US Foreign Policy

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Saturday, Muhammad al-Bakhiti, a member of the Politburo of the Helpers of God (Houthi ) government of northern Yemen, announced that it had completely closed off shipping to Israel via the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea. Actually, the Helpers of God have more or less closed Red Sea […]

Israel/ Palestine

“If I must die, you must live to tell my Story:” On Gaza, Biden is Violating International Law

OtherWords

By Farrah Hassen | – ( Otherwords.org ) – “If I must die, you must live to tell my story,” wrote Dr. Refaat Alareer, a 44-year-old Gazan poet and literature professor. A few weeks later, Alareer was killed while sheltering in his sister’s apartment, along with six family members. In the densely populated Gaza Strip, […]

Featured

“Tell me how this ends” – Gaza Edition

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – General David Petraeus, as he prepared to help lead an invasion of Iraq, famously asked journalist Rick Atkinson, “Tell me how this ends.” No one doubted that the US could invade and occupy Iraq. It just wasn’t clear even to insiders what the US could possibly do to get back […]

Displaced and Refugees

US must Back UN Protection of Gaza’s Civilians, not Veto Resolutions to halt Mass Atrocities

Human Rights Watch

By Louis Charbonneau | – United Nations Director @loucharbon ( Human Rights Watch) – This week, US President Joe Biden warned Israel it was losing international support because of its “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza, which are laws-of-war violations. The United States should now back those words by acting at the United Nations Security Council to […]

Armenia

In the Caucasus, the US Priority is Fossil Fuels, not Armenians

Foreign Policy in Focus

By Edward Hunt | – ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – Officials in Washington are doubling down on their efforts to create a new energy corridor that runs through the Caucasus, a major transit route for trade and energy that connects Europe and Asia. Focusing on Armenia and Azerbaijan, two countries at odds over […]

Featured

Why did Biden suddenly accuse Israel of War Crimes in Gaza?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Tuesday, President Joe Biden de facto accused Israel of war crimes in Gaza. He said at a donor event, “Israel’s security can rest on the United States, but right now it has more than the United States. It has the European Union, it has Europe, it has most of […]

Israel/ Palestine

To Finally Settle the Israel-Palestine Conflict, give it to the UN Security Council

Benjamin Tua

Washington, D.C. (Special to Informed Comment) – In the midst of the post-October 7 war in Gaza, President Biden summarized basic administration markers and policy positions for dealing with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The president’s views, as presented in the November 19 Washington Post — some also before and since the nineteenth — include: The Palestinian […]

Featured

On How Israeli/US War Crimes in Gaza are orders of Magnitude Worse than those of Russia in Ukraine

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Biden administration has spent most of its diplomatic energy since the February 24, 2022, Russian invasion of Ukraine marshaling the world to punish the Russian Federation, to boycott its petroleum and gas, to seize assets even of private citizens in Europe and North America, and to make Russia a […]

Houthi

Why Yemen’s Houthis are Intervening in the Israel-Hamas Conflict and how it Could Disrupt Global Shipping

The Conversation

By Leena Adel, Curtin University; and Ben Rich, Curtin University | – In recent days, three Israeli-linked commercial vessels were targeted by ballistic missiles and drones launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, marking a clear escalation in maritime attacks in the critical Bab el Mandab strait between the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The Houthis […]