US Foreign Policy

( Code Pink) – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, known for his staunch support for Ukraine, recently revealed his greatest fear for this winter to a TV interviewer in his native Norway: that the fighting in Ukraine could spin out of control and become a major war between NATO and Russia. “If things go wrong,” […]

Featured

What would the United States be Like if it was like Israel?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – What would the United States be like if it was like Israel? After the most recent election is held, the president comes out and says that settling North America is the exclusive privilege of white Christians. He is determined to make some parts of the U.S. whiter and more Christian […]

Russia

The Ukraine Crisis: A Classic Security Dilemma

Medea Benjamin and Nicholas J.S. Davies

( Code Pink) – On December 27 2022, both Russia and Ukraine issued calls for ending the war in Ukraine, but only on non-negotiable terms that they each know the other side will reject. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Kuleba proposed a “peace summit” in February to be chaired by UN Secretary General Guterres, but with the […]

Afghanistan

U.S.-Trained Afghan Soldiers Angry Over Their Plight Are Ready To Join Russia’s War Against Ukraine

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

By Michael Scollon ( RFE/RL ) – Lost status and a desperate existence in Iran are driving thousands of former Afghan troops — many of them elite commandos trained by the United States — to consider fighting as mercenaries in Ukraine and other battlefields. Many ex-Afghan security personnel accuse the United States of abandoning them […]

Climate Crisis

Ukraine war: Putin has been weaponising energy for years, here’s what to look out for next

The Conversation

By Thomas Froehlich, King’s College London | – Not since the 1970s oil crisis has the west seen such a focus on energy security. Suddenly in 2022 it became a critical part of the battle for Ukraine. Russian attacks on energy facilities have left millions of Ukrainians without power during a freezing winter. Since it […]

Featured

Top 8 Political and Geopolitical Shifts in the Middle East in 2022

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – We saw a lot of pivotal developments in the Middle East this year, including the impact of climate change in the form of increasing aridity and massive dust storms. But there were also realignments of interests that affect the U.S. Here are some of them: 1. President Biden in July […]

Israel/ Palestine

New Extremist Israeli Government Further Marginalizes Palestinians and risks Alienating 70% World’s Jews

H. Scott Prosterman

Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment) – A crisis is brewing in the relationship between Israel and the United States, and even between Israel and the American Jewish community. The new Israeli government, the most extreme in the country’s history, is led by Benjamin Netanyahu, on trial for corruption, Itamar Ben-Gvir, of the far-right Jewish […]

Climate Crisis

G7 Industrialized Democracies Establish Climate Club with Focus on Industry Decarbonization

Julian Wettengel

By Julian Wettengel | – ( Clean Energy Wire ) – The G7 group of influential economies have set up an international climate club to support the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement, with a focus on pushing the climate-friendly transition of the industry sector. The club is open to other countries and aims to […]

Houthi

Facing Houthi Victory in Yemen, US Changes Tactics

Foreign Policy in Focus

By Edward Hunt | – ( Foreign Policy in Focus) – After years of backing a disastrous, Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen, the United States is shifting its approach to the war, supporting a UN-brokered truce that has resulted in the most significant reduction of violence since the war began. Bowing to the reality that […]