Asia

Kabul (AFP) – Dozens of peace protesters arrived in Kabul on Monday after walking hundreds of kilometres across war-battered Afghanistan, as the Taliban ended an unprecedented ceasefire and resumed attacks in several parts of the country. AFP / WAKIL KOHSAR. Afghan peace activists shout slogans demanding an end to fighting as they arrive in Kabul. […]

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Top 8 Ways Iran Deal was Way Better than Trump’s North Korea Commitment

Juan Cole

1. Trump met with and embraced Kim Jong Un, a brutal dictator. Obama never met with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, never joked around with him, never got friendly with him. 2. During his meeting in Singapore with Kim, Trump committed to cancelling joint military exercises with South Korea in two months. Obama did not cancel any […]

North Korea

What could Really Make a US-N. Korea Summit Work: A Peace Treaty US Hawks Honor

Reese Erlich

Police wearing Darth Vader helmets and carrying shotguns mounted with tear gas launchers lined up ready for battle. Fifty yards away, tens of thousands students and workers placed iron bars and Molotov cocktails on the street preparing for battle. At the appointed hour both sides charged, with police clubbing and firing tear gas barrages. It […]

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If Obama had met with Kim Jong Un, the Republican Party would have had a Cow

Juan Cole

The depths of hypocrisy of the Republican Party in supporting Trump’s meeting with the North Korean dictator in Singapore are hard to plumb. This is a party whose leading members adopted the Ostrich Foreign Policy Principle for decades. If you don’t like a country’s government or political and economic system, pretend it does not exist. […]

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After What Trump did to Iran and Canada, why Should N Korea trust Talks with Him?

Juan Cole

On the face of it, Trump’s erratic behavior with allies and his violation of the 2015 accord on Iran’s civilian nuclear enrichment program ought to give North Korea pause about negotiating with him. It does not. The Iran deal in particular was closely negotiated over the course of years. Iran gave up 90% of its […]

China

With G7 in Disarray, Putin & Xi court Iran at Shanghai Cooperation Council

Becky Davis

Qingdao (China) (AFP) – Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday opened a regional security summit attended by Russia and Iran with boasts of the bloc’s “unity”, just as a fractious G7 gathering was mired in divisions between Europe and the US. SPUTNIK/AFP / Alexei Druzhinin. Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed the bloc’s guiding ‘Shanghai spirit.’ […]

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“The Light of a Thousand Suns:” India has 5 of World’s largest Solar Farms, Plans Huger

Juan Cole

Once upon a time, if it was big and it was a technological advance, I’d expect to hear it was happening in the United States. As Trump flushes the toilet on true American greatness (its intellectual capital, ability to attract talent from around the world, its open-mindedness and freedom for innovation, its commitment to the […]

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India stands with Iran against Trump Sanctions

Juan Cole

India’s External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj, on Monday did not mince words in delivering a sharp rebuke to US plans for sanctions on trade with Iran, including National Security Adviser John Bolton’s threats against third parties like India. She said, according to The Hindu, “Our foreign policy is not made under pressure from other countries […]

Afghanistan

On Memorial Day, US Troops still Dying in Afghanistan but 1/2 the Country is Lost

Juan Cole

The Afghanistan government controls only about half of Afghanistan, 229 of 407 districts. Maybe because it is a bad news story, our Afghanistan War, the longest in our history, keeps slipping our minds, along with thoughts of the Americans still fighting there. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, has issued a report […]