Europe

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The European Broadcasting Union declined o have a vote on whether Israel should be allowed to participate in next year’s Eurovision singing contest. Several European countries had argued that the country’s genocidal behavior in Gaza was grounds for excluding it from the competition. Russia used to participate in Eurovision, as […]

Arab Spring

Great Powers and the People: The Divergent Paths of the Egyptian and Syrian Revolutions

Mehmet Rakipoglu

Exeter, UK (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – The Arab revolutionary wave that began in 2011 presents two of its most significant, yet fundamentally divergent, case studies: Egypt and Syria. While both nations experienced the overthrow of long-standing authoritarian regimes, the mechanisms, actors, and ultimate outcomes of their revolutions differed significantly. A comparative analysis reveals […]

Afghanistan

Afghanistan Pivots Economically to Central Asia as it Seeks to End Dependence on Pakistan

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

By Farangis Najibullah ( RFE/RL ) – Afghanistan is seeking to significantly bolster trade with the oil-rich countries of Central Asia as it attempts to end its economic dependence on Pakistan, which has historically been Kabul’s biggest trading partner. But experts warn that geography, high costs, and political constraints will hinder efforts by Afghanistan’s cash-strapped […]

Celtic Religion

Samhain, the Celtic New Year, and Halloween

Hugh J. Curran

Orono, Maine (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – The Celts, who lived about 3,000 years ago in an area which is now Gaul (France), Ireland, Wales, Scotland, England & Brittany, celebrated their new year during the Lunar calendar, around the 1st week of November, but it is now generally known as the eve of November […]

Ireland

New Irish President Catherine Connolly’s Victory and Europe’s Moral Rebellion against the Israeli Occupation of Palestine

Middle East Monitor

Catherine Connolly’s victory: Europe’s moral rebellion against the Israeli occupation By Adnan Hmidan ( Middle East Monitor ) – When Catherine Connolly was elected President of Ireland, the shockwaves were felt far beyond Dublin. Her victory was not a symbolic gesture, nor a routine political milestone. It was a direct moral rebuke to the Israeli […]

Donald Trump

The New Model of Autocratic Cooperation: The US, Russia and the Middle East

Scott Corey

Quincy, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Today, and particularly in the Middle East, concepts like national interest, class, and geopolitics are fading compared to analysis of political intent, frequently accompanied by accusations of heinous motives (terrorism, genocide). It may be useful to supplement these views with a more cold-eyed analysis of intent, focused […]

Donald Trump

Do UN “Snapback” Sanctions really Matter to the Iranian Economy and its Nuclear Program?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The E3 — France, Britain and Germany — successfully led a bid at the UN Security Council Friday to reimpose UNSC economic sanctions on Iran, which had been in place 2007-2015 but were lifted because of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. That deal is now dead as a door nail. […]

Featured

In move that could Bring in NATO, Spain joins Italy in Sending Rescue Ship for Sumud Gaza Aid Flotilla

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Wednesday, the socialist government of Pedro Sánchez in Spain announced that it would dispatch a rescue ship to be in the vicinity of the 50 ships that make up the Sumud (steadfastness) flotilla aiming to provide humanitarian relief to the Gaza Strip. It joins Italy in this endeavor. This […]

Colonialism

76 Years after Colonial Britain Scheduled a Palestinian State, UK to Recognize Palestine

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Nadeem Badshah at The Guardian reports that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to recognize a Palestinian state today, Sunday. Spain, Norway and Ireland took this step in May 2024 when Israel disregarded the International Court of Justice’s preliminary injunction against continuing actions in Gaza that were plausibly genocidal, […]