US Foreign Policy

( Tomdispatch.com ) – America’s Global War on Terror has seen its share of stalemates, disasters, and outright defeats. During 20-plus years of armed interventions, the United States has watched its efforts implode in spectacular fashion, from Iraq in 2014 to Afghanistan in 2021. The greatest failure of its “Forever Wars,” however, may not be […]

Israel/ Palestine

Americans Want a Ceasefire. It’s Our Politicians Who Are Out of Touch

OtherWords

By Farrah Hassen ( Otherwords ) – Two years ago, filmmaker Mohannad Abu Rizk asked children in Gaza about their dreams. One young girl responded, “My dream is for us to stay alive and to live in peace. We have a right to stay alive.” She’s one of the 2.2 million Palestinians living in the […]

Arms Sales

Bad Times in Gaza and Ukraine: Good Times for the Military-Industrial Complex

William D. Hartung

( Tomdispatch.com ) – The New York Times headline said it all: “Middle East War Adds to Surge in International Arms Sales.” The conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, and beyond may be causing immense and unconscionable human suffering, but they are also boosting the bottom lines of the world’s arms manufacturers. There was a time when such weapons […]

Immigration

Biden’s Border: Record Contracts for Private Industry on the World’s Deadliest Frontier

Tomdispatch

By Todd Miller ( Tomdispatch.com ) – On September 23rd, at about 2:30 a.m., a Border Patrol surveillance camera captured two people crossing the international boundary between Mexico and the United States on the outskirts of Nogales, Arizona. A Border Patrol vehicle arrived quickly, but not before one of them had fled back into Mexico. […]

Congress

Dear Congress: Your Resolution against Rashida Tlaib is Delusional, full of Fake History and Falsehoods. Here’s Why.

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Congressional resolution censuring Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian to serve in the national legislature, is a major scandal. It is rife with propaganda, fake history, and racism. It puts me in mind of Mark Twain’s observation that “America has no native criminal class . . . except Congress.” […]

China

Israel-Hamas Conflict puts China’s Strategy of ‘Balanced Diplomacy’ in the Middle East at Risk

The Conversation

By Andrew Latham, Macalester College | – On Oct. 30, 2023, reports began to circulate that Israel was missing from from the mapping services provided by Chinese tech companies Baidu and Alibaba, effectively signaling – or so some believed – that Beijing was siding with Hamas over Israel in the ongoing war. Within hours, Chinese […]

Featured

Gaza and the Deepening Crisis of Western Democracy

Marwa Fikry Abdel Samei

Cairo (Special to Informed Comment) – Western democracy is under strain, and we have been observing the symptoms of its decline for some time now. These symptoms include the rise of far-right extremism, increasing rate of xenophobia, a widening gap between the haves and have-nots, and its questionable efficacy in handling crises. In addition to […]

Afghanistan

A Reflexive Act of Military Revenge Burdened the US – and May do the Same for Israel

The Conversation

By Peter Mansoor, The Ohio State University | – In the wake of the shocking invasion of southern Israel by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to destroy Hamas. “We are fighting a cruel enemy, worse than ISIS,” Netanyahu proclaimed four days after the invasion, comparing Hamas with the […]