International Politics and Economy

By Colleen Wood and Alexis Lerner | – ( Waging Nonviolence ) – It is exceedingly difficult to organize peaceful protests in Russia. Since the Kremlin’s “Special Operation” began on Feb. 24, police have detained nearly 15,000 people across the country in connection with peaceful demonstrations. On March 4, the Kremlin expanded the scope of […]

Archaeology

Israeli Archeologists find Proof of Muslim-Christian Ecumenism among Crew of Shipwreck from Dawn of Islam

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Ariel David writing at Haaretz reports on Haifa University marine archeologists who have been investigating a shipwreck that sank off the coast of early Muslim-ruled Palestine sometime between 648 and 740 A.D. The find provides some evidence for the economic robustness of this era, and for strong connections between the […]

Far Right

Yes, Putin and Russia are fascist – a political scientist shows how they meet the textbook definition

The Conversation

By Alexander Motyl, Rutgers University – Newark | – When Vladimir Putin unleashed an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, the Ukrainian media, public and policymakers almost unanimously began calling the Russian president and the state he leads “rashyst.” The term is a hybrid of a derogatory moniker for Russia – “rasha” – […]

Climate Crisis

The Five Horsemen of Today’s Apocalypse

John Feffer

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Once upon a time, the tutelary gods of nationalism and internationalism met for a chat. They had a superb perch above the clouds. From there, they could see everything happening on the Earth below and they set to arguing, as they so often did. Sophia, the goddess of internationalism, began by […]

Islam

Crimea’s Peaceful Muslim Tatars Dared come out against Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine

Brian Glyn Williams

( The Conversation ) – As Vladimir Putin’s forces wage a brutal war against Ukraine, the Crimean Tatars living in Russian-occupied Crimea and on the Ukrainian mainland feel particularly threatened by their historic enemy’s latest invasion. Some have vowed to defend Ukraine, a land many fled to in 2014 after Putin’s forces invaded the Crimean […]

Dissent

Ukrainians took to the streets to avert a nuclear disaster. Will Americans do the same?

Waging Nonviolence

By Paul Gunter and Linda Pentz Gunter | – ( Waging Nonviolence) – On March 2, a striking news clip found its way onto the internet. It showed nuclear power plant workers and ordinary citizens blockading the access road to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine. They stood solemnly in the street, waving Ukrainian […]

Bernie Sanders

Democrats in Congress Want Windfall Tax on Big Oil, Consumer Rebates, and cheap Green Energy

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has introduced, and several other congressional Democrats have co-sponsored, a bill to curb big petroleum companies engaged in profiteering. Whitehouse said at his site, “We’ve seen this script before, and we cannot allow the fossil fuel industry to once again collect a massive windfall by taking […]

Corruption

It’s Not Just Inflation — It’s Price Gouging

OtherWords

By Lindsay Owens | – ( Otherwords.org) – If you’ve been slammed lately by higher prices on everything from groceries to rental cars and gas prices, you’re probably wondering what on earth is behind these skyrocketing costs. Corporations are quick to blame this new reality on the pandemic, but another major culprit is hiding in […]

Authoritarianism

Iran Must Release Prominent Anthropologist Fariba Adelkhah (MESA)

Committee on Academic Freedom

Committee on Academic Freedom, Middle East Studies Association | – Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i, Head of the Judiciary Your Excellencies, We write on behalf of the Committee on Academic Freedom of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) to express our grave dismay over the […]