Arab World

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The rise of the Middle Kingdom in the Middle East: Iran, Gulf Oil and China:

By Arhama Siddiqa | – ( Middle East Monitor) – China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) stands as the most prominent example of the pivotal shift in Chinese foreign policy from Deng Xiaoping’s “bide and hide” philosophy to the current ambitious endeavours. The BRI is a titanic project focused on increasing connectivity by opening up […]

Employment

Will Beirut’s Port Explosion and Economic Crisis Spur Mass Migration from Lebanon?

The Conversation

By Hannes Baumann | – The explosion that tore through Beirut on Tuesday August 4 was so strong that shockwaves were felt on the island of Cyprus, over 200 kilometres away. At least 135 people were killed and 5,000 injured in the blast. Such devastation would be difficult to deal with at the best of […]

Climate Crisis

Beirut’s Destruction was a Crime of Evil Negligence, the same Crime being Committed Against our Climate

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Some 300,000 people in Beirut have been left homeless by the enormous explosion at the city’s port on Tuesday, which left it without a means of importing by sea. Half of the city has been damaged. 80% of Lebanon’s grain is imported, and the grain silos were destroyed. Thousands of […]

Environmentalism

Beirut Catastrophe: Polluters routinely mishandle, illegally trade Hazardous Materials at Sea, in Ports

The Conversation

By Scott Edwards and Christian Bueger | At the time of writing at least 100 people have lost their lives and a further 4,000 have been wounded following an explosion in the Port of Beirut. While the actual cause remains uncertain, the tragedy calls to attention the tremendous consequences of a lack of port security. […]

Donald Trump

Trump nearly provokes International Incident, Wrongly saying Beirut Explosion a “Bomb”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A massive ammonium nitrate explosion rocked Beirut’s port on Tuesday, sending up a mushroom cloud that reminded some of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, damaging buildings, blowing out windows, overturning cars, wounding over 3,000 people at least, and leaving dozens dead. Flying glass and debris were responsible for many of the injuries. […]

Donald Trump

A Warning Signal for US? Corruption, Gov’t Gridlock, Pandemic, drive half a Million Lebanese Children into Hunger

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Lebanon, a small country of 4.7 million citizens and another 1.5 million Syrian refugees and 400,000 Palestinian refugees, is facing a perfect storm. Its corrupt political elite has permitted a near-collapse of a once-solid banking system. Government services are paralyzed and there are electricity outages. The country, which is a […]

Syria

In northern Syria, COVID-19 Threatens Escalation of an already Dramatic Humanitarian Crisis

Global Voices

By Mousa Mohamed | – Translated by Mariam Abuadas | – ( GlobalVoices.org ) – The ongoing armed conflict in Syria has displaced over 1.6 million people who have fled mostly to the north of the country. The resulting catastrophic humanitarian crisis is now worsened by the impact of COVID-19 in the region. Photo of […]

Donald Trump

US Bases in Qatar, UAE go on Alert as Iran Fires Ballistic Missiles at Mock-up of US Aircraft Carrier

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Sepahnews quotes Brigadier Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Aerospace Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), as saying that his unit was able to launch ballistic missiles from bunkers the depths of the earth for the first time in world history. (He did not explain what he meant […]