Middle East

Montesquieu in Najd: Saudi Arabia, World’s Last Absolute Monarchy, Challenged by New Democratic Political Party

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A group of expatriate Saudi intellectuals announced this week the formation of the National Assembly Party, which they intend as an opposition party working for a rule of law and separation of powers in the kingdom. The group’s manifesto is printed here, declaring that they want to see democracy implemented […]

Qatar

Qatar: Significant Reforms for Gulf Labor give Workers new Freedoms

Human Rights Watch

( Human Rights Watch ) – (Beirut) – The success of the significant labor reform measures that Qatar introduced on September 8, 2020, will depend on how well the government enforces and monitors them, Human Rights Watch said today. The reforms will allow migrant workers to change jobs without employer permission and set a higher […]

Donald Trump

Russia tells Trump to Jump in Lake, commits 80,000 Personnel to War drill alongside Iran, China

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – This week, Russia is deploying 80,000 personnel, including 12,000 troops, alongside 1,000 troops from friendly countries in its region, in its Caucasus 2020 (Kavkaz 2020) military drills. Its partners include Iran, China, Belarus, Armenia, Pakistan, and Myanmar. The choice of Iran was deliberate. The Trump administration has threatened the most […]

Feminism

Can Turkey’s Feminists prevent withdrawal in name of “Family Values” from Treaty banning Violence against Women?

Global Voices

By Arzu Geybullayeva | – (GlobalVoices.org ) – A website called Anit Sayac (Turkish for “monument tracker”) indicates the number “276” on its home page at the time of writing this story. It represents the number of women who were murdered in domestic violence attacks in Turkey—just in 2020. The counter is updated every day. […]

US Foreign Policy

U.S. War Crimes in Yemen: Stop Looking the Other Way

Foreign Policy in Focus

By Andrea Prasow | – ( Foreign Policy in Focus) – The longstanding involvement of the United States in the conflict in Yemen is facing renewed scrutiny. On September 16, State Department officials testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee about whether the State Department misled Congress — and the American people — by circumventing […]

China

France’s Macron declares Europe’s independence of Trump, stands by Iran Nuclear Deal

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – French President Emmanuel Macron declared independence of the United States and of China for Europe at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, in the starkest “third way” bid for a French president since Charles De Gaulle withdrew from the military wing of NATO in 1965 and established France’s own nuclear […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israeli Right raises $400K for Israeli Settler convicted of Burning up Palestinian Family, Toddler

Middle East Monitor

By Robert Andrews | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – Deep-rooted anti-Palestinian racism is endemic across large segments of Israeli society. This was demonstrated yet again when an Israeli crowdfunding campaign raised over 1.38 million NIS (equivalent to £310,000) in just five days last week for the legal appeal fund of Amiram Ben Uliel, […]

Banking

ODNI Blamed Syrian Banks, but Did the West’s Deutsche Bank Facilitate ISIL Finances in Mosul?

Middle East Monitor

By Hala Nouhad Nasreddine | – ( Middle East Monitor) The Islamic State’s infamous rule over vast areas of Iraq during 2014 and 2016 not only led to a humanitarian crisis, but also left the country’s economy depleted. Its expansion in Iraq, marked by its control over vast areas of the country, most notably capturing […]

Archaeology

Prehistoric Arabia Felix: As Humans exited Africa 120K years ago, they headed into Green Nefud

The Conversation

By Richard Clark-Wilson | – Humanity originated on the African continent at least 300,000 years ago. We know from fossil evidence in southern Greece and the Levant (modern-day Israel) that some early members of our species expanded beyond Africa around 200,000 years ago, and again between 120,000 to 90,000 years ago. They likely travelled through […]