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“Reviving old Desires:”  Saadi and Omar Khayyam  on Celebrating the New Year
Featured

“Reviving old Desires:” Saadi and Omar Khayyam on Celebrating the New Year

Juan Cole

The dawn wind wafts the scent of the New Year / to friends’ delight and triumphant good cheer.

Iran Protests Intensify Amid Rial Free Fall, Mounting Regional Tensions

Iran Protests Intensify Amid Rial Free Fall, Mounting Regional Tensions

01/01/2026 By Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

What “Loving-Kindness” Meditation is and How to Practice it in the New Year

What “Loving-Kindness” Meditation is and How to Practice it in the New Year

01/01/2026 By The Conversation

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Provincial Elections in Iraq

Provincial Elections in Iraq

More on Iraq’s provincial elections, slated for Saturday for most people, though some categories of voter have already voted,on Wednesday (e.g.police, the sick). This sample […]

Juan Cole

Uncategorized
Talabani’s PUK Worried about Iraqi Army in Kirkuk

Talabani’s PUK Worried about Iraqi Army in Kirkuk

The USG Open Source Center translates a Kurdish newspaper article warning of Iraqi central government aspirations to have its army take over the northern oil […]

Juan Cole

Uncategorized
Purohit & Atallah: International Justice Systems and the Muslim World: Why Bashir is Wrong

Purohit & Atallah: International Justice Systems and the Muslim World: Why Bashir is Wrong

Raj Purohit and Amjad Atallah write in a guest op-ed for IC: If the International Criminal Court (ICC) issues an arrest warrant for Sudanese President […]

Juan Cole

Omar Khayyam
Croken: Found in Translation– How a Thirteenth Century Islamic Poet Conquered America

Croken: Found in Translation– How a Thirteenth Century Islamic Poet Conquered America

Ryan Croken on translating the mystical poet Rumi, and on how Muslims are translated and mistranslated in America. Jalal al-Din Rumi was born in Afghanistan, […]

Juan Cole

Uncategorized
Obama on the Middle East

Obama on the Middle East

The transcript of President Obama’s interview on al-Arabiya Television (Dubai)is at the latter’s site and I will mirror it here, below. Just a few quick […]

Juan Cole

Uncategorized
Blog of the Day

Blog of the Day

A shout out to comedian Margaret Cho, whose material I’ve always found fresh, insightful and funny. As a public speaker who sometimes delves into humor, […]

Juan Cole

Uncategorized
Cole/ Marsh Debate on Obama’s Bombing of Pakistan

Cole/ Marsh Debate on Obama’s Bombing of Pakistan

My Democratic Party colleague Taylor Marsh took exception to my Salon piece on Obama’s decision to bomb Pakistan during his first week in office. I […]

Juan Cole

Uncategorized
Iraqi Politicians seek Wins in Provincial Elections

Iraqi Politicians seek Wins in Provincial Elections

The big news in Iraq this week is the provincial elections due to be held on Saturday. These elections will have little direct impact on […]

Juan Cole

Uncategorized
Cole in Salon: Obama’s Vietnam?

Cole in Salon: Obama’s Vietnam?

My column is out in Salon.com: “Obama’s Vietnam? Friday’s airstrikes are evidence Obama will take the hard line he promised in Pakistan and Afghanistan. But […]

Juan Cole

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