Middle East

Netanyahu devastates Israeli Tourism with universal Quarantine to Avoid highlighting Trump Covid-19 Failures

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Trump administration has become well known for caring much more about how the coronavirus outbreak might make Trump look than about actually avoiding the pandemic. The Chinese quick quarantines last fall should have given the administration time to prepare, but its practical steps in mid-March of 2020 are still […]

Bashar al-Assad

Millions of Homeless Syrian Refugees are Suffering Because of Russo-Turkish Rivalry

The Conversation

Juline Beaujouan, University of Edinburgh and Amjed Rasheed, Durham University The Syrian province of Idlib, the remaining holdout of rebels fighting the regime of Bashar al-Assad, has experienced fierce fighting in recent months as the Syrian army, supported by Russia, has pushed to reclaim the territory. Meanwhile, the expansionist impulses of Turkish President Recep Tayyip […]

Epidemics

Rapid Spread of Virus Further Tests Iranians’ Faith in Government

Human Rights Watch

Successful Measures to Contain Coronavirus Require Public Trust

Featured

Behind the Turmoil: Russia Provoked Oil Price Fall to Protect its Markets from US Frackers, which could now Collapse

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Last weekend, OPEC Plus, an expanded cartel of petroleum exporters, considered a plan for members to cut back on their oil production so as to support prices in the face of a slowing world economy owing to the novel coronavirus. The Russian Federation rejected the plan put forward by OPEC, […]

Climate Crisis

“A Toothpick in a Tsunami”: US Big Oil Faces Bankruptcy as Prices Plunge 30% on Saudi Expansion

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Oil prices plummeted by 30% on Monday morning in Asia on news that Saudi Arabia intended actually to cut its prices and increase its production on April 1 to more than 10 million barrels a day. As a result, Asian markets also took a huge hit. Riyadh’s move came after […]

Fundamentalism

Could Instability in Lebanon Further Strengthen Hezbollah, or Will the Sectarian order Collapse?

Tareq A. Ramadan

Detroit (Special to Informed Comment) – Since its inception as a French mandate at the San Remo Conference in 1920, Lebanon has lived on the cusp of chaos economically, militarily, and politically. For many, life in the mountainous country has been synonymous with major political crises (like the events of 1958 and Operation Blue Bat, […]

Donald Trump

How the US could Restart Negotiations with Iran

Thomas Buonomo

(Special to Informed Comment) – Trump‘ s policy of exerting maximum pressure on Iran, highly provocative targeting of Quds Force General Qassem Suleimani, non-recognition of Congress’s war powers, vow that as long as he remains in power Iran will not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons, and Iran’s increasingly alarming violations of its own obligations […]

Featured

Seeking Absolute Power in Saudi Arabia, Bin Salman engineers Arrest of Rivals, including former Crown Prince

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Glen Carey and Vivian Nereim at Bloomberg report that the Saudi government has arrested former crown prince Mohammed Bin Nayef, his brother Nawwaf, and the brother of King Salman, Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. They say their Saudi sources intimated that the three are accused of plotting to overthrow […]

Bashar al-Assad

Are Syria’s Social Media Meme Wars the Face of Modern Warfare?

Omar Ahmed

( Middle East Monitor) – Social media continues to influence our perception of conflicts around the world, though rapid updates around the clock on developments on the battlefield often hours before mainstream news picks it up, disseminating propaganda or spreading misinformation and fake news to the sharing of graphic content and the ugly brutality of […]