By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Several hundred Turks demonstrated in Istanbul on Monday in protest at the referendum result on Sunday transforming Turkey into a presidential system and handing vast powers to right wing politician Tayyip Erdogan. In contrast, US president Donald J. Trump called Erdogan to congratulate him on his […]
Turkish Democracy in Trouble, but not Because of Presidential System
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Turkey’s historic referendum on Sunday will move the country from a parliamentary to a presidential system. Many observers are sounding a death knell for Turkish democracy as a result, but the move to presidentialism in and of itself isn’t the problem. Interestingly, Erdogan won with a […]
Why Population Exchange Fails: Over 100 Dead as Buses Bombed
by Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Someone detonated a car bomb in the (rebel-held) Rashideen district of Aleppo Province Friday night, killing over 100 and wounding over 500. It targeted lead buses that had brought in evacuees from two Shiite villages being evacuated because their sectarian complexion makes them sitting ducks in […]
40% of California Grid Power from Solar, Sometimes Costs less than Nothing
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – For the first time, on the day of March 23, 40% of Californian grid power between 11 am and 2 pm was generated by utility-scale solar plants. This proportion was a seasonal effect but not a fluke, and it certainly points to what will be routine […]
In 3 months, Trump has Charged into 4 Mideast Wars, to no Avail
Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – In his less than three months in office, Donald Trump has escalated four wars, and all of his escalations have been failures. To be fair, Trump inherited all 4 wars from Barack Obama– Afghanistan, Iraq v. ISIL, Leftist Kurds v ISIL in Syria, and targeting support and […]
Can we survive simultaneous Trump, Ahmadinejad Presidencies?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – BBC Monitoring, which translates foreign-language news reports, has a rundown on reactions in Persian to the surprise registration by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to run for president in the May 19 Iranian elections. Ahmadinejad was a complete disaster and made Iran a laughingstock by his erratic pronouncements, his […]
Washington’s demonization of Foes jumps Shark with Sean Spicer on Hitler
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – White House spokesman Sean Spicer is as ill-suited for his job as his boss Donald Trump is ill-suited for his own. The most astonishing things routinely slip from the lips of both. But Spicer’s belligerent malapropisms soared to new heights of WTF on Tuesday with his […]
Russia’s not Leaving: Syria is about old-Fashioned Sphere of Influence, not Oil
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Russia is not going to yield its sphere of influence in Syria to Donald Trump or anyone else. Russia has all but won the Syrian War as we speak. There is no longer any feasible pathway for the rebels to take the capital of Damascus. The […]
Sharpening Contradictions: ISIL Strikes Egyptian Christians on Palm Sunday
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) claimed responsibility Sunday for two suicide bombings at Christian churches in Lower Egypt on Palm Sunday, which left over 40 dead and over 100 wounded. The death toll would have been higher except that an Egyptian policeman stopped the suicide bomber in Alexandria […]
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