Democratic Party

Biden once wanted to make Saudi Arabia a ‘pariah’ – so why is he playing nice with the kingdom’s repressive rulers now?

By Jeffrey Fields, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences | – (The Conversation) – Even before setting foot in the Middle East for his first visit to the region as president, Joe Biden felt compelled to defend a portion of the trip. “I know that there are many who disagree with my decision […]

Drones

Why Iran’s Provision of Drones to Russia for Ukraine War is a Diplomatic Failure of the Biden Administration

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Biden’s National Security Advisor on Monday spoke of the goals of the president’s trip, which begins today, Tuesday, to the Middle East. I’ll have more to say about that tomorrow. But at the end of his remarks, Sullivan dropped a bombshell. He revealed that Iran is sending Unmanned Aerial […]

Batteries

As US Electric Vehicle Sales Double in One Year, Biden calls for Lowering their Price to Defeat Oil Tyrant Putin

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Joe Biden called last week for a vast expansion of green energy in the United States to offset what he calls the “Putin price hike” caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent Western sanctions. He pointed out that since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the assault on […]

Joe Biden

The Causes and Consequences of the Ukraine War: A lecture by John J. Mearsheimer

John J. Mearsheimer

Robert Schumann Center for Advanced Studies: “Professor John J. Mearsheimer will discuss the current Russian invasion on Ukraine whilst exploring the potential causes and consequences of the crisis. In this lecture, Prof. Mearsheimer will aim to focus on both the origins of the war in Ukraine and some of its most important consequences. He will […]

China

Biden’s Golden Opportunity to Reverse Course on China

John Feffer

Originally published in Hankyoreh. ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – Joe Biden has wrapped up his first trip to Asia. He met with new South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol to shore up the U.S.-ROK alliance. He traveled to Tokyo to reinvigorate the Quad grouping with Japan, Australia, and India. And he peddled the new […]

Climate Crisis

Biden just declared Heat Pumps and Solar Panels essential to National Defense – here’s why and the Challenges Ahead

The Conversation

By Daniel Cohan, Rice University | – Solar panels, heat pumps and hydrogen are all building blocks of a clean energy economy. But are they truly “essential to the national defense”? President Joe Biden proclaimed that they are in early June when he authorized using the Defense Production Act to ramp up their production in […]

Climate Crisis

Biden’s Green New Deal: 100 Gigawatts of New Solar, in Biggest Energy Program since FDR’s TVA

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Biden just launched a series of executive orders and other measures for solar energy that have the potential to be the biggest energy initiatives by any president since Franklin D. Roosevelt, on whose watch the Hoover Dam and the Tennessee Valley Authority came into being. The Hoover Dam produces […]

Bashar al-Assad

On Memorial Day, let’s get the 900 US Troops out of Syria and away from any War with Russia or Iran

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Memorial Day or Decoration Day (referring to the decoration of the graves of soldiers killed in combat) began after the Civil War and has been commemorated since 1868. It is no wonder that the mourning began then. Historian J. David Hacker has estimated that 750,000 troops died in the war, […]

Featured

Saudi Arabia Snubs US, Rejects Russia Boycott, as Rumors Fly Biden may meet with the Crown Prince

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Even as the possibility of a visit to Riyadh by President Joe Biden after his upcoming trip to Israel is being rumored, Saudi Arabia is signalling that it cannot be brought on board with the NATO effort to sanction Russia. Last week the Saudi Minister of Energy, Abdul Aziz bin […]