Informed Comment - Part 2231

Tunisia: Government of National Unity or Tanks in the Street?

The video on Aljazeera shows Tunis as a war zone on Saturday afternoon, with burned out vehicles in the streets and heavy black smoke floating […]

Juan Cole

Tunisia

Tunisia between Democracy and Anarchy

Tunisians woke Saturday morning to delirious joy at the advent of political liberty, but many worried about the simultaneous advent of social anarchy. The fall […]

Juan Cole

Uncategorized

The First Middle Eastern Revolution since 1979

Tunisian President Zine al-Abidin Bin Ali has fled the country before the advancing crowds pouring in to the capital’s center. A French eye-witness said of […]

Juan Cole

Iraq

Sadr Demands Oil Shares for Iraqis, Insists on US Withdrawal

Washington observers are worried that the return to Iraq of Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr will forestall a revision of the Status of Forces Agreement. The SOFA […]

Juan Cole

Uncategorized

Over 9,000 Murders by Gun in US; 39 in UK

Number of Murders, United States, 2009: 15,241 Number of Murders by Firearms, US, 2009: 9,146 Number of Murders, Britain, 2008*: 648 (Since Britain’s population is […]

Juan Cole

Uncategorized

Another US Quagmire? Lebanon Government Falls

Ironically, while Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri was meeting with President Obama on Wednesday, his government fell. As one Arab commentator observed, he went into […]

Juan Cole

Israel/ Palestine

Palin Borrows ‘Blood Libel’ from Israeli Far Right

Sarah Palin in her response to the controversy over her violent political imagery and that of the US right wing in general in the wake […]

Juan Cole

Egypt

Random Shooting in Egypt or Sectarian Hatred?

Was it sectarian hatred or a policeman’s random meltdown? The answer is not clear, though many press accounts are rushing to judgment. One thing that […]

Juan Cole

Afghanistan