Photograph by Juan Cole of graffiti, Tahrir Square, mid-May 2012, showing the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces as the puppeteer of Egyptian politics. (Since erased in a government campaign to clear graffiti).
Syrian Baath Escalates, Uses Jets to Bomb Aleppo
When I was interviewed by the BBC last week about rebel advances in Damascus, I cautioned that putting some armed bands in some neighborhoods would not result in a revolution. Nor did even a big bombing of security officials. I said that that a significant proportion of the population of the capital would have to […]
Romney, and Aryan Racial Theory as a basis for Foreign Policy
I heard Mitt Romney’s tepid and unremarkable foreign policy speech, which had a lot of posturing but no substance, on Tuesday. I was taken aback when he said, “I will leave Reno this evening on a trip abroad that will take me to England…” England? Well, I thought, the other parts of the United Kingdom– […]
Dear Fox Cable News: Muhammad Morsi is not the new Prime Minister of Egypt (I know you don’t really care, just sayin’)
Egypt’s president, Muhammad Morsi, appointed a new prime minister today, Hisham Qandil. Given that Fox Cable News spends its time falsifying video of president Obama and others, bullying its guests, and generally spewing falsehoods, it is not surprising that they can’t get the most basic facts in the news straight. They are owned by a […]
Zorah in a Yellow Robe (Matisse Painting)
. Henri Matisse, Zorah: La Robe Jaune. Oil on Canvass. Morocco, 1912. Collection Cowles it has been argued that Matisse stepped back, on his first trip in Morocco, from painting “wild, Fauvist women” to a more mature concern with the person and culture of his model, the Moroccan courtesan Zorah, whom he names and whom […]
Cole Twitter, Facebook,, Email, Books (Repeat)
Some book keeping for new readers. Subscribe to postings by email here You can follow the blog via Twitter @jricole. The Facebook Informed Comment fan page is here One of my Facebook pages is here. Those who like reading history and want a background on Egypt might enjoy these books of mine: Napoleon’s Egypt: Invading […]
The Three Lies Michele Bachmann Tells about American Muslims (Saunders)
Doug Saunders writes in a guest column for Informed Comment: The Three Myths About Muslims That Have Poisoned American Politics The attacks on two of the most prominent Muslims in American public life last week seemed to have come out of the blue. It appeared as if five Republican Representatives had arbitrarily chosen this moment […]
Omar Khayyam (196) “I’m going to completely divorce reason and religion”
I’m going to murder my grief with a bottle of wine, and make myself a wealthy man with a […]
Tunis: View of Coast from Sidi Bu Said (Photograph)
Photograph by Juan Cole, May, 2012
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