US Foreign Policy

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The UN Security Council has finally passed a ceasefire resolution for Gaza, from which the US abstained, so it was passed by the other 14 members. Although UNSC resolutions are binding, and countries like Iraq and Iran have been severely punished for disobeying them, the US is running interference for […]

Algeria

The Middle East Ranks at the Bottom of Gallup’s Happiness Index, except for Rich Oil States; is the US to Blame?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The annual Gallup report on happiness by country came out this week. It is based on a three-year average of polling. What struck me in their report is how unhappy the Middle East is. The only Middle Eastern country in the top twenty is Kuwait (for the first time in […]

Israel/ Palestine

Western Powers could Stop the Gaza Genocide; instead they Cover it Up with “Humanitarian Aid”

Middle East Monitor

By Caroline Lund and Brendan Ciarán Browne | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – The ongoing genocide in Gaza has starkly exposed Western governments’ unequal and wholly selective application of international law whilst also managing to draw much-needed attention to the dysfunctional role that foreign donors and their development agendas play in the region. […]

China

The American Empire in (Ultimate?) Crisis

Alfred W. McCoy

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Empires don’t just fall like toppled trees. Instead, they weaken slowly as a succession of crises drain their strength and confidence until they suddenly begin to disintegrate. So it was with the British, French, and Soviet empires; so it now is with imperial America. Great Britain confronted serious colonial crises in […]

Food Insecurity

Joe Biden’s Gaza Aid Pier isn’t Enough: 6 More Things that Must be Done

The Conversation

By Sarah Schiffling, Hanken School of Economics and Foteini Stavropoulou, Liverpool John Moores University | – (The Conversation) – In his State of the Union address, Joe Biden announced an idea to alleviate the desperate humanitarian situation in Gaza. The American president said he is “directing the US military to lead an emergency mission to […]

Featured

Tempest in a Teapot: British Illusions and American Hegemony from Iraq to Yemen

Marc Martorell Junyent

Review of Tom Stevenson, Someone Else’s Empire: British Illusions and American Hegemony.. London: Verso, 2023. Munich (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Everything is going well in the “Special Relationship” between the US and the UK. After an American chemist dared to suggest that adding salt to the quintessential British cup of tea could represent an […]

Featured

As Palestinian Children Die of Hunger, US blows ineffectual Kisses with Air Drop

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The known deaths from starvation of Palestinian children in Gaza hospitals rose to 16 on Monday. This is a fraction of the actual such deaths, since Israel has put most of the Strip’s hospitals out of commission and many infants and children are dying of malnutrition at home. In February, […]

Featured

Is Tehran Winning the Middle East? How the Gaza Conflict Made Democracy’s Name Mud for Millions

Juan Cole

Here is my latest column for Tomdispatch.com. Do check out Tom Engelhardt’s important introduction over there at the original site. ( Tomdispatch.com ) – In the midst of Israel’s ongoing devastation of Gaza, one major piece of Middle Eastern news has yet to hit the headlines. In a face-off that, in a sense, has lasted […]

Arab Americans

More than 100,000 Michigan voters pick ‘uncommitted’ over Biden − does that Matter for November?

The Conversation

By Michael Traugott, University of Michigan | – Joe Biden won the 2024 Michigan Democratic primary, but “uncommitted” ran a spirited campaign. More than 100,000 Michiganders voted “uncommitted” in Tuesday’s Democratic primary, 13% of the Democratic electorate. Listen to Michigan organized the uncommitted campaign in Michigan, promoting it as a way to express dissatisfaction with […]