Foreign Policy

Review of Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet, Heroes to Hostages America and Iran, 1800–1988 (Cambridge U.P., 2023) When the subject of Iran and America comes to mind, two eventful episodes are often invoked by Iranians and Americans. The first is the CIA-led coup d’état of 1953, which toppled Mohammad Mossadegh’s democratically elected government; and the second is the […]

Donald Trump

The World War in Libya: Russo-Turkish, Turko-Egyptian Conflicts Recall Multi-Polar 19th Century

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Libya has become a multipolar battleground unusual in the era since 1946. The UN-recognized General National Assembly (GNA) government in Tripoli is ranged against the forces of Benghazi-based Gen. Khalifa Haftar. Haftar is supported by the Russian Federation, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and diplomatically, France. The GNA is supported […]

African-Americans

Riots or Uprising? If this Turmoil were in Iran, Trump would be Cheering on Arsonists and Dreaming of Regime Change

Omar Ahmed

(Middle East Monitor ) – The scenario is all too familiar: the almost casual murder in Minneapolis of an unarmed African American citizen — say his name: George Floyd — by police officers has sparked a wave of social unrest and protests across the country. Since Floyd’s killing on 25 May, we have seen what […]

Afghanistan

If only we Had that $6.4 Trillion we wasted on Iraq and Afghanistan to Lift the Economy and Fight Coronavirus

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Wouldn’t it be nice if the richest country in the world had some resources stored up to deal with the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and the worst health crisis since the 1918 Influenza Pandemic that killed 600,000 Americans? I mean, we had a $21 trillion a year […]

Donald Trump

Top 10 Ways Trump’s Actions against Iran Hurt the US, the Mideast, and the World

Common Dreams

By Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J S Davies | – Revised. (Commondreams.org) – The U.S. assassination of General Qassem Soleimani has not yet plunged us into a full-scale war with Iran thanks to the Iranian government’s measured response, which demonstrated its capabilities without actually harming U.S. troops or escalating the conflict. But the danger of […]

Donald Trump

Iran is not Going Away, and Trump’s only hope of Success is not War but a Deal

Ali Abootalebi

Eau Clare, Wi. (Special to Informed Comment) – Much has been speculated and written about the possibility, trajectory, and the likely consequences of a war between the United States and Iran. In case of a wider war that may threaten the survival of the Islamic Republic, Iranian leadership will inevitably push for an all-out war […]

Donald Trump

US Embassy in Baghdad Invaded after SecState Pompeo Slashed Security Funding, Took no Preventive Steps in wake of US Airstrikes

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – There was nothing more predictable than that the US Embassy should come under attack after the US Air Force bombed five bases of the Iraqi Shiite militia, Kata’ib Hizbullah (Party of God Brigade). Hundreds of supporters of the militia demonstrated in front of the embassy Tuesday, in the wake of […]

Foreign Policy

How the Saudi Oil Field Attack Overturned America’s Apple Cart

Conn M. Hallinan

(Foreign Policy in Focus) – For all their overwhelming firepower, the U.S. and its allies can cause a lot of misery in the Middle East, but still can’t govern the course of events. In many ways it doesn’t really matter who — Houthis in Yemen? Iranians? Shiites in Iraq? — launched those missiles and drones […]

Education

Trump v. Duke U.-UNC: Why the Study of Cultures is Essential to our National Security

The Conversation

By Nicholas Tampio | After the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, a commission formed to figure out why the attacks occurred. One of the culprits, according to the commission’s 9/11 report, was “lack of imagination.” With few exceptions, the report stated, government officials could not imagine that Osama bin Laden and his affiliates, hidden in […]