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Archives for December 2025

Culture
Rumi and Shakespeare: On Forgiveness and Reconciliation

Rumi and Shakespeare: On Forgiveness and Reconciliation

Juan Cole

Jalaluddin Rumi (d. 1273) has sometimes been called “the Shakespeare of the East.” The comparison is just

Iran
One Year After Assad’s Fall: Iran’s Strategic Collapse In Syria

One Year After Assad’s Fall: Iran’s Strategic Collapse In Syria

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

Iran grapples with the collapse of its key regional ally. Tehran lost up to 50 billion dollars invested over a decade,

European Union
The Transatlantic Rift over Gaza’s Future

The Transatlantic Rift over Gaza’s Future

Foreign Policy in Focus

The cleavage threatens the post-conflict architecture, compromise the humanitarian response, and cast a shadow over Western coherence

Donald Trump
Israel is Sinking into the Abyss of Netanyahu’s Dictatorship

Israel is Sinking into the Abyss of Netanyahu’s Dictatorship

H. Scott Prosterman

Pardoning Netanyahu for his high crimes and felonies would mean Israel acquiescing to a Bibi dictatorship

Entertainment
“With them the seed of Wisdom:”  FitzGerald’s The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám 1:28

“With them the seed of Wisdom:” FitzGerald’s The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám 1:28

Juan Cole

And this was all the Harvest that I reap’d- “I came like Water, and like Wind I go.

Donald Trump
Trump as Nero: The Bible Condemns Rich Predators, Not Poor Trans Lovers

Trump as Nero: The Bible Condemns Rich Predators, Not Poor Trans Lovers

Liz Theoharis

Tacitus, shared how Nero “polluted himself by every lawful or lawless indulgence.”

Israel/ Palestine
How the pro-Palestine Movement is outsmarting the Algorithms

How the pro-Palestine Movement is outsmarting the Algorithms

Waging Nonviolence

In response to censorship by Meta and other platforms, Palestinians have built an innovative new playbook of tactics to beat the algorithm

Caribbean
Peacemaker or Pirate of the Caribbean? Trump Celebrates Murder on the Open Seas

Peacemaker or Pirate of the Caribbean? Trump Celebrates Murder on the Open Seas

Dan Dinello

US forces hit the targeted boat once, then hit it again — the second strike vaporizing two shipwrecked survivors clinging to the wreckage

Hayat Tahrir
Review of ‘Transformed by the People: Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s Road to Power in Syria’

Review of ‘Transformed by the People: Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s Road to Power in Syria’

Middle East Monitor

The lightening rebel offensive that brought down five decades of the dictatorial rule of the Assad family, was a shock to many.

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  • War, Peace, and Erasure: Lessons from Wakara for Gaza and Beyond
  • Israel is Sinking into the Abyss of Netanyahu's Dictatorship
  • Peacemaker or Pirate of the Caribbean? Trump Celebrates Murder on the Open Seas
  • How the pro-Palestine Movement is outsmarting the Algorithms
  • One way Zohran Mamdani could arrest Indicted War Criminal Benjamin Netanyahu

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