Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu Ahmet Davutoglu warned Wednesday in Tehran against a Sunni-Shiite civil war in the Middle East, which he said was being encouraged by some (unnamed) forces. Among the flashpoints in the area has been the confrontation between Iran and the United States at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. Iran conducted a […]
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Omar Khayyam (1) [Whinfield 26]
In these one, two, three days a lifetime has passed, like cascading waters or a desert squall. But regret for two days never comes to mind: the one that hasn’t arrived and the one that long since passed – Omar Khayyam Trans. by Juan Cole from Whinfield 26 Revised. For the […]
US sees Iranian Military Spending as Threat
courtesy Ben Adler @ Reuters
Three Republican Bears and none Just Right
Why did Mitt Romney win Iowa? Not because he is the ideal candidate, but because the Republican faithful will just have to settle. That the turnout was not impressive, despite grassroots exasperation with Barack Obama, is a testament to the lack of enthusiasm with which the Iowa GOP greeted the quirky field of candidates presented […]
Reading in the New Millennium: Cole at Truthdig
My essay, “Reading in the New Millennium: Forward to the Past?” is out at Truthdig. Excerpt: “I have been rereading Ralph Waldo Emerson’s two-volume “Essays” on my iPad via Google Books. His remarks at the opening of the piece on “Politics” are justly renowned but always worth considering again: “In dealing with the State, we […]
Will his New Sanctions on Iran Cost Obama the Presidency?
A sharp drop in the value of the Iranian currency as a result of new American sanctions may sound like good news to hawks in the US. But actually this development may signal ways in which Americans will also be harmed, and Obama may have put a second term in jeopardy, cutting off his nose […]
Conservative White People’s Primary
What Iowa looks like with regard to ethnicity (2010 Census): What the United States looks like (2010 Census)
Top 5 Foreign Policy Challenges for US, 2012
My list of challenges last year this time more or less nailed it, especially my concerns about the Mubarak era ending in Egypt. Many of the dangers to which I pointed still exist, of course, but a whole host of new difficulties has emerged. 5. The compromise reached in Yemen is unacceptable to many reformers. […]
On the end of Newt Gingrich’s Campaign
“Passion often makes a madman of the cleverest man, and renders the greatest fools clever.” – François de La Rochefoucauld (d. 1680)
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