US Foreign Policy

(By Juan Cole) Right wing Israeli officials over the weekend expressed rage at US Secretary of State John Kerry for saying that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu should “drop” his demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Israel Ha-Yom reported, ‘Deputy Education Minister Avi Wortzman (Habayit Hayehudi) said: “At a time when the […]

Afghanistan

US Drone Kills 5 Allied Afghan Troops, mistaking them for Taliban

Juan Cole

A NATO air strike in eastern Afghanistan accidentally killed five Afghan soldiers on Thursday, officials said, the latest incident likely to worsen already fraught relations between Kabul and the US-led coalition. NATO offered its condolences over the…

Eastern Europe

US Hypocrisy on Crimean secession move: Washington Supported Break-up of Sudan, Yugoslavia, Iraq

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Russia has arranged for its supporters in the Crimean state parliament to vote to secede from Ukraine and join Russia, and has announced that there will be a popular referendum on the issue in the semi-autonomous province, which has been part of Ukraine since the 1950s and went with Ukraine when that […]

Iraq

Kerry on Invading other Countries on a Trumped Up Pretext (Editorial Cartoon)

contributors

(By Paul Jamiol) courtesy Jamiol’s World

Barack Obama

McCain’s Mind-Boggling Hypocrisy on Crimea at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Conference

Juan Cole

John Hickman, author of Selling Guantanamo, writes in a guest column for Informed Comment That the Crimean Crisis would be exploited by Republican Congressional leaders to criticize President Obama was inevitable. Politics hasn’t stopped at the water’s edge in the United States for a very long time. What wasn’t inevitable was the shamelessness of Senator […]

Featured

Obama to Netanyahu: Israel faces Int’l Sanctions over “Permanent Occupation of West Bank”

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, D.C., this week was even more of a disaster for him than might have been expected. It did not help that the Crimea crisis had broken out, which rather cast a bad light on one country militarily occupying parts of another. Most observers in Europe […]

Peace

Will a Multi-Polar World be more Peaceful? The Failure of the Project for a New American Empire

contributors

(By Tom Engelhardt) There is, it seems, something new under the sun. Geopolitically speaking, when it comes to war and the imperial principle, we may be in uncharted territory. Take a look around and you’ll see a world at the boiling point. From Ukraine to Syria, South Sudan to Thailand, Libya to Bosnia, Turkey to […]

Barack Obama

Don’t Let the Global 1% off the Hook: Obama should Press Saudi State on Human Rights when he Visits Riyadh

contributors

(By Sarah Leah Whitson) President Barack Obama The White House Dear President Obama, As you prepare for your upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia, we write to urge you to include critical human rights issues in all your discussions with Saudi officials. While the purpose of your visit may be to discuss “ongoing cooperation to […]

Featured

A New Crimean War? (Update: Stuff’s Getting Real)

Juan Cole

(Juan Cole) Tensions have continued to build in Ukraine’s Crimea since I wrote about it a few days ago. On Saturday, The Russian parliament authorized President Valdimir Putin to send troops into Ukraine to defend Russian Interests. . A pro,-Russian premier has been installed in the Crimean autonomous region, who may call a referendum on […]