Israel settlements led to peace talks impasse: Palestinians (via AFP) US-sponsored peace talks with Israel have reached an impasse because of Jewish settlement activity, a Palestinian spokesman said, as plans for over 2,000 West Bank units were moved forward. The latest crisis comes as Washington scrambles for a formula… —— Related video: AmnestyInternational: “Trigger-happy […]
Top attempts by Dictators to Shut down Twitter in Mideast (including Turkey’s PM Erdogan)
(By Juan Cole) Trying to close down social media such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube has been a desperate ploy of dictatorial regimes throughout the world. It doesn’t work very well, since typically users find workarounds. But what is interesting is why authoritarian regimes make the attempt in the first place. At midnight last night, […]
US Special Interest Groups in the Middle East Peace Process
(by Mahmoud M.A. Abdou) In this post, Mahmoud Abdou presents a summary of his book The Middle East Peace Process and U.S. Special Interest Groups. The Middle East Peace Process and U.S. Special Interest Groups is meant as a contribution towards resolving the puzzle regarding the actual clout of pro-Israel U.S. special interest groups by […]
Google’s Larry Page: We can’t Have NSA Spying and a Functioning Democracy
Google’s Page says US online spying threatens democracy (via AFP) Google co-founder Larry Page on Wednesday condemned US government snooping on the Internet as a threat to democracy. His comments came during an on-stage chat at a prestigious Technology Entertainment Design gathering, where a day earlier fellow Google… ——- Related video: Bloomberg News: “What […]
Climate Change: ‘Abrupt,’ ‘Unpredictable,’ ‘Irreversible’ and ‘Highly Damaging’
In a rare move, the world’s largest scientific society released a report nudging the public to wake up to the scientifically sound and increasingly frightening reality of climate change. “As scientists, it is not our role to tell people what they…
On Iranian New Year, Russia hints it May Swing Support to Tehran over Crimea Sanctions
(By Juan Cole) Iran may have gotten a New Year’s gift via the Crimea crisis, as Russia threatens to play the Iran card over proposed US sanctions. As I argued in the New York Times, Russia and Iran are being driven closer to one another as both are now under a US and Western European […]
Climate Change and the Rise of Genghis Khan
Mild weather may have propelled rise of Genghis Khan (via AFP) A pleasantly warm and wet spell in central Mongolia eight centuries ago may have propelled the rise of Genghis Khan, according to a US study Monday. The research was based on an analysis of tree rings spanning 11 centuries, showing that the conqueror… […]
East African countries are dealing with the impacts of climate change
Posted on 17 March 2014 by Guest Author, John Abraham As I have written before, I have a particular interest in smart energy sources for the developing world. Issues of climate change and energy supply meet as countries try to provide basic services…
Russian Annexation of Crimea, Israeli Annexation of Palestine
(By Juan Cole) Russia’s annexation of Crimea on Tuesday is among the few significant territorial acquisitions since the end of World War II by one country from another, more or less by force. The only clear parallel I can think of in the post-War period is the Israeli annexation of the Palestinian territories in 1967. […]
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