Middle East

Barcelona (Special to Informed Comment) – Review of Hussein Banai, Malcolm Byrne, and John Tirman, Republics of Myth: National Narratives and the US-Iran Conflict (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2022.) The enmity between the United States and Iran following the 1978-79 Iranian Revolution constitutes one of the most studied international rivalries. This notwithstanding, the recently […]

Algeria

“Cheb Macron’s” ode to Algerian gas: French President’s Arab Pop Music Reference Backfires

Global Voices

Written by Mariam Abuadas مريم أبو عدس and Faizah Falah فايزة فلاح | – ( Globalvoices.org) – On August 29, French President Emmanuel Macron concluded his three-day visit to Algeria with a historic stopover in the city of Oran, during which he visited the fortress and the Church of Santa Cruz, two of the country’s […]

Featured

Iran Security Fires on Crowd Protesting Death in Custody of Kurdish Woman for “Bad Veiling”, Wounds 13

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Saturday, 13 protesters were wounded when security forces opened fire on them outside the house of the governor in Saghez, Iranian Kurdistan. This, according to the Hengaw human rights organization. The demonstrators were expressing their fury over the death in police custody of Mahsa “Zhina” Amini, 22, a Kurdish […]

infrastructure

After oil: what Malaysia and Iran may look like in a post-Fossil Fuel Future

The Conversation

By Rowena Abdul Razak, London School of Economics and Political Science and Asma Mehan, Texas Tech University | – As the devastation of climate change makes the need to decarbonise clearer by the day, countries face the question of what to do with their old fossil fuel infrastructure. While some environmental activists have taken to […]

Banking

In Turkey’s plunging Economy, Conspiracy and Corruption allegations Abound

Global Voices

By Civic Media Observatory | – ( Globalvoices.org ) – Whether on a date or at a family gathering, one topic of conversation is on everyone’s lips in Turkey: the country’s deepening economic crisis. There are several angles to the story. While Erdoğan’s government argues that the country is in an “economic war” against enemies, […]

Featured

Iran, seeking Counter to US Sanctions, is Joining Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Warming up to Russia

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Iran’s foreign minister, attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) conference in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, has signed key membership papers to formalize its entry into the Eurasian security body led by China and Russia. Although Iran is now considered by the US State Department to be in what it calls the “Middle […]

Israel/ Palestine

On the 29th Anniversary of the Oslo Peace Accords, it is clear that Israel used them to Disadvantage the Palestinians

Middle East Monitor

By Adnan Abu Amer | – ( Middle East Monitor) – On 13 September, 1993, Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation signed the Oslo Accords, which set a historical precedent in Palestinian recognition of the occupation state, giving it a measure of legitimacy in a concession that Israelis had never imagined could happen. Not in […]

Israel/ Palestine

Tantura: New documentary Supports Palestinian Narrative of Massacres during 1948 Nakba (Expulsions)

The Conversation

By Rudy Kisler, McGill University | – (The Conversation) – A new documentary, released earlier this year, is shining light on a violent and controversial episode in Israeli and Palestinian history. Tantura tells the story of the Palestinian village and the immediate events following its capturing in 1948. It has reopened the wound of the […]

Eurasia

Those Iranian Planes Ferrying Drones to Moscow Flew over Georgia: But who gave Permission?

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

By Nadia Beard | – ( RFE/ RL) – TBILISI — Georgia’s position on the war in Ukraine has again come under domestic scrutiny after three Iran Air Cargo planes allegedly carrying drones to Russia passed through Georgian airspace. Over the last few days, Georgian opposition figures have called for answers from the government, accusing […]