Middle East

Seyed Ali Alavi | ( OpenDemocracy.net) | – – ISIL may have been defeated, but the battle for Syria’s political soul is far from over. A Syrian army checkpoint in the town of Jaib al-Dikir in the countryside of Raqqa province, Syria, Dec. 23, 2017. Picture by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua News Agency/PA Images. All rights reserved. […]

Featured

Friedman: Does Iran’s Quds Force really Control four Countries and is Israel-Iran War Near?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Thomas Friedman’s column this week made several allegations about the danger of an explosive situation in Syria, about which he is certainly correct. He pointed out that the US-UK-France missile strikes on Syria in reprisal for the alleged use of chlorine gas at Douma by the […]

Israel/ Palestine

‘Great March’ for Palestinian Refugees’ Right of Return Endures Bloody Crackdown

contributors

By Joey Ayoub and Marwa Fatafta | ( GlobalVoices.org) | – – After months of preparing, tens of thousands of Palestinian protesters launched the “Great Return March” along Gaza’s eastern borders with Israel on 30 March to commemorate Land Day. Photo via Ma`n News Agency The mobilization ended in death when the Israeli army opened […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israel to French Mayor: You can’t visit Occupied Palestine if you stand against Occupation

contributors

TeleSur | – – Leclerc Patrice, a member of the French Communist Party, has been denied entry into Israel more than once for his support of the BDS movement. France’s Foreign Ministry requested Tuesday that Israeli authorities allow entry for elected officials into Israel and occupied Palestinian territories, a day after the mayor of Gennevilliers, […]

Syria

With Turkish Troops in Syria, is Erdogan’s Neo-Ottomanism a Diplomatic or Military Project?

contributors

By Nicolai Due-Gundersen | (The Conversation) | – – On our third trip to Istanbul, my wife and I visited the 19th century Dolmabahce Palace, once the administrative centre of the Ottoman Empire. As we toured the 285-room palace my wife was struck with not just how well preserved it was, but that it was […]

Donald Trump

Syria After Trump’s Withdrawal: Top Reasons an “Arab Force” will Fail

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – President Trump’s determination to withdraw US troops from eastern Syria by October, so that GOP candidates for representative and senator can run on having defeated ISIL and having then brought the troops home, has created a policy dilemma for the Department of Defense and for the […]

Democracy

As Lebanon prepares to vote, Amnesty for the disenfranchised provokes Fierce Debate

contributors

Haley Bobseine | (Informed Comment) | – – After almost a decade of multiple postponements stalling the national political process and depriving citizens of their right to vote, Lebanese parliamentary elections will be held next month under a new legal framework. Passed in June 2017, the new election law replaces the majoritarian system with multi-member […]

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia’s Yemen Campaign escalates into War of Missiles

contributors

Khalil Dewan @KhalilDewan | Middle East Monitor | – – As Mohammed Bin Salman’s global tour continues in a bid to stabilise Riyadh’s economy, his foreign policy needs revising to ensure political and security risks aren’t deepening. After three years fighting in Yemen’s civil war, the Houthis have stepped-up their strategy and are going after […]

Bush

Will Bolton and MEK pull an Iraq War-like Chalabi-type Scam on Iran?

contributors

By Nadejda K. Marinova (Author of Ask What You Can Do For Your (New) Country: How Host States Use Diasporas (Oxford University Press, 2017).[1] Informed Comment | – – On the fifteenth year anniversary of the Iraq war, several things are evident. One is the carnage that the war inflicted, with over 500,000 and by […]