Middle East

TeleSur | – – The bill would allocate over US$260 million each to Iran’s ballistic missile program and the Quds Force. Iran’s parliament has approved the first step of a bill to boost Tehran’s missile program spending on the heels of new U.S. sanctions against the country. Lawmakers gave the go ahead for the crafting […]

Iraq

Iraq after ISIL needs Security, Anti-Corruption & Jobs, not Identity Politics

contributors

By Andrea Teti, Pamela Abbott, and Munqith Dagher | ( OpenDemocracy.net ) | – – Ignoring priorities that have popular support in Iraq risks undermining post-ISIS attempts to build a stable country, with knock-on effects at a regional level. As the defeat of ISIS/Daesh looms large both in Syria and in Iraq, attention turns to […]

Democracy

Iraq’s Next Elections will be the most Important in its History

contributors

Mustafa Habib. | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | – – In Iraq, larger political parties disagree on everything except maintaining the status quo: Parliament just passed a law that will badly affect the smaller parties competing in the next elections. It has been said before. But this time it may well be true: Iraq’s next elections […]

Donald Trump

If an Iranian president talked like Trump we’d think them all nut cases

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Over the years the smug Western pundits have had a good deal of fun at the expense of unhinged Middle Eastern rulers. There was Daffy Gaddafi in Libya, Saddam Hussein in Iraq, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran. One headline in the 1990s spoke of ‘the fruitcake ravings […]

Arms Sales

Should Western Countries be Selling Masses of Arms to Saudi Arabia?

contributors

By Riccardo Labianco | (The Conversation) | – – Since the catastrophic Yemeni civil war began in 2015, the British public has woken up to a serious problem: the use of UK-manufactured arms by Saudi Arabia. Various NGOs, campaigners and many MPs are increasingly worried about evidence that since the beginning of the conflict, Saudi […]

Donald Trump

Kissinger pushes Iranophobia, fear of ‘radical empire’ as ISIL declines

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Henry Kissinger at 94 is still misinforming Washington about Iran. Now he is warning of an “Iranian radical empire” stretching from Tehran to Beirut if Iran is allowed to “fill the vacuum” as ISIL is rolled up– as Jack Moore at Newsweek points out.. Kissinger seems […]

Latin America

Did Saudi ‘Cheap Oil’ Policy throw Venezuela into Crisis?

contributors

Bulent Gökay | (The Conversation) | – – Venezuela is sinking ever deeper into a political and economic calamity. Inflation is above 700% and GDP is more than a third below 2013 levels. The country with the world’s largest proven oil reserves is now the world’s most indebted country – no other nation has a […]

Israel/ Palestine

Are Corruption Charges brewing against Israeli PM Netanyahu?

contributors

TeleSur | – – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under growing legal pressure as investigators appear to be focusing on his role in a series of high-profile cases, which a national court said could result in corruption charges. Netanyahu had been question under caution by police over Case 1,000, dealing with gifts given to […]

Donald Trump

Is Turkey on brink of Invading Syrian Kurds, US BFF?

contributors

TeleSur | – – The Turkish Armed Forces are massing on the Syrian border days after a reshuffle of top brass in the country’s military in anticipation of a potential invasion that could dramatically complicate Syria’s ongoing civil war. Kurdish militia backed by U.S. forces are currently taking part in an assault against the Islamic […]