US Foreign Policy

By Mark Weisbrot | – (Foreign Policy in Focus ) – Originally published in Inside Sources. Economic sanctions have, in recent years, become one of the most important tools of U.S. foreign policy. There are currently more than 20 countries subjected to various sanctions from the U.S. government. But if more Americans knew how many […]

Cold War

America’s Disastrous 60-Year War: Three Generations of Conspicuous Destruction by the Military-Industrial Complex

William J. Astore

( Tomdispatch.com ) – In my lifetime of nearly 60 years, America has waged five major wars, winning one decisively, then throwing that victory away, while losing the other four disastrously. Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq, as well as the Global War on Terror, were the losses, of course; the Cold War being the solitary win […]

European Union

How to Avoid War: Why it is time for a Neutral, Demilitarized Eastern Europe

Arnold Oliver

Tiffin, Oh. (Special to Informed Comment) – Europe has been a flash point for war among both great and small powers for centuries. Conflicts beginning there have been known to spill over outside Europe, sometimes encompassing nearly the entire planet. These wars have unleashed untold human suffering and death, destroyed entire societies and produced campaigns […]

Natural Gas

How Russia hooked Europe on its oil and gas – and overcame US efforts to prevent energy dependence on Moscow

The Conversation

By Ryan Haddad | – The Biden administration hopes its threat of “severe economic consequences” deters Russia from invading Ukraine – an event Americans officials say could be imminent. In response, the U.S. said it may ban the export of microchips and other technologies to critical sectors like artificial intelligence and aerospace and freeze the […]

Afghanistan

US Sanctions on Afghanistan are Complicit in Mass Hunger, even as Biden withholds $3.5 bn in Afghan Money

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Kevin Liptak and Natasha Bertrand report at CNN that the Biden administration has decided to split the $7 billion in Afghanistan government money held in the US and confiscated last August when the Taliban took over the country. $3.5 billion will be released for humanitarian aid in Afghanistan itself, while […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

What responsibility do Western troops fighting ISIL have for the Children that Terrorists use as Human Shields?

The Conversation

By Beth Morrison and Shannon Zimmerman | – Islamic State recently staged their most sophisticated attack since 2019 – a prison break to release former IS fighters in an effort to refill their ranks once again. According to Save the Children, hundreds of boys and teenagers were allegedly used as human shields during the fighting. […]

Russia

How Did We Get Here? The Strategic Blunder of the 1990s That Set the Stage for Today’s Ukrainian Crisis

Rajan Menon

( Tomdispatch.com) – Understandably enough, commentaries on the crisis between Russia and the West tend to dwell on Ukraine. After all, more than 100,000 Russian soldiers and a fearsome array of weaponry have now been emplaced around the Ukrainian border. Still, such a narrow perspective deflects attention from an American strategic blunder that dates to […]

Afghanistan

Suicide Bomber Who Killed U.S. Troops and Afghans “Likely” Used Unguarded Route to Kabul Airport Gate

ProPublica

By Brian J. Conley, Mohammad J. Alizada, Samira Nuhzat, Abdul Ahad Poya and Mirzahussain Sadid, Alive in Afghanistan, Joshua Kaplan and Joaquin Sapien | – ( ProPublica ) – Days before the final withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, thousands of desperate Americans and Afghan allies seeking to flee the country were using unguarded routes […]

Featured

Is Peace on the Verge of breaking out between US and Iran? Biden waives some Trump-Era Sanctions

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Al Jazeera English reports that the Biden administration has restored a key waiver for Iran’s civilian nuclear energy program that allows third parties such as Russia and France to consult with Tehran about how to dial back and repurpose the program. Without the waiver, if some officials had gone off […]