Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian met with his cabinet on Sunday, according to the president’s website, and announced that Trump’s offer of direct negotiations had been rejected. Iran replied through Oman, which has often served as a conduit for communication between Washington and Tehran. Trump had announced that he wrote to […]
Archives for March 2025
China Displaces the U.S. as Global Leader in Research, with 9 of top 10 Institutions
Nine of the world’s top 10 research institutions are now Chinese. By Imran Khalid ( Foreign Policy in Focus) – In the last decade, a profound shift has taken place in global academia that has fundamentally altered the hierarchy of scientific research. China, once considered a peripheral player in cutting-edge science, has now ascended to […]
Can Fortress Europe survive Trump, Putin and the new Political Dark Age?
( Tomdispatch.com ) – The news of Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest surprised me. It’s not that I doubted the former leader of the Philippines was guilty of the horrific crimes detailed in his International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant. Duterte himself boasted quite openly of the mass killings he’s been accused of. But I always thought […]
Your Gasoline Car is an Engine of Trump’s Fascism: Resistance requires going Green
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Mussolini defined fascism as the “merger of state and corporate power.” But not all corporations are equally complicit. Obviously, our current fascist moment is driven in part by a merger of the US government with the portfolio of companies owned by Elon Musk and Peter Thiel. The focus on the […]
With Proxies Weakened, Iran bets on Missiles for Defense
By Kian Sharifi ( RFE/ RL) – Iran says it has numerous underground missile bases across Iran, and sporadically unveils some with a lot of hype. The newly unveiled base — dubbed “a missile metropolis” by some outlets — is a massive facility filled with high-powered weaponry, but experts say no new hardware could be […]
Gaza: Israeli Military War Crimes While Occupying Hospitals
Denial of Care, Deadly Forced Evacuations, Destruction of Medical Facilities Israeli military forces caused deaths and unnecessary suffering of Palestinian patients while occupying hospitals in the Gaza Strip during the current hostilities, amounting to war crimes. The Israeli military’s denial of water and electricity left sick and wounded people to die, while soldiers mistreated and forcibly […]
Amid Gaza Protests: – Top 5 Ways Israeli PM Netanyahu kept Hamas in Power
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The London-based, Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily, Al-Sharq al-Awsat [The Middle East], reports that demonstrations against Hamas broke out this week in Gaza, beginning in Beit Lahia on Tuesday, and continuing on Wednesday there and in Shuja’iyyah in the north of Gaza, where people set tires on fire. They chanted for the […]
The Battle for Khartoum: Tracking Sudan’s War over two Years
By Kagure Gacheche, The Conversation (The Conversation) – Sudan has been engulfed in brutal conflict since 15 April 2023, when tensions between the country’s two most powerful military factions erupted into civil war. The conflict stems from a long-standing power struggle over military control and integration. Fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary […]
Condemnation of Columbia U. for Endangering Int’l Studies in U.S. by Caving to Intrusive Gov’t
Middle East Studies Association | American Comparative Literature Association | American Studies Association | Association for Asian Studies | National Women’s Studies Association | – We, the Middle East Studies Association joined by the undersigned associations, write to express our deep condemnation of actions taken in the past weeks that imperil the autonomy of centers […]