Review of David S. Painter and Gregory Brew, The Struggle for Iran: Oil, Autocracy, and the Cold War, 1951–1954. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2023. Munich (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – The figure of Mohammad Mosaddeq, Prime Minister of Iran from 1951 to 1953, is an uncomfortable one for both sides […]
Archives for April 2024
Will Israel’s Gaza Campaign expand to Hezbollah and Lebanon?
By Emilie El Khoury, Queen’s University, Ontario | – The devastating war in Gaza is now in its sixth month, and the figures are alarming: more than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed. Almost one-third of the population is suffering catastrophic food insecurity and over two million (almost the entire population) have been displaced. More than […]
“Now I Am Become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds:” Genocide and Ecocide stalk the Earth
( Tomdispatch.com ) – When I was in the U.S. military, I learned a saying (often wrongly attributed to the Greek philosopher Plato) that only the dead have seen the end of war. Its persistence through history to this very moment should indeed be sobering. What would it take for us humans to stop killing […]
Climate Victory: Texas Solar Power Growing so Rapidly, it is Reducing demand for Fossil Gas
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The far right Texas legislature, dominated by Republicans in the back pocket of the fossil fuel industry, has done what it could to promote fossil gas as a power source for electricity generation. Just last summer, it passed a bill that offered companies bonuses for connecting new gas plants to […]
Countries like Australia are Floating the idea of Recognizing Palestine to push Peace
Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra | – Foreign Minister Penny Wong has taken Australian policy a modest step towards embracing recognition of a Palestine state ahead of a two-state solution, as a pathway to a lasting Middle East peace. In a Tuesday speech to an Australian National University national security conference dinner, Wong said the […]
Condemning Vanderbilt University’s Suspension of Students Engaged in Peaceful Protest against Gaza Campaign
Committee on Academic Freedom | Middle East Studies Association | – Daniel Diermeier Chancellor, Vanderbilt University daniel.diermeier@vanderbilt.edu C. Cybele Raver Provost, Vanderbilt University cybele.raver@vanderbilt.edu Dear Chancellor Diermeier and Provost Raver: We write on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom to express […]
Not Enough: Biden decries Netanyahu Strategy as a “Mistake,” Mourns WCK dead, Calls for 6-8 Week Pause
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Biden granted the Spanish-language cable television channel Univision an interview that aired on Tuesday evening. Biden ranged widely, condemning his rival Donald J. Trump as a would-be dictator and praising Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador as a straight shooter. The mention of AMLO led interviewer Enrique Acevedo to […]
Over 1,500 North American Academics Condemn Scholasticide in Gaza
NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 8 APRIL 2024 Contact: academicsvsscholasticide@gmail.com Faisal Bhabha, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University Heidi Matthews, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University Stephen Rosenbaum, UC Berkeley School of Law Over 1,500 North American Academics Condemn Scholasticide in Gaza Over 1,500 academics based at more than 270 higher education […]
Republicans Plan to wage Class Warfare on Working People
( Tomdispatch.com) – Recently, you may have noticed that the hot weather is getting ever hotter. Every year the United States swelters under warmer temperatures and longer periods of sustained heat. In fact, each of the last nine months — May 2023 through February 2024 — set a world record for heat. As I’m writing […]
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