Informed Comment Homepage

Thoughts on the Middle East, History and Religion

Header Right

  • Featured
  • US politics
  • Middle East
  • Environment
  • US Foreign Policy
  • Energy
  • Economy
  • Politics
  • About
  • Archives
  • Submissions

© 2025 Informed Comment

  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Archives for December 2017

Iraq
Iraqi Kurdish Leaders' No-Good very Bad Year

Iraqi Kurdish Leaders’ No-Good very Bad Year

contributors

Histyar Qader | Erbil | (Niqash.org) | – – The end of the year brought strife to Iraqi Kurdistan, The northern region has to deal with a reduced area of influence, internal and external political problems, and a financial crisis. This year brought major transformation to the semi-autonomous northern region of Iraqi Kurdistan and by […]

Iran
Tehran Police say Iranian Women won't be arrested over Dress Code

Tehran Police say Iranian Women won’t be arrested over Dress Code

Juan Cole

Middle East Monitor | – – TEHRAN, IRAN – JUNE 5: Iranian women perform as they train Far East Fighting Arts to be able to defend themselves, at the Jughin castle which is located 40 km’s far from Tehran, Iran on Police in Iran’s capital said Thursday they will no longer detain women who violate […]

Displaced and Refugees
Saudi Arabia Killed 68 Yemeni Civilians in Just 1 Day: UN

Saudi Arabia Killed 68 Yemeni Civilians in Just 1 Day: UN

contributors

TeleSur | – – A United Nations top official said warring sides in Yemen, especially the Saudi-led coalition, have no regard for human life. The top U.N. official in Yemen said Thursday that Saudi-led airstrikes have killed scores of civilians in the past 10 days, including 68 in just one day, in what he called […]

Bashar al-Assad
Russia: Permanent Bases planned in Syria to fight Terrorism

Russia: Permanent Bases planned in Syria to fight Terrorism

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (informed Comment) | – – The US military says that the number of ISIL fighters in eastern Syria has fallen from 3000 a month ago to only 1000 today. Moreover a lot of the latter are fleeing into al-Assad-controlled territory, a severe security concern for the Syrian state. The US is […]

Displaced and Refugees
Egyptian parliament moves to make atheism a crime

Egyptian parliament moves to make atheism a crime

contributors

Brian Whitaker | ( al-Bab.com The Egyptian parliament’s committee on religion has announced plans to make disbelief in God a crime. Under the current law against “contempt of religions” atheists can be prosecuted for expressing their disbelief in public but the committee’s proposal would go further and criminalise disbelief itself. In 2014, little more than a […]

Barack Obama
Barack Obama tells Prince Harry how he felt after Donald Trump's inauguration (Video)

Barack Obama tells Prince Harry how he felt after Donald Trump’s inauguration (Video)

contributors

Prince Harry/ Barack Obama | (BBC News Video) | – – “Barack Obama opens up about how he felt after Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president.” BBC: How Obama felt after Trump’s inauguration – BBC News

Donald Trump
Is Trump's threat to sacred Bears Ears like Taliban blowing up Buddhas?

Is Trump’s threat to sacred Bears Ears like Taliban blowing up Buddhas?

contributors

George Nicholas | (The Conversation) | – – For many archaeologists, one of the darkest moments in memory was the destruction of the fourth and fifth-century Bamiyan Buddhas by the Taliban in 2001. That tragedy was later eclipsed by ISIS’s destruction of Baghdad museum artifacts, Palmyra temples and other structures elsewhere. mypubliclands / Creative Commons […]

Donald Trump
Trump “not welcome” in UK after Neo-Nazi retweets: London Mayor

Trump “not welcome” in UK after Neo-Nazi retweets: London Mayor

Juan Cole

Middle East Monitor | – – Describing London as the city of “tolerance, acceptance and diversity”, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, however, on Wednesday said President Donald Trump is “not welcomed”, Anadolu reports. Khan’s written statement came after the London Assembly asked him how the city’s government would prepare for an official state visit from Trump. […]

Featured
Chess is Universal; Saudi Arabia isn't: Women's Boycott, Israeli Lawsuit

Chess is Universal; Saudi Arabia isn’t: Women’s Boycott, Israeli Lawsuit

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Saudi Arabia under the hyper-active crown prince Muhammad Bin Salman is undertaking rapid changes in society and international diplomacy. But the kingdom’s conviction that it is ready to host international events has been demonstrated to be premature by a debacle over a chess tournament. A chess […]

  • « Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Page 2
  • Page 3
  • Page 4
  • …
  • Page 15
  • Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Support Independent Journalism

Click here to donate via PayPal.

Personal checks should be made out to Juan Cole and sent to me at:

Juan Cole
P. O. Box 4218,
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-2548
USA
(Remember, make the checks out to “Juan Cole” or they can’t be cashed)

STAY INFORMED

Join our newsletter to have sharp analysis delivered to your inbox every day.
Warning! Social media will not reliably deliver Informed Comment to you. They are shadowbanning news sites, especially if "controversial."
To see new IC posts, please sign up for our email Newsletter.

Social Media

Bluesky | Instagram

Popular

  • Israel's Netanyahu banks on TACO Trump as he Launches War on Iran to disrupt Negotiations
  • A Pariah State? Western Nations Sanction Israeli Cabinet Members
  • Israel: Will Ultra-Orthodox Jews' Opposition to Conscription Bring down Netanyahu's Gov't
  • Women's Cancer Rates are Rising in the Oil Gulf: is Global Heating causing it?
  • Threat to Rule of Law: Sen. Padilla thrown to Ground, Cuffed at Noem DHS Press Conference

Gaza Yet Stands


Juan Cole's New Ebook at Amazon. Click Here to Buy
__________________________

Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires



Click here to Buy Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam


Click here to Buy The Rubaiyat.
Sign up for our newsletter

Informed Comment © 2025 All Rights Reserved