Middle East

Sunday was another bloody day in the Middle East. In Egypt, the establishment commemorated the success of the Egyptian army 40 years ago in crossing the Suez Canal and taking back most of the Sinai Peninsula, Egyptian territory occupied by Israel in 1967. But the commemorations, which were lively and joyous in Tahrir Square and […]

Iran

Iran’s Leader “Optimistic” about Rowhani’s US Diplomacy, but Skeptical of Washington, Israel

Juan Cole

Iran’s supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, spoke on Saturday to cadets at a military school, and in the course of his speech he referred to the new round of diplomacy with the United States initiated by President Hassan Rouhani with the United States. Khamenei was largely supportive of Rouhani’s initiative, saying “we approve and support […]

Egypt

Top Ten Signs Solar Energy is rapidly Winning

Juan Cole

The recent UN report on climate change points out that the world does not have much time to switch to renewables if it is to avoid catastrophes stemming from global warming. Climate change is being driven by human beings burning coal, gas and petroleum, and we need to stop doing that ASAP. The most plausible […]

Afghanistan

Militant Secularism in the Middle East?

Juan Cole

The youth organizations that made the 2011 revolutions were predominantly leftist or liberal. They revolted against seedy police states run by family cartels and their cronies. They had allies among labor unions and office workers. These movements demanded free, fair parliamentary elections as the next step. But the groups best organized to campaign, canvass and […]

Israel

On how American Jews are Mostly the Opposite of Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu

Juan Cole

A huge Pew Charitable Truest telephone poll of American Jews confirms many of the things learned by previous religious polls conducted by Barry Kosmin and colleagues under the rubric of the American Religious Identification Survey. What is striking is how dissimilar the mainstream of Jewish Americans is to the ruling Likud Party in Israel, headed […]

Iran

Would Israel’s Netanyahu really Drag US into war with Iran?

Juan Cole

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu pledged at the United Nations on Tuesday to attack Iran himself if Washington won’t do it, and in order to stop what he characterized as an Iranian nuclear weapons program: But the fact is that a solo Israel-on-Iran military attack would not remain solo. If Israeli jets managed to reach […]

Gulf

The Other Lobby: Newspapers of Gulf Oil Monarchies Condemn US-Iran Rapprochement

Juan Cole

The USG Open Source Center paraphrases Arabic news items in the newspapers of the Sunni Arab monarchies of the Gulf, many of which express concern about the thaw in US-Iranian relations. These countries are grouped in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that comprises Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman. Bahrain […]

Iran

Israeli Nuclear & other Arms compared to Iran’s

Juan Cole

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu came to the US on Monday to lobby Washington against a diplomatic resolution of the conflict over Iran’s civilian nuclear enrichment program. Netanyahu insisted that Iran’s “military nuclear” program be completely dismantled, even though the UN inspectors continue to certify that no Iranian uranium has been diverted to military purposes. […]

Egypt

Why US Clout in the Middle East is Gone (Hiro)

Juan Cole

Dilip Hiro writes at Tomdispatch.com: What if the sole superpower on the planet makes its will known — repeatedly — and finds that no one is listening? Barely a decade ago, that would have seemed like a conundrum from some fantasy Earth in an alternate dimension. Now, it is increasingly a plain description of political […]