US Foreign Policy

It was Israel, not Iran, that Derailed the 2015 Nuclear Agreement, and Bennett is still working against it

By Nasim Ahmed | – World leaders have been trying desperately to salvage the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+ countries: the US, Britain, China, Russia, France and Germany. The seventh round of talks in Vienna ended on Friday with very little to suggest that the main […]

Featured

Nuclear Talks: Iran thumbs nose at US, betting on China as new Superpower

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The recent round of talks in Vienna between Iran and Germany plus the 4 members of the UN Security Council who are still members of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA) have not gone well, though further meetings are planned. One reason is that […]

Afghanistan

What’s next for Afghanistan under Taliban Rule?

The Conversation

By Kambaiz Rafi and Scott Lucas | – In late August 2021, the US completed its withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, ending a 20-year occupation. The Taliban retook the country with shocking speed. The Islamic fundamentalist political group was founded in 1994 and controlled most of Afghanistan until the US-led campaign ousted it in 2001. […]

Corporate Surveillance

We’re all Palestinians Now: Israel-backed NSO Spyware used against US State Department

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Reuters reports that at least nine US State Department officials had their smartphones hacked by Pegasus spyware, produced by the Israeli-government-backed NSO company. The officials were informed of the hacking of their iPhones by Apple, which is suing NSO, essentially for tortious interference. The State Department personnel were all either […]

Featured

As Iran Negotiates on Nuclear Deal, Americans Wrongly believe it has a Bomb — and that Israel Doesn’t!

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – This week Iran returned to Vienna for negotiations with Germany and the four members of the UN Security Council still adhering to the 2015 nuclear deal or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JPOA). Chief negotiator Ali Bagheri-Kani brought two documents, one on the lifting of sanctions on Iran and the […]

China

Countdown to World War III with China?

Michael T. Klare

( Tomdispatch.com ) – When the Department of Defense released its annual report on Chinese military strength in early November, one claim generated headlines around the world. By 2030, it suggested, China would probably have 1,000 nuclear warheads — three times more than at present and enough to pose a substantial threat to the United […]

Iran

Having Left the Iran Nuclear Deal, can the US revive it with the seventh round in Vienna?

Middle East Monitor

By Hani Habeeb | – ( Middle East Monitor) – While the American Special Representative to Iran, Robert Malley, surprised observers of the nuclear file by saying that the point of no return for this file is approaching, Israel is escalating its tone, especially in the context of its dispute with the US over this […]

Featured

To Avoid another War Biden must get US Troops, caught in Israel-Iran Crossfire, out of Syria

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Eric Schmitt and Ronen Bergman at the New York Times report that a drone strike on a US base in eastern Syria last month has been assessed by the Pentagon as retaliation for Israeli airstrikes on Iranian bases in Syria. US troops abandoned the base before the strike, based on […]

China

Ours won’t be the new American Century or the Chinese Century but that of Catastrophic Climate Change

Alfred W. McCoy

( Tomdispatch.com) – When the leaders of more than 100 nations gathered in Glasgow for the U.N. climate conference last week, there was much discussion about the disastrous effect of climate change on the global environment. There was, however, little awareness of its likely political impact on the current world order that made such an […]