Many thanks to the New York Times for recommending my new book, ‘Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires:’ Editors’ Choice: “11 New Books We Recommend This Week” Gregory Cowles writes, “How better to enter the new year than with a look back? History runs through many of this week’s recommended titles, from […]
Trump Spews Incomprehensible Nonsense on Kurds, Syria, Afghanistan
“A Commentary on the words that spewed from Trump’s mouth at his news conference during a cabinet meeting on January 2, 2019,” or, “A Ph.D. who has been teaching at a public Ivy since 1984 is forced to spend his time chasing the rabid ferrets running around in the head of a decrepit reality t.v. […]
Saudi Arabia muscles Netflix over Minhaj Criticism of Khashoggi Murder
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Netflix has been forced to pull Episode 2 of comedian Hasan Minhaj’s “Patriot Act” for Saudi viewers because it criticizes the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi on October 2 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, in which a bone saw was used to cut up the corpse. Netflix points […]
Trump’s US in 2019: Is the Mideast ‘War on Terror’ Paradigm Ending?
We’re talking a ten to fifteen year window for the American obsession with petroleum
2018: Saudis Made a Play for Regional Hegemony and Tripped over a Single Murder
The arrogant and impatient young Mohammed Bin Salman, who shouldered aside a raft of uncles and cousins to grab power as crown prince, is something new in Saudi history. The Al Saud, the royal family, had functioned as an oligarchy, but King Salman and his hyperactive son have concentrated power in their hands in an […]
Are Saudis Deploying Army of Sudanese child-soldiers in Yemen?
Sudan leader Omar al-Bashir is said to have demanded from these Gulf countries $2 billion for every 1,000 Sudanese troops deployed in Yemen.
Germany’s Electricity 38% Renewable in 2018, more than Coal for 1st Time
Meanwhile, carbon dioxide emissions fell 6% in the world’s 4th-largest economy.
Abandoned by Trump, Syrian Kurds frantically turn to Moscow for Protection from Turkey
Anton Lavrov, a military analyst, writes in the pro-Putin Russian newspaper Izvestia that the withdrawal of US troops from northeast Syria will mainly affect the fate of the Kurds (via BBC Monitoring). He notes that the US has provided the YPG with armored vehicles and antitank missiles and a great deal of ammunition. These medium […]
Shiite Parties Decry Trump’s ‘Arrogant’ and ‘Disdainful’ Visit to Iraq, Ignoring Iraqis
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump’s surprise visit to a US military base in Iraq on the day after Christmas has provoked a strong critique among some Iraqis, who mind that Trump slipped in and out to visit the Ain al-Assad base in al-Anbar Province but did not bother to meet with any Iraqi officials. […]
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