Juan Cole

The damnedest thing happened in Tehran on Monday. A massive rally estimated by Farnaz Fassihi of the WSJ at tens of thousands sprang up all along Vali Asr Street, the capital’s longest thoroughfare, stretching 12 miles across the city. The scene reminded Fassihi of the enormous crowds that came out to protest the shah in […]

President Obama’s hopes for progress on the Arab-Israeli peace process would have been sunk if Hezbollah had won the Lebanese elections. As it is, the March 14 Movement has won the Lebanese parliamentary elections, garnering 69 or 70 seats out of 128. Russia Today has video of the victory: Since the districting made it likely […]

Video of my appearance Sunday on CNN’s GPS with Fareed Zakaria and a panel of other guests discussing President Obama’s Cairo address to the Muslim world is embedded below. My colleagues include my teacher, Saad Eddin Ibrahim, as well as Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia, Benny Morris from Israel, Hanan Ashrawi from Ramallah, Rami Khoury from […]

For those of you who only read on the weekdays, this is from Friday: Announcing an important peace conference in the UK at Liverpool Hope University: The Cost of War Conference Programme June 17 to 19 2009. I’m giving a keynote on Weds. 17. See below for the program. Overview: This conference counts the costs […]

A suicide bomber with a bomb belt attempted to kill the police chief of al-Anbar Province, Tariq al-Asal, in the city of Ramadi on Saturday. The bombing killed his bodyguard and wounded two others, and left al-Asal with only minor injuries. Sunni guerrillas are increasingly using teenaged boys to carry out grenade and even suicide […]

Check out Fareed Zakaria’s GPS on Sunday— I’m on a panel discussion Obama’s speech in Cairo. Also you can hear a podcast of my appearance on Tavis Smiley’s radio program at PRI here. End/ (Not Continued)

The USG Open Source Center translates Pakistani editorials from the Urdu press reacting to President Obama’s address in Cairo to the Muslim world. Pakistan: Urdu Press Roundup on Address of US President at Cairo UniversityThe following is a roundup of excerpts from editorials on the address of US President Barack Obama at a university in […]

The USG Open Source Center translates key passages from the Israeli Hebrew press responding to President Obama’s Cairo address to the Muslim world. The Israeli far right accused him of Holocaust denial for recognizing that Palestinians have suffered from Israeli policies. Israeli Press Views Obama’s Cairo Speech, Note ‘Limited’ Time Frame for NetanyahuIsrael — OSC […]

On Friday, a suicide bomber detonated his payload inside a mosque in Hayagay Sharqi, in Upper Dir near Swat. The bombing is said to have killed 38 and wounded 70, but the tolls could rise as police sift rubble. Hayagay Sharqi’s population had defied the Taliban, and this strike seems likely payback. Obama’s special envoy […]