(By Juan Cole) President Obama’s State of the Union address addressed some key foreign policy issues–Afghanistan and Iran above all– though it was primarily aimed at domestic issues, and mainly at those where executive orders and policy might make at least a marginal impact. Opinion polls show that US public support for the Afghanistan War, […]
Syria: Trapped Women of besieged Homs decline evacuation, fearing for their Men
(Via Globalpost) Women and children fearing for male relatives refuse to leave Syria’s Homs (via GlobalPost) More than half of the 500 women and children trapped in the Syrian city of Homs refuse to be evacuated, saying they fear leaving male relatives behind, activists said Monday. “Some 200 women and children, those suffering the worst […]
Edward Snowden Interview: NSA is Engaged in Industrial Espionage for Interests, not Security
Via Liveleak: German Television does first Edward Snowden Interview
The 18th Brumaire of Gen. al-Sisi in Egypt
(By Juan Cole) On Monday, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) announced that Field Marshall Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (also the minister of defense) was free to run for president if his conscience led him to do so. There had been a question whether the officers wanted him to get directly involved in politics. […]
The Future of Cool: Electric Muscle Cars at the Detroit Auto Show
(By Juan Cole) I dropped by the Detroit Auto Show this weekend (its last this year) at Cobo Center as it was wrapping up. Regular readers know that I am a big fan of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, so I had a lot of fun window shopping and fantasizing. I have a Chevy Volt […]
Israeli PM Netanyahu faces Zionist Racism from Son dating Norwegian
(By Juan Cole) Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is caught in a firestorm of controversy because his son Yair, 23, is dating a Norwegian woman whom he met while she was studying at university in Israel. Ordinarily I would not want to bring up a story like this, since poor Yair is not a politician […]
The Human Cost of Income Inequality in America
BBC: “What does Income Inequality mean for Americans?”
54 Dead in an Egypt Polarized between pro-Military, anti-Coup on Revolution Anniversary
(by Juan Cole) January 25 marked the third anniversary of the revolution that overthrew dictator Hosni Mubarak, and Egyptians observed it in three distinctively different ways. In the iconic Tahrir Square downtown, thousands of supporters of the military coup of July 3, 2013, gathered for a big party. People never used to dance to patriotic […]
The Real Irony of Rep. Harman being interrupted on NSA Spying by Bieber Bulletin
(By Juan Cole) MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell interrupts former Rep. Jane Harman, speaking on NSA surveillance from Davos, for breaking news about Justin Bieber’s DUI arrest The real irony of interviewing Harman on NSA spying is that, as Ryan Gierach points out, she is both a victim of it and a big defender of it, which […]
© 2025 All Rights Reserved