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. […]
Glowing NY Times Review of Cole’s ‘Muhammad: Prophet of Peace’
The New York Times Book Review has a glowing review of my new book, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires, calling it ‘erudite,’ ‘informative’ and ‘ambitiously revisionist.’ Mustafa Akyol writes in his review, “Illuminating Islam’s Peaceful Origins” “Cole’s book, “Muhammad: Prophet of Peace Amid the Clash of Empires,” is not just eruditely […]
Biggest Stories of 2018: Israel announced Apartheid, Shot Thousands of Civilians
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – 2018 was in many ways a turning point for the position of Israel in the system of Western, liberal, capitalist democracies. It had long sat uneasily among France, Britain, and the United States, inasmuch as it was founded on a formal racial supremacist principle that Jews must rule the state. […]
Middle East Christians, with the population of Sweden, Celebrate Christmas
I do a column like this one from time to time, fighting back against the ‘veil of tears’ approach to the study of Middle Eastern Christians. Some have argued that Christianity is declining in the Middle East, and this allegation is certainly true in some ways and in some places. If Egyptian Christians declined from […]
Christmas and Sufism: Rumi on the Nativity and the Christ Within
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The great medieval Muslim mystic and poet, Jalal al-Din Rumi (1207-1273), interpreted the birth of Jesus as an allegory of the soul. Rumi was born in Balkh in northern Afghanistan, but his family fled the Mongol invasions and settled in Konya in what is now Turkey. Rumi was a refugee […]
With Trump leaving, Syrian Kurds seeking Support of Damascus, Moscow against Turkey
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Secretary of Defense James Mattis resigned on Thursday in part because he felt his president was violating the code of the Marines, that no man should be left behind. In abruptly pulling out of Syria, Trump was abandoning the Syrian Kurds, the only allies the US could find in the […]
Islamophobia and the Misuse of History: Iran, Alexander the Great and the Qur’an
As I mentioned earlier, an anonymous troll going by “Kirby” has attacked my new book Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires I have begun by addressing some of his substantive critiques ( here and here) – even though they may appear to be minor, because it is an opportunity to talk about […]
Putin: ISIL Defeated; “Right” for “unneeded” US Military to Depart Syria
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Sarah Sanders, Trump’s spokesperson, alleged that the Russians are unhappy with Trump decision to get out of Syria. As usual, Ms. Sanders is building sandcastles in the sky with no foundation. BBC Monitoring reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke at a news conference on Dec. 20 on Rossiya 1 […]
Review of Juan Cole, “Muhammad: Prophet of Peace” at The New Arab
The New Arab is carrying a review of my new book, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires by Usman Butt, “multimedia television researcher, filmmaker and writer based in London. Usman read International Relations and Arabic Language at the University of Westminster and completed a Master of Arts in Palestine Studies at the […]
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