Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The twentieth century was dubbed “the American Century” in 1941 by Time magazine publisher Henry Luce. Luce hoped that Americans would abandon their isolationism and seek international allies, joining against the Axis in WW II. It was then more wishful thinking on his part than reality, but his wish arguably […]
- Africa (249)
- Asia (1,250)
- Australasia (35)
- Authoritarianism (385)
- Canada (8)
- Culture (562)
- Economy (1,056)
- Agriculture (3)
- Banking (67)
- Carbon Footprint (6)
- Corporations (53)
- Cryptocurrency (2)
- Debt (21)
- Degrowth (1)
- Democratic Socialism (20)
- Demographic Decline (1)
- Development (26)
- Downward Mobility (1)
- Employment (118)
- Food Insecurity (21)
- Homelessness (16)
- Industry (5)
- Inequality (425)
- Inflation (5)
- infrastructure (10)
- Insurance (1)
- Investment (92)
- Market Crash (10)
- Middle Class (61)
- Monopolies (8)
- Neoliberalism (204)
- Plutocracy (625)
- Poverty (14)
- Poverty (207)
- Regulation (3)
- Retirement (1)
- Sanctions (4)
- Taxes (37)
- Technology (3)
- Trade (114)
- Weapons sales (7)
- Education (177)
- Energy (1,744)
- Batteries (52)
- Coal (139)
- Electricity Cost (2)
- Fossil Fuels (328)
- Fracking (50)
- Geothermal (7)
- Green ammonia (5)
- Green Energy (419)
- Green Hydrogen (8)
- Heat Pumps (6)
- Hydroelectric (1)
- Hydroelectric (15)
- Mining (1)
- Natural Gas (107)
- Nuclear Energy (159)
- Petroleum (300)
- Power Grid (12)
- Pumped Hydro (6)
- Solar Energy (418)
- Tar Sands (13)
- Wave Energy (9)
- wind energy (344)
- Environment (2,700)
- Climate Change (1,659)
- Acidification of Oceans (54)
- Agriculture (26)
- Biodiversity (13)
- Climate Refugees (3)
- CO2 (127)
- Dehydration (5)
- Denialism (148)
- Desalinization (4)
- Desertification (160)
- Divestment (2)
- Dust Storms (6)
- Environmental Investment (1)
- Extreme Heat (392)
- Extreme Weather (297)
- Flooding (138)
- Food Supply (3)
- Forests (18)
- Green New Deal (41)
- Green Recycling (2)
- Greenwashing (3)
- Mass Extinction (62)
- Methane (20)
- Net Carbon Zerio (8)
- Nitrous Oxide (2)
- Rainforests (19)
- Rivers (12)
- Sea Level (338)
- Soil Carbon Release (14)
- Super Storms (265)
- wildfires (240)
- Wood Buildings (1)
- Climate Crisis (1,336)
- Drought (295)
- Ecology (1)
- Ecology (10)
- Environmentalism (393)
- Green Transportation (255)
- Ice Melt (139)
- Invasive Species (2)
- Islands (1)
- Oceans (103)
- Oil Spills (8)
- Pollution (233)
- Water (96)
- wildlife (21)
- Climate Change (1,659)
- Europe (1,381)
- Featured (4,198)
- Haiti (1)
- Health (704)
- History (361)
- Human Rights (1,613)
- Apartheid (263)
- censorship (312)
- Death Penalty (30)
- Disappeared (3)
- Displaced and Refugees (580)
- Food Insecurity (30)
- Gay rights (29)
- Genocide (61)
- Human Rights Watch (90)
- Indigenous Rights (1)
- Migrants (4)
- privacy (21)
- Rights (90)
- Slavery and Trafficking (16)
- Starvation (4)
- Torture (102)
- Trans Rights (3)
- Transgender Rights (4)
- Unlawful Imprisonment (105)
- Unlwful Killing (80)
- War Crimes (418)
- War Rape (9)
- International Politics and Economy (2,115)
- Arms Sales (73)
- BRICS (3)
- Corruption (268)
- Crime (132)
- Democracy (333)
- Dissent (441)
- Domestic Terrorism (15)
- Drones (113)
- G20 (1)
- Guns (9)
- Hacking (8)
- Immigration (4)
- Immigration (21)
- Islamophobia (383)
- Migrants (2)
- military (125)
- nationalism (117)
- NATO (37)
- Neocolonialism (1)
- Peace (143)
- Policing (2)
- Politics (307)
- Politics&Culture (21)
- Propaganda (13)
- Smuggling (1)
- Juan Cole (270)
- Latin America (102)
- media (484)
- Middle East (9,938)
- Arab World (5,287)
- Iran (1,343)
- Israel (952)
- Israel/ Palestine (3,603)
- Israel/Palestine (9)
- Kurds (293)
- Red Sea (1)
- Turkey (598)
- Turkiye (125)
- Patriarchy (10)
- racism (470)
- religion (1,511)
- robots (3)
- Romance (1)
- science (172)
- Secular (West) (9)
- Secularism (30)
- Spirituality (22)
- Statelessness (15)
- Stranded Assets (1)
- Surveillance (280)
- Terrorism (1,096)
- Tolerance (6)
- Uncategorized (8,082)
- United Nations (176)
- Urbanization (4)
- US Foreign Policy (1,364)
- US politics (5,434)
- Anti-War Movement (13)
- Campaign Finance (31)
- Censors (22)
- Central Intelligence Agency (63)
- Charity (1)
- Civil Rights (96)
- Congress (80)
- Conspiracy Theories (23)
- Constitution (404)
- Courts (15)
- crime (12)
- Democratic Party (975)
- Democratic Socialists of America (22)
- Domestic Terrorism (20)
- Drone Warfare (27)
- Espionage (124)
- Ethnicities (391)
- Far Right (396)
- FBI (48)
- Foreign Policy (204)
- Gay Rights (17)
- Guns (97)
- Immigration (245)
- Israel Lobbies (130)
- Marijuana (4)
- Militarization (274)
- National Security State (477)
- Native Americans (40)
- Nuclear arsenal (7)
- penitentiaries (6)
- Pentagon (571)
- Police (43)
- prison reform (9)
- Private Prisons (2)
- Progressive Politics (13)
- Puerto Rico (30)
- Religious Right (15)
- Reproductive Choice (68)
- Republican Party (3,046)
- Supreme Court (133)
- Voter suppression (36)
- Whistleblowers (7)
- Xenophobia (9)
- Veterans (35)
- Voting Rights (16)
- War (617)
- White Supremacists (236)
- wikileaks (8)
- women (566)
- workers (233)
- Writing (5)
- Youth (215)
US Foreign Policy
US Government must Ensure Iranians Equitable Access to Covid-19 Vaccines
( Human Rights Watch) – We, the undersigned human rights and humanitarian organizations, call on all stakeholders to ensure people in Iran have swift, unencumbered, and equitable access to safe, effective, and affordable Covid-19 vaccines. We particularly call on the government of the United States to provide assurances to financial institutions that they will not […]
2020 Began and Ended with Trump baiting Iran into War: Can we get through another Month without One?
By Ahmed Omar | – The single main story of the year has without a doubt been the coronavirus pandemic which has thus far claimed over 1.5 million lives around the world amid encouraging news about vaccine development. However it is now easy to forget that before this story became a near permanent fixture of […]
How will Biden’s Middle East — and Iran — be different from Trump’s?
By Tony Walker | – Canberra policymakers will be conducting a root-and-branch reassessment of Australia’s foreign policy following Donald Trump’s defeat in the US presidential election and ahead of an incoming Democrat administration. Top of the list of items for review will be a leaden-footed China policy. Chinese trade reprisals for perceived Australian slights are […]
Iran’s Pres. Rouhani to Biden: We will Fulfill our Nuclear Obligations on Day One if you Return to 2015 Deal
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Iranian president Hassan Rouhani was asked Tuesday in an interview with a state-owned news outlet under what conditions Iran would return to the 2015 nuclear deal with the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council (P5), including the U.S., plus Germany (+1) He replied, “A thing we are saying […]
The Left must Seize the Initiative: Biden’s Centrist Instincts could be Disastrous
By Walden Bello | – ( Foreign Policy in Focus) – Donald Trump embarked on an unorthodox course in economic policy that combined tax cuts for the rich with a protectionist trade policy that was ostensibly aimed at saving the U.S. industrial base and preventing the export of American jobs. The question is not whether […]
“The Empire Strikes Biden” with Brent Terhune and Juan Cole – Francesca Fiorentini Podcast
“It’s global hegemony not Adam and Steve! From very real US wars abroad to the imagined “war on Christmas”, Francesca digs deep with comedian Brent Terhune and historian Juan Cole. They discuss what foreign policy might look like under a Biden administration, from the Iran Deal to Israel/Palestine to Russia & China. Plus, the special […]
Iran sends Oil, Gas Flotilla to Venezuela; will Trump attack it to Sabotage Biden?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Bloomberg reports that a flotilla of ten Iranian vessels is heading for Venezuela. They have turned off their shipboard Automatic Identification System, or AIS, so that US signals intelligence cannot find them easily. The ships typically go around the Cape of Good Hope and then head northwest to Caracas. Will […]
How Biden is determined to Parry Trump’s Sabotage and restore Iran Nuclear Deal
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The NYT’s Thomas Friedman reports on a recent telephone conversation he had with Joe Biden, and the interview contains good news. Biden made it clear that he will attempt to re-institute the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) or Iran nuclear deal, admitting, “It’s going to be hard, but […]