By Peiman Salehi | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – The recent Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Beijing was accompanied by a striking military parade and a series of ambitious economic proposals. Much of the global commentary presented the event as further evidence of a transition from US dominance to a new Chinese […]
Archives for September 2025
Israel’s ‘Refuseniks’: a growing Number of Soldiers are refusing to Serve in Netanyahu’s War on Gaza
By Leonie Fleischmann, City St George’s, University of London (The Conversation) – The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has ordered the Israel Defense Forces to step up the offensive on Gaza City, despite internal and international condemnation. Amid accusations by the International Association of Genocide Scholars that Israel is committing genocide, some 40,000 reservist soldiers […]
A Reluctant (Iranian) Exile: Minister without Portfolio
A Review of Minister Without Portfolio: Memoir of a Reluctant Exile by Hooman Majd. Detroit (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Everybody needs a home. For Iranian-American writer Hooman Majd, finding a home was an elusive pursuit. He lays out his lifelong struggle for identity and belonging in his wonderful new book, Minister Without Portfolio: […]
Why Trump’s Fight with India could have global Repercussions
By Sambit Bhattacharyya, University of Sussex (The Conversation) – Donald Trump’s tariff policy seems to have morphed into as much of a tool of foreign policy as an economic strategy. But the administration’s decision to impose a 50% tariff on India, a key US ally as part of the Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) along with […]
Will Cancer Prove to be Another Weapon in Israel’s War in Gaza?
( Tomdispatch.com ) – A week after the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, a large explosion incinerated a parking lot near the busy Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, killing more than 470 people. It was a horrifying, chaotic scene. Burnt clothing was strewn about, scorched vehicles piled atop one another, and charred buildings […]
Global Solar skyrockets 64% in H1, as Trump SecEnergy Wright gets Schooled
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Ember energy consultancy reports that in the first half of 2025, the world put in 380 gigawatts of new solar capacity. That compares to 232 gigs in the first half of 2024, for a 64% increase. By the end of June, 2022, the world had only installed 90 new […]
“But come with old Khayyam and leave the Lot,” FitzGerald’s Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám 1:9
As with stanza 1:8, the next quatrain in Edward FitzGerald’s 1859 translation of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám concerns the fleeting character of political glory, and of life in general. It continues to introduce English-speaking audiences to Iranian kings and heroes, the Persian equivalents of Agamemnon and Achilles: IX. But come with old Khayyam, and […]
The full Seizure of Gaza: A Path toward Isolation and Collapse
By Timothy Hopper ( Middle East Monitor ) – As tensions rise in the Middle East, Benjamin Netanyahu, with his security cabinet’s backing, has chosen to seize full control of the Gaza Strip; a move that’s as audacious as it is perilous, threatening Israel’s security, economy, and global reputation. Framed as a strike against Hamas, […]
Warming Temperatures affect Glaciers’ ability to store Meltwater, contributing to rising Sea Levels
(The Conversation) – Danielle Halle, University of Waterloo and Wesley Van Wychen, University of Waterloo In higher elevations, firn, frozen water that is something between snow and ice, covers the top of glaciers. Firn plays a critical role in regulating glacial meltwater and sea level rise. It does this by absorbing meltwater, the water released […]
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