Arab World

Hannah Porter | (Informed Comment) | – – A concerted effort by the international community to resolve Yemen’s war would see considerable benefits at a small cost, yet profits, alliances, and egos are getting in the way. On midnight, March 26, 2015, Saudi fighter jets took to the skies of Yemen, marking the beginning of […]

Counter-Terrorism

Can Iraq save Tal Afar from ISIL without Destroying the City?

contributors

By Mustafa Habib | (Niqash.org) | – – [N.B. The offensive against ISIL (Daesh) in Tal Afar began on Sunday. – JC] Intensive air raids, secret political talks and military forces gathering on the outskirts of the city: Everything points to the battle of Tal Afar – almost the extremists’ last stand in Iraq . […]

Donald Trump

US Military in Syria to Stay, YPG Kurds Say

contributors

TeleSur | – – The United States has been funding and supporting the group for months, due to “strategic interests” in the region, a spokesperson revealed. U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in Syria — who are among Washington’s most important and powerful regional allies — told Reuters Thursday that the U.S. military will remain in northern Syria […]

Epidemics

Under Saudi Bombs, Yemen hit by 500,000 Cholera Cases

contributors

TeleSur | – – Each day there are more than 5,000 new cases of the waterborne disease. More than half a million people in Yemen have been infected with cholera since the epidemic began four months ago and 1,975 people have died, the World Health Organization, WHO, announced Monday. Each day there are more than […]

Iraq

Iraq after ISIL needs Security, Anti-Corruption & Jobs, not Identity Politics

contributors

By Andrea Teti, Pamela Abbott, and Munqith Dagher | ( OpenDemocracy.net ) | – – Ignoring priorities that have popular support in Iraq risks undermining post-ISIS attempts to build a stable country, with knock-on effects at a regional level. As the defeat of ISIS/Daesh looms large both in Syria and in Iraq, attention turns to […]

Democracy

Iraq’s Next Elections will be the most Important in its History

contributors

Mustafa Habib. | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | – – In Iraq, larger political parties disagree on everything except maintaining the status quo: Parliament just passed a law that will badly affect the smaller parties competing in the next elections. It has been said before. But this time it may well be true: Iraq’s next elections […]

Arms Sales

Should Western Countries be Selling Masses of Arms to Saudi Arabia?

contributors

By Riccardo Labianco | (The Conversation) | – – Since the catastrophic Yemeni civil war began in 2015, the British public has woken up to a serious problem: the use of UK-manufactured arms by Saudi Arabia. Various NGOs, campaigners and many MPs are increasingly worried about evidence that since the beginning of the conflict, Saudi […]

Latin America

Did Saudi ‘Cheap Oil’ Policy throw Venezuela into Crisis?

contributors

Bulent Gökay | (The Conversation) | – – Venezuela is sinking ever deeper into a political and economic calamity. Inflation is above 700% and GDP is more than a third below 2013 levels. The country with the world’s largest proven oil reserves is now the world’s most indebted country – no other nation has a […]

Donald Trump

Is Turkey on brink of Invading Syrian Kurds, US BFF?

contributors

TeleSur | – – The Turkish Armed Forces are massing on the Syrian border days after a reshuffle of top brass in the country’s military in anticipation of a potential invasion that could dramatically complicate Syria’s ongoing civil war. Kurdish militia backed by U.S. forces are currently taking part in an assault against the Islamic […]