Featured

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The high-level Trump administration Signal message thread on bombing Yemen on which someone on the staff of National Security Adviser Michael Waltz included The Atlantic‘s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg is what is impolitely called in the military a SNAFU (Situation Normal All F*cked Up). Yes, it is a security breach of […]

Dissent

Istanbul Mayor’s Arrest Sparks Türkiye’s Largest Protests in over a Decade

Volkan Isbasaran

Istanbul (Special to Informed Comment) – Major protests over the arrest of Ekrem İmamoğlu, the Mayor of Istanbul and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s main political rival, have entered their sixth day. Demonstrations have erupted in at least 55 out of Türkiye’s 81 provinces, according to AFP, which marks one of the most widespread waves of […]

China

Can Trump’s Plan to Target China for its Oil Imports from Iran Succeed?

Neil Thompson

London (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Since returning to office in January, US President Donald Trump has reinstated the maximum pressure campaign of his first administration on Iran. Trump wants to push Iran into ending its nuclear programme, and the White House has tried to severely curtail Iran’s oil exports as way of putting […]

Arab World

The Making of the Modern Middle East: Juan Cole on History, Politics, and Today’s Turmoil – Tamooda Interview

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Juan Cole interviewed by Martin Asser at Tamooda : “The Making of the Modern Middle East: Juan Cole on History, Politics, and Today’s Turmoil” According to LinkedIn, “ TAMOODA is a new digital, independent, liberal, and secular platform in the Arab world for opinion. It is is a non-profit initiative […]

Featured

America, the Unhappy: Lonely, Suspicious, Gun-ridden, and Stingy, the US Ranks Low for Well-Being

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The 2025 “World Happiness Report,” produced by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, powered by Gallup analytics and in partnership with the UN, is out. The bad news is that Americans, despite all their wealth and power, only rank 25th in the world for self-reported happiness and […]

CO2

CO2 in Atmosphere Higher than in 2 Million Years, with 2024 the Hottest Year Ever Recorded

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The annual report of the World Meteorological Organization concludes that in 2023, the latest year for which a complete analysis has been carried out, the amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the atmosphere reached its highest level ever recorded —- about 420 parts per million (ppm). That’s 151% higher than […]

Featured

“Being Jewish after the Destruction of Gaza:” Peter Beinart in Conversation with Juan Cole

Juan Cole

Peter Beinart in conversation with Juan Cole on Beinart’s book, “Being Jewish after the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning”; Program in Arab and Muslim American Studies, Department of American Culture, University of Michigan, March 10, 2025. Excerpt from auto-generated transcript (caveat emptor): Juan Cole: … I haven’t lost my interest in Middle Eastern spirituality, and […]

Featured

Israel’s Renewed Gaza Genocide on Black Tuesday: 420 Dead (175 Children) and 540 Wounded

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Israeli newspaper Arab 48 reports that Israeli airstrikes shattered the supposed ceasefire in Gaza on Tuesday, dropping heaving munitions on inhabited apartment buildings and killing entire extended families who lived in them, with a death toll of at least 420, and over 500 wounded. Many bodies were still under […]

Donald Trump

Trump’s Air War on Yemen Escalates as Civilian Population Suffers Food Insecurity, Cholera Epidemic

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Trump administration began bombing Yemen last weekend, when the US Air Force launched 47 air raids on at least seven provinces, killing some 53 persons. On Monday the air raids continued, hitting not only the capital, Sanaa, but also Saadeh in the north, the hometown of the movement of […]