US Foreign Policy

By Naomi Schalit, interviewing Emily Channell-Justice, J. Eugene Clay, Jacob Lassin, Maggie Smith and Ryan Haddad | – Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a provocative address that could be construed as a pretext to war, claimed on Feb. 21, 2022, that all of Ukraine belongs to Russia and formally recognized the independence of two breakaway […]

Donald Trump

Cancun Cruz dares Say Biden is Weak on Putin, when he Supports “Vladimir’s Lapdog” Donald Trump

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Hill reports that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is saying that Joe Biden is the best thing that ever happened to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Cruz is trotting out the tried and true Republican tactic of Chickenhawk Macho. He does not have any credibility in this regard, since he ran […]

Balkans

The Ukraine Crisis and Lessons from the Balkans

Nikola Mikovic

Belgrade (Special to Informed Comment) – A large scale conflict seems to be on the verge of breaking out between Western-backed Ukraine and two Russian-sponsored, breakaway republics, the Donetsk People’s Republic and Lugansk People’s Republic. Tensions in the coal-rich Donbass region of Eastern Ukraine remain high, and though diplomacy may have postponed a full-scale war, […]

Afghanistan

Operation Allies Welcome Resettling 70,000 Afghans in US, but they are only Guaranteed 2 Years Here

The Conversation

By Kathryn Libal and Scott Harding | – As of February 2022, some 65,000 Afghans evacuated during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan have settled in U.S. communities. Several hundred more remain on military bases in the U.S., while nearly 2,800 are still waiting on U.S. bases abroad. The Biden administration, which aims to have all […]

Eastern Europe

Invading Ukraine may never have been Putin’s aim – the threat alone could advance Russia’s goals

The Conversation

By Ronald Suny | – An invasion is not the only way the crisis in Ukraine can play out. A diplomatic solution may yet provide an off-ramp for Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose placement of tens of thousands of troops along Russia’s border with its smaller neighbor kicked off the current crisis. Indeed, the leaders […]

Iran

Foes of a new Nuclear Agreement Demonize Tehran, but what is Iranian Society really Like Today?

Ali Abootalebi

Eau Claire, Wi. (Special to Informed Comment) – The nature and the parameters of power relations in the state-society relations in Iran since the 1978-79 revolution have radically changed. The revolution ended the twenty-five-hundred-year-old monarchical rule in Iran and gave rise to a Shi’a ‘ulema-dominated rule. The demise of the old Pahlavi regime saw the […]

Israel

How the Russia-Ukraine Conflict is Lose-Lose for Israel

Middle East Monitor

By Adnan Abu Amer | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – It is almost 3,000 kilometres from Tel Aviv to Kyiv, and yet the crisis between Ukraine and Russia is having a huge impact on Israel. Why does it seem to be a party to the crisis when it shares no border with either […]

Afghanistan

U.S. Sanctions on Afghanistan Could Be Deadlier Than 20 Years of War

Foreign Policy in Focus

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 […]