Arab World

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Israeli military forces made a raid into Syria on Friday that from what I can gather turned into a disaster for them. Israeli troops mounted an assault on the hamlet of Beit Jinn southeast of Damascus, where they maintained that three members of the Lebanon-based Islamic Group (al-Jama`ah al-Islamiyyah) constituted […]

Arab World

Vanishing Future? The Arab World Faces 2x Global Heating, Corruption and High Tech Divide

Middle East Monitor

By Jasim Al-Azzawi ( Middle East Monitor ) – The Arab world is standing at a precipice. Climate change is accelerating at twice the global average across the region. Water scarcity threatens to erase up to 14 per cent of GDP by 2050. Illiteracy and failing education systems leave millions unprepared for the AI revolution […]

Egypt

How Global Power Shifts are Playing out in the Red Sea Region of the Mideast

The Conversation

By Federico Donelli, University of Trieste (The Conversation) – The competition for global influence and control is shifting. One of the places where this dynamic is playing out is the Red Sea region, which encompasses Egypt, Eritrea, Djibouti, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Here, international rivalries, regional ambitions and local politics collide. Federico Donelli, who […]

Arab World

Why Palestinian Statehood is a Prerequisite for Arab-Israeli Peace and Expansion of Abraham Accords

The Conversation

By Simon Mabon, Lancaster University (The Conversation) – Mohammed bin Salman wants to bring Saudi Arabia into the Abraham accords, the network of agreements to normalise relations between Israel with other countries in the Middle East and, increasingly, beyond. Donald Trump would have enjoyed hearing this when the Saudi crown prince visited the White House […]

Iraq War

Is Venezuela the New Iraq?

Foreign Policy in Focus

By Richard W. Coughlin | November 18, 2025 ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – Iraq and Venezuela share an obvious trait: they are oil-rich states whose resource nationalism puts them at odds with U.S. geopolitical ambitions. For George W. Bush, Iraqi oil was framed within the “peak oil” panic and U.S. dependence on foreign […]

Donald Trump

Trump Shifts to Monarchy Promotion in Middle East

Foreign Policy in Focus

. By Edward Hunt ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – The Trump administration is transforming U.S. policy toward the Middle East by promoting monarchy as the ideal form of government. While the president toys with the idea of turning the United States into a monarchy, presenting himself as the country’s king, his administration is […]

Donald Trump

Trump Pledges F-35s to Saudi Arabia in return for an unlikely $1 trillion in Investment, Angering Israel Lobbies

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Al-Jazeera reports on the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to the White House. One US goal for the meeting was to induct Saudi Arabia into the Abraham Accords, which Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Kazakhstan have joined, recognizing Israel in return for US economic and […]

Featured

Practicing Social Ecology: From Bookchin to Kurdish Rojava and Beyond

Peter G. Prontzos

Review of Eleanor Finley Practicing Social Ecology: From Bookchin to Rojava and Beyond, Pluto Press, 2025, by Peter G. Prontzos. Vancouver (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Murray Bookchin was one of the most significant thinkers – and activists – in the 20th century, beginning with his pioneering ecological analysis, Our Synthetic Environment, which was […]

Academic Freedom

California AB 715, Criminalizing Criticism of Israel, Aims to Quash Free Speech

H. Scott Prosterman

Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – On October 7, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 715 into law, which criminalizes any criticism of Israel as an act of anti-Semitism, punishable by criminal sanctions. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) notes that this bill was opposed by “teachers’ unions, civil rights groups, and education advocates […]