US politics

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Sunday, David D. Kirkpatrick and Kate Kelly of the New York Times got a big scoop — they gained access to internal documents of the board that vets investments for the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund, called the Public Investment Fund. These memos demonstrate that the board argued against […]

European Union

Could Europe/ NATO become Israel-Palestine if Putin Occupies parts of Ukraine for the Long Haul?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) | – We have to begin asking the question of what will happen if Russia succeeds in implementing a long-term occupation of the Donbass region and of other Ukrainian territories down to the port of Odessa, making a land bridge to Crimea. Such a Russian occupation of land claimed by a […]

Saudi Arabia

Yemen: Will Resignation of Saudi-backed Absentee President help End US-Backed War?

Brian Whitaker

( Al-Bab.com ) – After months of apparent deadlock, the last few days have brought tentative signs of a shift in Yemen’s seven-year conflict. On Friday Hans Grundberg, the UN’s special envoy, announced that the protagonists had agreed to a two-month ceasefire. The truce, which came into force on Saturday, was the first since 2016 […]

Left Politics

The Left has to Recognize Russian Imperialism in Ukraine or it is Trapped in Americocentrism

Foreign Policy in Focus

By David Ost | – ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – It is tough for leftists to be on the same side as the mainstream. We can easily feel at those times that we’re missing something, that we’re letting down the struggle, that by ganging up even on an admittedly bad actor we’re helping […]

Afghanistan

Why didn’t US strikes on Afghan Weddings generate Press Outrage like Russia’s Killings of Civilians in Ukraine?

Nick Turse

( Tomdispatch.com ) – You’ve seen the grisly footage. You’ve read the harrowing reports. The evidence is everywhere and it’s as chilling as it is irrefutable. There was the young boy who was beaten and shot in cold blood; the man used for target practice; the old man thrown off a cliff; and the group […]

Donald Trump

Republicans dislike Biden more than Putin by over 2-to-1: No Rallying around the Flag

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A new opinion poll by Shibley Telhami and Stella Rouse at the University of Maryland finds that Republicans dislike President Joe Biden more than Vladimir Putin by a margin of more than 2 to 1. You heard that right. Respondents were asked to name two world leaders they most disliked, […]

Democracy

GOP’s Voter Suppression Laws are a Five-Alarm Emergency for Democracy

OtherWords

By Robert P. Alvarez | – ( Otherwords.org ) – “Voter suppression” is a divisive and highly politicized term. But for the slate of bills Republicans are pushing across the country, it’s the only correct one. They’re introducing these bills in virtually every state, but three — Arizona, Georgia, and Wisconsin — are especially worrisome. […]

African-Americans

Ketanji Brown Jackson joins a Court that once Ruled Black Women had no Rights at All

Juan Cole

Revised. Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – An unprecedented ceremony at the White House on Friday celebrated the confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. She noted in her remarks, “It has taken 232 years and 115 prior appointments for a Black woman to be selected to serve on the Supreme […]

Inequality

It Goes up but Never Comes Down: What Would It Take to Reduce US Military Spending?

William J. Astore

( Tomdispatch.com) – I have a question for you: What would it take in today’s world for America’s military spending to go down? Here’s one admittedly farfetched scenario: Vladimir Putin loses his grip on power and Russia retrenches militarily while reaching out to normalize relations with the West. At the same time, China prudently decides […]