Middle East

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The United States is already at war with Iran, squeezing its economy down to nothingness. If another country tried to do this to the US just on a whim and with no UN or international-law basis, the US would certainly launch a war over it. Iran’s choices are much more […]

Donald Trump

UK Ambassador: Trump ‘radiating insecurity,’ inventing ‘false statistics’ and Dreads Unpopularity of any War with Iran

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Isabel Oakeshott at the Mail on Sunday has gotten hold of troves of UK diplomatic cables back to Whitehall from Washington, D.C., sent by veteran diplomat Sir Kim Darroch, which are scathing on Donald Trump. What is in the cables is interesting, but it should be signalled that the Mail […]

Iran

What Sanctions Mean for My Iranian-American Family

OtherWords

As innocent people suffer, break-ins are on the rise — including at my grandparents’ house.

Iran

Former Revolutionary Guards Chief Says Iran Should Consider Talking To Trump

Golnaz Esfandiari

( RFE/RL) – Amid escalating tensions with the United States and mounting sanctions pressuring Iran’s economy, a former senior commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) says Tehran should not rule out holding talks with Washington. “We can’t leave aside talks, but how to talk is another issue,” said ex-IRGC naval commander Hossein Alaei. […]

Iran

Iranians are not our Enemies: Can Public Diplomacy Work?

Foreign Policy in Focus

When foreign policy as we know it isn’t working, creative citizen diplomacy can step in to humanize the real people who would be most impacted by war.

Colonialism

Israel Systematically Hiding Documents Proving Expulsion, Oppression of Palestinians

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Hagar Shezaf at the Israeli newspaper of record, Haaretz [“The Land”], reveals that a secretive Israeli agency has been systematically going through the country’s archives, including local repositories, and removing and classifying documents having to do with repressive and embarrassing Israeli actions toward Palestinians and Palestinian-Israelis. One such disappeared document […]

Iran

Can Trump’s Impending War on Iran be Stopped?

Waging Nonviolence

Eric Stoner | – ( Waging Nonviolence) – Since coming to power, the Trump administration has had Iran in its crosshairs. The United States unilaterally pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal last year and reimposed harsh economic sanctions on Iran. With the other signatories doing little to cushion the blow, Iran now says it […]

Israel/ Palestine

In Israeli-Occupied Palestine, Health Care is not a Right

Al-Shabaka

By Yara Asi | – Al Shabaka) – For decades, political barriers have obstructed the Palestinian health system in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, impeding rights and protections. Al-Shabaka Policy Analyst Yara Asi examines how the Israeli occupation has decreased Palestinians’ ability to seek or practice health care, and offers recommendations that can support […]

Iran

Iranian Aggression? Or American? Even Great US News Outlets can’t Escape Jingoism

Tom Engelhardt

Tomdispatch.com) – Headlined “U.S. Seeks Other Ways to Stop Iran Shy of War,” the article was tucked away on page A9 of a recent New York Times. Still, it caught my attention. Here’s the first paragraph: “American intelligence and military officers are working on additional clandestine plans to counter Iranian aggression in the Persian Gulf, […]