Middle East

Originally published on SolarWakeup.By Yann Brandt Solar may be a small portion of energy production globally but the importance in geo-politics continues to grow. All energy usage may be local, when a homeowner plugs in their cell phone charge into…

Bush

Condoleezza Rice, Charged with War Crimes at Rutgers, withdraws as Commencement Speaker

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Condoleezza Rice on Saturday pulled out of giving the commencement address at Rutgers University after professor and student protests. Rutgers historian Professor Rudy Bell argued that while it would be appropriate to have Rice on campus as part of an academic debate, she is unsuitable as a commencement speaker because of her […]

Israel

US calls Israeli Squatter attacks on Palestinians ‘Terrorism’; Israel says ‘only vandalism’

Juan Cole

(Via AFP) Israel police challenge US ‘terror’ findings (via AFP) Israeli police on Thursday challenged Washington’s inclusion of Jewish extremist attacks on Palestinians in a global terror report, saying such incidents could not be likened to militant attacks. For the first time, the State Department’s 2013 Country… ——– Press TV: “US report sees Israeli […]

Dissent

The Cost of Repression: Turkey on May Day

Juan Cole

(By Emma Sinclair-Webb @esinclairwebb ) With a reported 39,000 police officers and 50 water cannon vehicles, plentiful supplies of teargas, and a complete shutdown of the public transport system in the city, the Turkish government succeeded once again in banning the celebration of May 1 in Istanbul’s Taksim Square. With streets leading to the […]

Israel

It’s Not about Hamas: Decrying Palestinian Unity

Juan Cole

(By Gregory Harms) Aside from the occasional cross-border violence between Gaza and Israel, Hamas, which governs the coastal strip, has received little attention in the press over the last few years. Because of their recent agreement with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas’s government in the West Bank, the subject is receiving increased treatment. The story, however, […]

Bush

Top 10 Attacks on US Embassies in Republican Administrations that Lindsey Graham doesn’t Care about

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) The Republicans in Congress keep beating the dead horse of Benghazi. Now they have sprung a briefing memo for Susan Rice, based on CIA talking points. I shows that the briefing hewed to the CIA line of the time, which was that the Benghazi disturbances were copy cats of those in Cairo, […]

Israel/ Palestine

The PLO-Hamas Unity Agreement: an Opportunity for the United States and Israel

Juan Cole

(By Joel Migdal) The unity agreement announced last week between Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organization drew swift, negative reactions from Israel, including suspending its participation in the U.S.-sponsored peace talks. Israel said flatly it would not negotiate with a team that included those dedicated to its destruction. The response by the United States to […]

media

On how the Death of Turkish Democracy this Year wasn’t exactly Clickbait

Juan Cole

(By Ola Claësson) I can’t help being surprised of how little that has been reported in the foreign media about the development in Turkey after the local elections. Before the Gezi protests less than one year ago, Turkey was perceived as a promising, developing democracy. But now, the country has embarked on a path in […]

Featured

Iraq’s first Post-American Elections by the Numbers

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Iraqis went to the polls on Wednesday in the first national parliamentary elections since US troops pulled out of the country completely (in late 2011). The results won’t be in for a while, but here are some early statistics: 1. Preliminary estimate of turnout: 60% 2. Number of people who died in […]