Arab World

Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – Civilians fleeing renewed fighting in northern Yemen are particularly vulnerable to the Covid-19 pandemic, Human Rights Watch said today. Fighting in Marib governorate between Houthi forces and the Saudi-led coalition and their Yemeni government allies has moved closer to overcrowded camps for internally displaced people that have inadequate health […]

Afghanistan

On Memorial Day: How the US Lost its “Battle of Aqaba” to the Coronavirus

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On July 6, 1917, Auda Abu Tayy led his Howeitat tribesmen in a successful attack on the Ottoman port of Aqaba in what is now Jordan but was then the Ottoman Empire. The Arabs of the Hejaz or Western Arabia and the Transjordan had allied with the British to revolt […]

Authoritarianism

Is Trump Ally Saudi Arabia moving toward Tolerance or Fear?

Bill Law

( Middle East Monitor ) – 21 May marked UNESCO’s World Day for Cultural Diversity and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a heavy contributor of UNESCO, released a beautifully shot and edited one-minute video that concluded with the words: “Saudi Arabia’s diversity is a rich and evolving story.” The following day, Saudi media outlets released […]

Displaced and Refugees

Locked up with no escape: refugees and migrants in Libya face bombs,virus and everything in between

Open Democracy

By Marwa Mohamed | – (openDemocracy.net) – Libya today is facing its greatest challenge to date. In spite of years of internal conflict, the country must gear up to fight a virus with a depleted healthcare system and a fractured state. While the situation is overall bleak, it remains exceptionally desperate for refugees and migrants […]

Arms Sales

Did Trump fire State Dept. Inspector to Protect Shady Arms Deal with Saudi Arabia?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The mystery deepens. Late last Friday, Trump summarily fired the State Department Inspector General, Steve Linick. While in US law as it now stands, the president has the power to fire pretty much anyone in the executive, if he fired Linick as an act of retaliation for one of Linick’s […]

Donald Trump

I guess “Islam” doesn’t Hate us After All: Trump pins hopes for Vaccine on Muslim-American Slaoui

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump became president in part by playing on fears, resentments and outright hatred among some segments of the American public, especially of a racial and religious sort. He bashed Mexican-Americans as drug dealers and rapists, and recently blamed Chinese-Americans for the coronavirus. But no group came in for so fierce […]

al-Qaeda

How the Justice Department Accidentally Released the Name of Saudi Official Suspected of Helping the 9/11 Hijackers

ProPublica

By Tim Golden and Sebastian Rotella | – (ProPublica) – After an extraordinary, two-year battle to keep secret the name of a Saudi diplomat suspected of ties to the 9/11 plot, the Justice Department accidentally disclosed the man’s name in a court filing. The revelation of the Saudi official’s identity, in a federal court filing […]

Bashar al-Assad

Is Russia set to abandon its ally, Syria’s al-Assad?

Nikola Mikovic

Rumors are flying that Russia may be trying to topple Syria’s President Bashar Al-Assad, or at least to force him to accept a new constitution that would significantly limit his power. Moscow unexpectedly started criticizing its only ally in the Middle East, which has raised questions on the future of Russia’s involvement in the Syrian […]

Afghanistan

If only we Had that $6.4 Trillion we wasted on Iraq and Afghanistan to Lift the Economy and Fight Coronavirus

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Wouldn’t it be nice if the richest country in the world had some resources stored up to deal with the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and the worst health crisis since the 1918 Influenza Pandemic that killed 600,000 Americans? I mean, we had a $21 trillion a year […]