Europe

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Thursday, according to Alarabiya (quoting Tass) Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he would permit foreign fighters from the Middle East to aid the Russian war effort in Ukraine. At the same time, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that some 16,000 fighters in the Middle East had expressed […]

Authoritarianism

If Putinism is victorious in Ukraine, it will set a horrific Precedent

John Feffer

By John Feffer | – ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – War has been pretty much a constant in human affairs. If you’ve managed to avoid direct contact with war for your entire life, you are extraordinarily lucky in world-historical terms. The Cold War that kept the peace across most of the Global North […]

Batteries

Ukraine war pushes German homeowners’ demand for rooftop Solar, Batteries, in bid for Independence

Clean Energy Wire

By Paul Gordon | – ( Clean Energy Wire ) – The war in Ukraine and the associated energy crisis are pushing homeowners in record numbers to install solar power systems and batteries, the German Solar Industry Association (BSW) has said. Following strong growth last year, the lobby group reports a further increase in demand […]

Israel/ Palestine

While world focuses on plight of Ukraine’s children, endless trauma of Gaza’s children should not be ignored

Michael Jansen

( Jordan Times ) – More than two million refugees have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded that country. The majority have been women and children since men between 18-60 are not allowed to leave and are conscripted into the armed forces. Most refugees have fled to Poland, Moldova, Slovakia, Romania and Hungary where Ukrainians, but […]

China

The New Eurasian Wars on our Endangered Planet

Alfred W. McCoy

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Just as the relentless grinding of the earth’s tectonic plates produces earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, so the endless superpower struggle for dominance over Eurasia is fraught with tensions and armed conflict. Beneath the visible outbreak of war in Ukraine and the U.S.-Chinese naval standoff in the South China Sea, there is […]

Climate Crisis

Oil Sheikhs have us Behind the 8-Ball: The UAE’s mixed Signals on Oil underline need for US to move Rapidly to Green Transportation

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – America is paying the price for lagging behind in its adoption of electric vehicles and in putting in more electric mass transit. Because we are still mostly a society that moves on gasoline, we are dependent on the worst people in the world for our energy. Even where we produce […]

Libya

Ukraine, Libya, and the Enduring Global Disorder

Sabina Henneberg

Washington, D.C. (Special to Informed Comment) – According to some analyses, the ongoing war in Ukraine appears to have finally put to rest the illusion of global governance. Instead, it illustrates the emergence of what Libya expert Jason Pack calls the Enduring Global Disorder. In Pack’s view, irrespective of Russian victory, the international response to […]

Russia

Russia in Ukraine: Is Turkey’s neutrality Option Viable?

Middle East Monitor

By Omar Kosh | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – Turkish politicians waited for several days before describing the events in Ukraine as a “state of war”, after first referring to it as the Russian invasion. Russia itself, meanwhile, refers to it as a “military operation”, in order to avoid the consequences, especially those […]

Russia

Why Apple, Disney, IKEA and hundreds of other Western companies are abandoning Russia with barely a shrug

The Conversation

By Douglas Schuler and Laura Marie Edinger-Schons | – Many companies in the U.S. and elsewhere have been quick to sever ties to Russia – going well beyond applying the sanctions ordered by their governments. IKEA, Nike and H&M are temporarily closing their Russian stores. Disney, Sony and Warner Bros. paused the release of new […]