( Foreign Policy in Focus) – Donald Trump wants to pull U.S. troops out of Syria as quickly as possible. Well, it’s Wednesday, so that’s what the president wants now. Tomorrow, who knows, maybe he’ll insist that Syria pay for the pullout. Maybe Trump will decide to hold a summit with Bashar al-Assad after deciding […]
- Africa (261)
- Asia (1,287)
- Australasia (37)
- Authoritarianism (418)
- Canada (10)
- Culture (609)
- Economy (1,087)
- Agriculture (4)
- Banking (67)
- Boycotts (1)
- Carbon Footprint (6)
- Corporations (56)
- Cryptocurrency (2)
- Debt (21)
- Degrowth (1)
- Democratic Socialism (20)
- Demographic Decline (1)
- Development (26)
- Downward Mobility (1)
- Employment (118)
- Food Insecurity (23)
- Homelessness (18)
- Industry (5)
- Inequality (430)
- Inflation (6)
- infrastructure (11)
- Insurance (1)
- Investment (93)
- Market Crash (12)
- Middle Class (61)
- Monopolies (9)
- Neoliberalism (206)
- Plutocracy (637)
- Poverty (211)
- Poverty (17)
- Regulation (3)
- Retirement (1)
- Sanctions (5)
- Tariffs (5)
- Taxes (38)
- Technology (5)
- Trade (121)
- Weapons sales (8)
- Education (214)
- Energy (1,802)
- Agrovoltaics (4)
- Batteries (54)
- Coal (141)
- Electricity Cost (2)
- Fossil Fuels (335)
- Fracking (50)
- Geothermal (7)
- Green ammonia (5)
- Green Energy (437)
- Green Hydrogen (8)
- Heat Pumps (6)
- Hydroelectric (2)
- Hydroelectric (16)
- Mining (1)
- Natural Gas (109)
- Nuclear Energy (161)
- Petroleum (303)
- Power Grid (12)
- Pumped Hydro (6)
- Solar Energy (449)
- Tar Sands (13)
- Wave Energy (10)
- wind energy (365)
- Environment (2,814)
- Climate Change (1,706)
- Acidification of Oceans (54)
- Agriculture (26)
- Biodiversity (16)
- Climate Refugees (6)
- CO2 (133)
- Dehydration (5)
- Denialism (159)
- Desalinization (5)
- Desertification (163)
- Divestment (2)
- Dust Storms (7)
- Environmental Investment (1)
- Extreme Heat (410)
- Extreme Weather (303)
- Flooding (142)
- Food Supply (3)
- Forests (18)
- Green New Deal (42)
- Green Recycling (2)
- Greenwashing (3)
- Mass Extinction (63)
- Methane (21)
- Net Carbon Zerio (8)
- Nitrous Oxide (2)
- Rainforests (19)
- Rivers (13)
- Sea Level (345)
- Soil Carbon Release (14)
- Super Storms (271)
- wildfires (248)
- Wood Buildings (1)
- Climate Crisis (1,437)
- Drought (303)
- Ecology (2)
- Ecology (12)
- Environmentalism (393)
- Green Transportation (260)
- Ice Melt (144)
- Invasive Species (3)
- Islands (3)
- Oceans (106)
- Oil Spills (8)
- Pollution (234)
- Water (103)
- wildlife (24)
- Climate Change (1,706)
- Europe (1,416)
- Featured (4,488)
- Haiti (1)
- Health (724)
- History (385)
- Human Rights (1,709)
- Apartheid (265)
- censorship (355)
- Death Penalty (32)
- Disappeared (4)
- Displaced and Refugees (590)
- Food Insecurity (33)
- Forced Displacement (1)
- Gay rights (29)
- Genocide (84)
- Human Rights Watch (94)
- Indigenous Rights (1)
- Migrants (4)
- privacy (21)
- Rights (93)
- Slavery and Trafficking (16)
- Starvation (6)
- Torture (104)
- Trans Rights (6)
- Transgender Rights (5)
- Unlawful Imprisonment (112)
- Unlwful Killing (89)
- War Crimes (441)
- War Rape (9)
- International Politics and Economy (2,177)
- Arms Sales (77)
- BRICS (4)
- Corruption (270)
- Crime (133)
- Democracy (341)
- Dissent (469)
- Domestic Terrorism (15)
- Drones (113)
- Espionage (1)
- G20 (1)
- Guns (9)
- Hacking (8)
- Immigration (22)
- Immigration (5)
- Islamophobia (387)
- Migrants (2)
- military (125)
- nationalism (119)
- NATO (41)
- Neocolonialism (1)
- Peace (151)
- Policing (3)
- Politics (317)
- Politics&Culture (22)
- Propaganda (14)
- Race (3)
- Smuggling (1)
- Juan Cole (272)
- Latin America (115)
- media (496)
- Middle East (10,483)
- Arab World (5,397)
- Iran (1,433)
- Israel (1,011)
- Israel/ Palestine (3,962)
- Israel/Palestine (9)
- Kurds (298)
- Red Sea (1)
- Turkey (615)
- Turkiye (142)
- Patriarchy (12)
- racism (479)
- religion (1,555)
- robots (3)
- Romance (1)
- science (178)
- Secular (West) (9)
- Secularism (30)
- Spirituality (22)
- Statelessness (15)
- Stranded Assets (1)
- Surveillance (286)
- Terrorism (1,099)
- Tolerance (6)
- Uncategorized (8,088)
- United Nations (191)
- Urbanization (4)
- US Foreign Policy (1,442)
- US politics (5,661)
- Anti-War Movement (13)
- Campaign Finance (31)
- Censors (22)
- Central Intelligence Agency (63)
- Charity (1)
- Civil Rights (96)
- Congress (82)
- Conspiracy Theories (24)
- Constitution (423)
- Courts (16)
- crime (12)
- Democratic Party (979)
- Democratic Socialists of America (25)
- Domestic Terrorism (20)
- Drone Warfare (27)
- Espionage (124)
- Ethnicities (400)
- Far Right (408)
- FBI (48)
- Federal Government (1)
- Foreign Policy (204)
- Gay Rights (17)
- Guns (97)
- Immigration (259)
- Israel Lobbies (131)
- Marijuana (4)
- Militarization (275)
- National Security State (478)
- Native Americans (42)
- Nuclear arsenal (8)
- penitentiaries (6)
- Pentagon (583)
- Police (43)
- prison reform (10)
- Private Prisons (4)
- Progressive Politics (15)
- Puerto Rico (30)
- Religious Right (16)
- Reproductive Choice (69)
- Republican Party (3,225)
- South Asian-Americans (1)
- Supreme Court (133)
- USAID (1)
- Voter suppression (36)
- Whistleblowers (7)
- Xenophobia (9)
- Veterans (36)
- Voting Rights (16)
- War (641)
- White Supremacists (242)
- wikileaks (8)
- women (576)
- workers (237)
- Writing (5)
- Youth (220)
Syria
Syria Kurds Reject proposed “safe zone” under Turkey Control
The Kurds in Syria yesterday rejected a US proposal to establish a 20 mile safe zone on the Syrian-Turkish border under Turkey’s control. Kurdish leader Aldar Khalil instead proposed that the UN deploy peacekeeping troops along the separation line between Turkish and Kurdish fighters, saying: “Other options cannot be accepted because they infringe on the […]
No, US Troop Deaths in Syria don’t Contradict Defeat of ISIL
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A powerful blast in the streets of Manbij killed 2 US troops and 2 American civilians and wounded 3 other Americans. Syrian civilians were also killed and others wounded by the suicide bombing at a restaurant on Wednesday. Up until yesterday, 4 US troops had been killed in Syria since […]
Turkey will set up and itself Manage Syria ‘Security Zone’ after Trump Call
By Fulya OZERKAN | – Istanbul (AFP) – Turkey welcomed the planned withdrawal of some 2,000 US troops from Syria but the future of US-backed Kurdish militia forces there labelled terrorists by Ankara has poisoned US-Turkish ties Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that Ankara would set up a “security zone” in northern Syria […]
Is an al-Qaeda Front dominating 3 Million People in North Syria?
By Michel MOUTOT | – Paris (AFP) – The jihadist group now controlling Idlib province in northwest Syria claims to have broken with Al-Qaeda, but analysts say that despite several rebrandings there’s no sign it has changed its stripes. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) sealed its hold on Idlib last week after signing a ceasefire with […]
Defying Turkey & Russia in Syria, al-Qaeda-linked HTS takes over Idlib
By Jean Marc Mojon | – Beirut (AFP) – A general view of a camp for displaced people in the village of Atme, in Syria’s mostly rebel-held northern Idlib province on January 8, 2019 The Idlib area in northern Syria is now fully ruled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a jihadist organisation dominated by members […]
Turkey’s Erdogan snubs Bolton for support of Kurdish YPG: ‘He made a grave Mistake’
By Luana Sarmini-Buonaccorsi and Fulya Ozerkan in Istanbul – Ankara, Turkey | AFP | – US National Security Advisor John Bolton was in Ankara to discuss the planned US withdrawal from Syria Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday condemned comments by a key US envoy over the future of a US-allied Syrian Kurdish militia […]
President Bolton overrules Feckless Trump Tweet on Syria Withdrawal
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Last Two Neoconservatives in the Trump administration, National Security Adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have swung into action to repeal Trump’s troop withdrawal from Syria. Bolton visited Israel to reassure prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu that the US will look after the interests of allies as […]
Trump’s Remark that Iranians ‘Can do what they want’ in Syria Mocked in Mideast
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Christian-owned Lebanese daily al-Nahar (The Day) mocked Trump’s remark this week that Iran can do whatever it wants in Syria after the US military withdrawal (“they can do what they want there, frankly”). A columnist for the newspaper, Monalisa Fariha, entitled her piece, “Iran will get out of Syria […]








