US Foreign Policy

By Lindsay Owens and Hebah Kassem | – ( Afterwords.org) – Amid the ongoing atrocities in Ukraine, rising gas prices, and the existential threat of climate change, policymakers in Washington have a long list of crises to address. But there’s one step that could help mitigate all of them: reducing our dependence on oil — […]

Afghanistan

Free Her Face’: Male Afghan Journalists Don Masks, Express Solidarity With Female Colleagues

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi | – (RFL/RE ) – Male Afghan TV presenters have donned face masks on air in a show of solidarity with female colleagues who were ordered by the Taliban to cover their faces. The Taliban issued a decree earlier this month that ordered women to cover their faces in public by […]

Featured

In Final Slap to Bush-Era Neoconservatives, Iraq Criminalizes Contacts with Israel

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Neoconservatives who pushed for the Bush-Cheney war on Iraq in 2003 hoped that by toppling the Arab nationalist dictator Saddam Hussein they could recreate Iraq as a country friendly to US interests and regional allies like Israel. I was told by one military officer that he was in the […]

Greece

Turkey sees chance to Strengthen its hand at home and abroad in Ukraine War

The Conversation

By Ali Bilgic, Loughborough University | – The longstanding neutrality of Sweden and Finland was abandoned when both states submitted formal applications to Nato. But they are facing an unexpected obstacle on the way to membership: Turkey. While Turkey supports the alliance’s “open door” policy, Ankara’s veto reflects its aims to change the status quo […]

Iran

Iran: The Killing Of Revolutionary Guards Colonel Could Complicate Rapprochement With the West

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

By Hannah Kaviani | – ( RFE/RL ) – I’m Hannah Kaviani, a senior broadcaster and editor at RFE/RL’s Radio Farda, filling in this week for senior correspondent Golnaz Esfandiari. Here’s what I’ve been following and what I’m watching out for in the days ahead. The Big Issue Colonel Hassan Sayad Khodaei, a shadowy figure […]

Arms Sales

Arsenal of Autocracy? The Major Weapons Makers Cash in Worldwide, Not Just in Ukraine

William D. Hartung

By William D. Hartung | – ( Tomdispatch.com) – These are good times to be an arms maker. Not only are tens of billions of dollars in new military spending headed for the coffers of this country’s largest weapons contractors, but they’re being praised as defenders of freedom and democracy, thanks to their role in […]

Authoritarianism

Iran: Arrests Amid Economic Protests: Attempt to Suppress Growing Social Movements

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – Iranian authorities have arrested several prominent activists on baseless accusations amid labor union strikes and ongoing protests against rising prices, since May 6, 2022, in dozens of small towns, Human Rights Watch said today. Those arrested include a prominent sociologist and four labor rights defenders. News outlets close to […]

Featured

Saudi Arabia Snubs US, Rejects Russia Boycott, as Rumors Fly Biden may meet with the Crown Prince

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Even as the possibility of a visit to Riyadh by President Joe Biden after his upcoming trip to Israel is being rumored, Saudi Arabia is signalling that it cannot be brought on board with the NATO effort to sanction Russia. Last week the Saudi Minister of Energy, Abdul Aziz bin […]

Iran

The Geopolitics and Diplomacy of US–Iran Relations by Monshipouri – Review

Marc Martorell Junyent

Book Review – Mahmood Monshipouri, In the Shadow of Mistrust: (London: Hurst and Co., 2022). Bonn (Special to Informed Comment) – Sixteen months have passed since the inauguration of Joseph Biden as the 46th President of the United States. As of now, negotiations to revive the agreement signed in July 2015 between the members of […]