalizations and the grounding of flights. Decades of conflict-related […]
Syria after Assad: Why many Syrian Refugees aren’t returning Home
By Charlotte Al-Khalili, University of Sussex and Melissa Gatter, University of Sussex (The Conversation) – When news of Bashar al-Assad’s downfall broke on December 8 2024, 13 years after the beginning of the Syrian uprising, Syrians around the world rejoiced. We rejoiced along with them, having spent the last decade in conversation with Syrians displaced […]
Signalgate shows Trump bombing of Yemen just for Show, Ignores Dead Yemeni Children
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The high-level Trump administration Signal message thread on bombing Yemen on which someone on the staff of National Security Adviser Michael Waltz included The Atlantic‘s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg is what is impolitely called in the military a SNAFU (Situation Normal All F*cked Up). Yes, it is a security breach of […]
After Assad: Sectarian Violence and the Struggle for Syria’s Future
By Weliam Sejari ( Global Voices ) – The fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime on December 8, 2024, marked a pivotal moment in Syria’s history, ending over five decades of Assad family rule. This transition, however, has been marred by escalating violence, particularly against the Alawite community in Syria’s coastal regions. Beginning on March […]
The Making of the Modern Middle East: Juan Cole on History, Politics, and Today’s Turmoil – Tamooda Interview
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Juan Cole interviewed by Martin Asser at Tamooda : “The Making of the Modern Middle East: Juan Cole on History, Politics, and Today’s Turmoil” According to LinkedIn, “ TAMOODA is a new digital, independent, liberal, and secular platform in the Arab world for opinion. It is is a non-profit initiative […]
Middle Eastern Monarchies in Sudan’s War: what’s driving their Interests
By Federico Donelli, University of Trieste (The Conversation) – The civil war in Sudan that began in April 2023 involves several external actors. The conflict pits the Sudanese Armed Forces against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in a quest for political and economic power. The situation has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. […]