Donald Trump’s attacks on Venezuela, Syria and Iran are criminal, but Joe Biden vows to be even worse.
Geography Archives: Middle East
As white Jesus debate rages, Islam undergoes its own racial reckoning
The worldwide push for racial justice has sparked discussion within some Muslim communities on the overly white illustrations of key figures in the Islamic tradition, particularly the twelve imams so revered in Shiaism.
Russiagate’s last gasp
One can read this most recent flurry of Russia, Russia, Russia paid the Taliban to kill GIs as an attempt to pre-empt the findings into Russiagate’s origins.
Persecuted Egyptian LGBTQ activist Sarah Hegazy dies of suicide
30-year-old Sara Hagezy was in exile in Canada since her release from jail in 2018. She was arrested after she waved a rainbow flag at a concert in Cairo
Turkey’s big bet has put Libya in center of a global power struggle
The series of debilitating military setbacks that Libya’s renegade general Khalifa Haftar suffered in recent months have spurred diplomatic activities over the conflict in the country. But the war is far from over.
Iran’s skyrocketing stock exchange signals historic political shift
In Iran, this spring brings a historic opportunity for neoliberal opposition parties personified by President Rouhani. The utopian dream will now get its first chance to prove itself as a cash-starved Islamic Republic embarks on its boldest ever embrace of privatization of state-owned companies.
NATO returns to Libya to challenge Russia
The great game in Libya has begun surging with the United States shedding its strategic ambivalence and resorting to a proactive role. At the end of May, the Pentagon marked a dramatic escalation by accusing Moscow of bolstering “Kremlin-linked mercenaries” who are allegedly helping Khalifa Haftar, the eastern warlord in Libya.
How many dead Yemenis does it take to equal one Washington Post contributor?
The War Nerd dissects reporting on Saudi Arabia to show how the corporate media cares more about a dead Washington Post columnist than a quarter of a million Yemenis killed in a Western-backed war.
How Russia is botching its alliance with Syria
Russia’s relationships with its client states have never been easy. Of course, managing client states is always a complicated exercise. The Kremlin’s cupboard is full of skeletons—Hungary (1956), Czechoslovakia (1968), Cuba (1962), Afghanistan (1980), Ukraine (2014) and so on.
Facebook deactivates dozens of accounts of Palestinian journalists and activists
At least 52 Palestinians have been affected by Facebook’s deactivation sweep, according to data collected by Middle East Eye
Syria spinmeisters fumble attempts to narrative manage OPCW leaks
It’s been over 72 hours since The Grayzone published new leaks further exposing how the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has been lying about its investigation into an alleged chemical attack in Douma, Syria two years ago.
Don’t threaten Afghans—it will be counterproductive
The principal deputy assistant secretary at the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs (SCA) in the U.S. State Department, Alice Wells, dropped a bombshell on the Afghan government and the country’s political elites on April 4—and caught the international donors by surprise, too—by linking all aid to Afghanistan to the formation of an inclusive […]
Has America reached its endgame in Afghanistan?
In an extraordinary statement titled “On the Political Impasse in Afghanistan,” Washington has admitted to the failure of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s mission to Kabul on March 23, which was taken up to heal the political rift among Afghan politicians and to urge them to form an inclusive government so as to implement the […]
Why sanctions against Iran and Venezuela during a pandemic are cruel
In the midst of a pandemic, one would expect all countries to collaborate; that a humanitarian crisis of this magnitude would provide ample opportunity to end (or suspend) inhumane economic sanctions. Is this not the time for the imperialist bloc, led by the U.S., to end the sanctions against Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, and a series […]
12 ways the U.S. invasion of Iraq lives on in infamy
While the world is consumed with the terrifying coronavirus pandemic, on March 19 the Trump administration will be marking the 17th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq by ramping up the conflict there.
United States Imposed Economic Sanctions: The Big Heist
The money trail of U.S. Sanctions leads to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which—behind the shadow of secrecy laws that effectively prohibit any form of public accountability—facilitates the theft of public wealth from targeted countries on a scale only previously accomplished through military invasion and occupation.
Israel hits a brick wall
Elections are supposed to solve problems by reordering government, adopting new policies, and putting new people in control. But how many elections must Israel have before it realizes it can do none of those things because it’s caught in an intractable constitutional bind?
Lebanon state prosecutor blocks order to freeze assets of 20 banks
Lebanon’s state prosecutor suspended an order on Thursday to freeze the assets of 20 local banks, warning it would plunge the country and its financial sector into chaos, according to a copy of the decision seen by Reuters.
Lebanon is a severe case of subordinate financialization that must avoid the IMF
To me, the Lebanese crisis looks like, in the first instance, as a foreign exchange and international transactions crisis, a classic developing country crisis in the era of financialisation. As such it is closely connected to the country’s policy on the exchange rate. The fixed peg policy chosen by the Lebanese ruling class and operated […]
![Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo participates in a signing ceremony in Doha, Qatar, on February 29, 2020. [State Department photo by Ron Przysucha/ Public Domain]](https://mronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/peace-signing-200x200.jpg "The prospect of peace in Afghanistan is real—and Pakistan is the key player")
The prospect of peace in Afghanistan is real—and Pakistan is the key player
The U.S.-Taliban peace agreement signed in Doha on February 29 must be put in proper perspective. Indeed, there can’t be two opinions that the curtain is coming down on what U.S. President Donald Trump called the “endless war” in which America squandered away over a trillion dollars and lost thousands of lives with no victory […]
