US Foreign Policy

( San Diego Union Tribune ) – Syrian refugees in El Cajon danced in the streets upon hearing about the Dec. 7 collapse of the Assad dynasty, which hailed from the Shi’a Alawite minority and ruled the majority Arab Sunni population of Syria for more than 50 years. Nevertheless, there are also Syrians who stayed […]

Democratic Party

Palestinians file Landmark Lawsuit against Blinken over Israel military Aid

Middle East Monitor

( Middle East Monitor ) – A groundbreaking federal lawsuit has been filed against US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accusing him of systematically failing to implement US law that prohibits military assistance to foreign security forces involved in gross human rights violations, according to legal documents seen by Middle East Monitor (MEMO). The lawsuit, […]

China

Trump Confronts a Rising China: Can He Manage U.S.-China Relations Without Precipitating World War III?

Michael T. Klare

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Gaza, Haiti, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Russia, Syria, Ukraine, and Venezuela: President-elect Donald Trump will face no shortage of foreign-policy challenges when he assumes office in January. None, however, comes close to China in scope, scale, or complexity. No other country has the capacity to resist his predictable antagonism with the same […]

Iran

Iranian Leader Blames Assad’s Downfall On U.S., Israel, And Turkey

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

( RFE/ RL ) – Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in his first public comments since Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was ousted, accused the United States and Israel of orchestrating the rebel uprising that toppled the regime over the weekend. Khamenei on December 11 also implicitly blamed Turkey for the lightning push of Syrian rebels […]

Featured

“Trump is the one to Blame” for Current Iran Crisis: An Interview with Gary Sick (Pt. 2)

Fariba Amini

This is part II of Fariba Amini’s two-part interview with Columbia University Political Scientist and former National Security Council Adviser (to President Jimmy Carter) Gary Sick, among America’s foremost Iran specialists. Part I is here. Gary Sick. Courtesy Columbia University. Fariba Amini: How do you see Trump’s internal and foreign policy agenda in the coming […]

Featured

Why is Iran so Central to US Policy? An Interview with Doyen of US Iran Experts, Gary Sick (Pt. 1)

Fariba Amini

Gary Sick was the national security advisor to President Jimmy Carter. He was present at the White House during some turbulent times- the Iranian revolution, Camp David Accord and more. He had served previously under President Ford and, for a short period, under Reagan. Later, he taught at Columbia University and for nearly 30 years […]

Featured

Lebanon Ceasefire underlines that both Israel and Hezbollah Lost the War

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – When Iran and Iraq were fighting each other in the 1980s, with neither regime being much liked in Washington, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger is said to have remarked, “The tragedy is that both sides can’t lose.” Actually, of course, in most wars both sides lose, and certainly the […]

Iran

Saudi Arabia Pursues ‘Cautious Detente’ With Longtime Rival Iran despite Looming Trump 2.0

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

By Kian Sharifi ( RFE/ RL ) – Iran and Saudi Arabia have been bitter rivals for decades, vying to lead competing branches of Islam and standing on opposing sides of conflicts in Syria and Yemen. But Tehran and Riyadh have taken major steps to de-escalate tensions and boost cooperation, a move that appeared unthinkable […]

Donald Trump

Requiem for an Empire: How America’s Strongman will hasten the Decline of U.S. Global Power

Alfred W. McCoy

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Some 15 years ago, on December 5, 2010, a historian writing for TomDispatch made a prediction that may yet prove prescient. Rejecting the consensus of that moment that U.S. global hegemony would persist to 2040 or 2050, he argued that “the demise of the United States as the global superpower could […]