US politics

By Christoph Bluth | – Donald Trump asked his senior advisers to examine options for air strikes against Iran’s main nuclear installation, the New York Times reported recently. According to the report, the meeting occurred the day after inspectors reported a significant increase in the country’s stockpile of nuclear material. Key advisers reportedly counselled against […]

Anti-War Movement

Ten Foreign Policy Fiascos Biden Can Fix on Day One (and Should)

Medea Benjamin and Nicholas J.S. Davies

( Code Pink ) – Donald Trump loves executive orders as a tool of dictatorial power, avoiding the need to work through Congress. But that works both ways, making it relatively easy for President Biden to reverse many of Trump’s most disastrous decisions. Here are ten things Biden can do as soon as he takes […]

Arms Sales

Merchants of Arms: Who wants a Conflict with China?

Tomdispatch

By Cassandra Stimpson and Holly Zhang | – ( Tomdispatch.com ) – War: what is it good for? Apparently, in Washington’s world of think tanks, the answer is: the bottom line. In fact, as the Biden presidency approaches, an era of great-power competition between the United States and China is already taken for granted inside […]

Donald Trump

Is it the Trump-Monster or capitalist Plutocracy? With 250,000 Dead, why is the US Virus Response so Particularly Bad?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Holly Yan, Christina Maxouris and Theresa Waldrop at CNN report that the United States has passed the grim milestone of 250,000 deaths. Trump had predicted a worst case of 50,000 deaths last spring, but then Donald Trump could not find his ass with both hands. Nor is the worrisome death […]

Israel Lobbies

Criticizing Israel is not antisemitic — it’s academic freedom

The Conversation

By Jasmin Zine, Greg Bird and Sara Matthews | – This summer controversy arose around the hiring of Valentina Azarova as the director of the University of Toronto faculty of law’s international human rights program. Some faculty accused the dean of rescinding a job offer because public figures were uncomfortable with her scholarly criticism of […]

Afghanistan

Is Trump leaving 2500 Troops in Iraq and in Afghanistan as a Poison Pill for Biden?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Dustin Jones at NPR reports that Trump has instructed the Pentagon to bring most US troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan by January 15, 2021. Some 2,500 would remain in each country. The announcement was made, WaPo reports, by acting secretary of defense Christopher C. Miller. Miller was apparently brought […]

Democratic Party

The Federal Gov’t owns 92% of Student Debt. Will Biden Wipe it Out?

Inequality.org

By Sarah Anderson and Margot Rathke | – ( Inequality.org) – Washington is abuzz with ideas for actions the Biden-Harris administration could take that would not require Congressional approval. One of the buzziest: cancellation of student debts owed to the federal government. The U.S. Department of Education owns about 92 percent of the $1.6 trillion […]

Democratic Party

The Other America: The New Politics of the Poor in Joe Biden’s (and Mitch McConnell’s) USA

Liz Theoharis

( Tomdispatch.com) – In the two weeks since Election 2020, the country has oscillated between joy and anger, hope and dread in an era of polarization sharpened by the forces of racism, nativism, and hate. Still, truth be told, though the divisive tone of this moment may only be sharpening, division in the United States […]

Donald Trump

Trump Bruited Strike on Iran Civilian Nuclear Facilities, which may kill as many as did Nuclear Bombing of Hiroshima

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Eric Schmitt, Maggie Haberman, David E. Sanger, Helene Cooper and Lara Jakes at the New York Times get the scoop. Their sources in the White House tell them that last Thursday, in a meeting with his senior advisers, Trump abruptly asked them if there were options for a US strike […]