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Archives for March 2014

Arab Spring
Dear Arab Liberals:  The Enemies of your Enemies aren't Necessarily your Friends

Dear Arab Liberals: The Enemies of your Enemies aren’t Necessarily your Friends

contributors

(By Karim Emile Bitar) One of the principal reasons the revolutionary impulse unleashed in 2010 proved so inspiring was that it finally gave full voice to liberals, democrats and progressives of the Arab world, who rejected the idea that their only governmental options lay in sinister alternatives of authoritarian military cliques that had ruled for […]

Islam
Crimean Tatars fear Russian Rule

Crimean Tatars fear Russian Rule

Juan Cole

Crimean Tatars fear a future under Russia (via GlobalPost) BAKHCHYSARAI, Ukraine — Crimean Tatars know a few things about oppression. In the past two or so centuries, this tight-knit Muslim group has been colonized by the Russian Empire, deported en masse by the Soviet Union and denied the most basic of rights…   ——– Related […]

Free Syrian Army
Syria:  Kurdish Women Soldiers take on Extremist Jihadis

Syria: Kurdish Women Soldiers take on Extremist Jihadis

Juan Cole

DW writes, “According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 people have died in the civil war in Syria so far. The real number of dead is probably much higher. Many “Free Armies” have formed in the country, and they all want one thing: to topple Bashar al-Assad.” DW: “Syria: Kurdish women soldiers against jihadists […]

Politics&Culture
What Ukraine Means to the U.S. 1% and to the 99%  (Editorial Cartoon)

What Ukraine Means to the U.S. 1% and to the 99% (Editorial Cartoon)

contributors

(By Paul Jamiol) Courtesy Jamiol’s World

Featured
A Russo-Iranian Bloc against the United States?

A Russo-Iranian Bloc against the United States?

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Russian President Vladimir Putin called his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani on Thursday, according to PressTV. The Russian press added that “A Kremlin statement said Putin had underlined to Rouhani that any solution to the Ukrainian crisis must take into account the interests and the will of people in all of the former […]

Climate Change
Climate Change Is Increasing Extreme Heat Globally

Climate Change Is Increasing Extreme Heat Globally

Juan Cole

By Brian Kahn Follow @blkahn Despite reports of a global warming “hiatus,” a new study shows that the number of areas being affected by extreme heat are on the rise and that the hottest temperatures on the planet are also increasing. The idea of a …

Politics&Culture
The US isn't a Police State, but it is a Managed Democracy

The US isn’t a Police State, but it is a Managed Democracy

Juan Cole

Source: SecurityDegreeHub.com —— Related video: TheRealNews: “Obama Expands Militarization of Police” )

Turkey
The Theater of Conspiracy in the Run-up to Turkey’s Elections

The Theater of Conspiracy in the Run-up to Turkey’s Elections

contributors

(By Erdağ Göknar) The novel Snow by Nobel-prize-winning Turkish author Orhan Pamuk exposes the logic of Middle Eastern nationalism. Not surprisingly, political conspiracy has a prominent role to play in it. Turkish realities and their ideologically colored representations are constantly switching places in the novel. As a result, it becomes harder and harder for characters […]

Featured
Tens of Thousands in Turkey Protest Tyranny of the Majority

Tens of Thousands in Turkey Protest Tyranny of the Majority

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Tens of thousands of Turks demonstrated in Istanbul and other cities on Wednesday coming off the funeral of 15-year-old Berkin Elvan. Elvan had been in a coma since last June, when he went out to get bread for his family and inadvertently got caught up in the Gezi Park protests. He was […]

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