Middle East

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Christoph Duenwald et al. at the International Monetary Fund have a new report out that finds that temperatures in the Middle East and Central Asia have already risen by 2.7 degrees F. (1.5C) over the past century, at a rate twice as fast as that of the rest of the […]

Bashar al-Assad

What does Russia’s history of urban warfare in Aleppo and Grozny mean for Ukraine?

Global Voices

By Roman Shemakov | – ( Globalvoices.org ) – As the Russian invasion of Ukraine drags on, the conflict has increasingly focused on urban hubs. The cities of Mariupol near the Black Sea and Kharkiv near the Belarusian and Russian border have been fully surrounded by Russian forces, facing hourly bombing campaigns for weeks. The […]

Archaeology

How Israel’s Indiscriminate bombing of Gaza Endangers its Precious Hellenistic and Roman Archeological Heritage

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Palestinian Gaza Strip doesn’t stay on the world’s mind the way some besieged cities in Ukraine do right now, but it is also surrounded, besieged, and blockaded by Israeli forces. This blockade is illegal in international law, since Israel is recognized as the Occupying authority over Gaza, which it […]

Israel/ Palestine

The US Should Remember that Israel’s Squatter-Settlements in Palestine are War Crimes

Ramona Wadi

( Middle East Monitor ) – US Ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides, engaged in further diplomatic contradictions, as he fluctuated between asserting the Biden administration’s stance purportedly against Israeli settlement expansion, yet making concessions for earlier encroachment upon Palestinian land. “We can’t do stupid things that impede us from a two-state solution,” Nides reportedly told […]

Houthi

When will the Saudis, the UAE and the US admit that the Ruinous Yemen war has Failed?

Middle East Monitor

By Saeed Al-Shehabi | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – The war in Yemen will complete its seventh year this week and there is no end on the horizon, despite continuous calls to bring the conflict to a close. International anti-war organisations intensify their calls for a ceasefire, knowing that it is a “futile […]

Israel/ Palestine

Time is ticking: Israel’s balancing act in Ukraine is likely to backfire

Ramzy Baroud

( Middle East Monitor ) – Israel’s balancing act in the Russia-Ukraine war is likely to falter soon, simply because the resulting NATO-Russia conflict is expected to last for years, not weeks or months. Eventually, Israel would have to make a choice. Alas, whatever that choice may be, Israel will stand to lose. From the […]

Egypt

Ukraine War Threatens Wheat Supply to Egypt, where a Meal isn’t complete without Bread

The Conversation

Jessica Barnes, University of South Carolina | Russia’s war on Ukraine is disrupting global grain supplies. Restrictions on navigation in the Azov Sea and the closure of ports have interrupted grain shipments from Russia, the world’s largest wheat exporter, and economic sanctions are complicating purchase agreements. Amid concerns about meeting food needs at home, Ukraine […]

Israel/ Palestine

U.S. Sanctions Russia for its Invasion of Ukraine; Now Sanction Israel for its Occupation of Palestine

Jeff Warner

By Jeff Warner and Yossi Khen | – ( The Markaz Review ) – Russian President Vladimir Putin claims that Ukraine has no right of sovereignty, and used that to justify Russia’s occupation of the Crimea and the Donbas regions, and uses it to justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, now in its fourth week. In […]

Bush

US Deplores Russia’s ‘Shock and Awe’ against Ukraine, but Found its own Against Iraq “Spectacular”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The scenes of the horrible destruction that Russia is inflicting on Ukraine’s civilian cities, from Kharkiv to Mariupol, and the killing of nearly 1,000 civilians, including nearly 100 children, have tugged at the world’s heart strings — and rightly so. Nineteen years ago, when the George W. Bush regime unleashed […]