Int. Relations

“When diplomacy ends, War begins.” Adolf Hitler

 Mondoweiss

Guilt, Responsibility and a Special Relationship: Why Palestine’s Vital

Guilt, Responsibility and a Special Relationship: Why Palestine’s Vital

SAM BAHOUR, MONDOWEISS: There are three essential reasons why the fate of Palestine is a matter for global concern.

 Jonathan Cook

‘Palestine? Not a Priority’: Internal Fissures Evident in Israel

‘Palestine? Not a Priority’: Internal Fissures Evident in Israel

JONATHAN COOK: As the physical threat against their security has waned so Israelis have been free to examine other areas of their society.

 Juan Cole

‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’ in Obama’s Terror Speech

‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’ in Obama’s Terror Speech

JUAN COLE: Some praise is due but Obama remains wedded to the idea that extra-judicial assassination is an effective counter-terror tool.

 Ramzy Baroud

‘We Can Blow Things Up’: America’s Power in the Middle East

‘We Can Blow Things Up’: America’s Power in the Middle East

RAMZY BAROUD: America’s current role as impotent looker-on is unprecedented in recent Middle Eastern history. This situation won’t continue indefinitely

 Juan Cole

The Great Benghazi Forgery: So Who’s Really Behind It?

The Great Benghazi Forgery: So Who’s Really Behind It?

JUAN COLE: There was a sustained attempt prior to the last U.S election to portray Barack Obama first as a latter day Jimmy Carter then as a Richard Nixon figure. Who did this?

 Steve Royston

The Morality of Killing: What’s So Special About Drones?

The Morality of Killing: What’s So Special About Drones?

STEVE ROYSTON: Is killing via a missile fired remotely by a drone any different morally from killing by poison gas or a nuclear weapon?

 Jonathan Cook

Israel’s Samson Complex: Will Anyone ‘Pick Up the Phone?’

Israel’s Samson Complex: Will Anyone ‘Pick Up the Phone?’

JONATHAN COOK: Here we go again with another re-heated so-called peace initiative. But the foundations on which it’s built are familiar and fragile

 Mondoweiss

Beinart v Dershowitz On Israel, Hawking and Zionism

Beinart v Dershowitz On Israel, Hawking and Zionism

MONDOWEISS: The heat surrounding Stephen Hawkin’s withdrawal from a conference in Israel added heat to a debate between two prominent commentators last week

 Richard Silverstein

In China Or Israel: ‘Something There Is That Doesn’t Love a Wall’

In China Or Israel: ‘Something There Is That Doesn’t Love a Wall’

RICHARD SILVERSTEIN: Benjamin Netanyahu waxed enthusiastic about the inspiration that the Great Wall of China has provided for him.

 Ramzy Baroud

Thriving: The ‘Hate All Muslims Industry’ Is ‘In Full Flow’

Thriving: The ‘Hate All Muslims Industry’ Is ‘In Full Flow’

RAMZY BAROUD: The anti-Muslim brigade who take to the media at every possible opportunity received another boost with the Boston bombing.

 The View From Fez

Diplomacy Undone: Rice’s Disastrous Moroccan Blunder

Diplomacy Undone: Rice’s Disastrous Moroccan Blunder

THE VIEW FROM FEZ: As the plot to a Hollywood movie it would have been thrown out as incredible. But fact beat fiction this week in Morocco

 Ramzy Baroud

A Starbucks, A Golf Course and a Pub: The ‘Guantanamo Zoo’

A Starbucks, A Golf Course and a Pub: The ‘Guantanamo Zoo’

RAMZY BAROUD: Barack Obama promised to close Guantanamo Bay but still it remains open. And what a bizarre place it has become.

 Juan Cole

Obama Telephones Putin: Regional Implications of Boston

Obama Telephones Putin: Regional Implications of Boston

JUAN COLE: It’s clear that reverberations from the Boston bombings will spread to Chechnya and beyond. How will it impact the U.S view of Syria?

 Rob L. Wagner

Saudi Student in Boston: “I Did What Everyone Else Did. I Ran”

Saudi Student in Boston: “I Did What Everyone Else Did. I Ran”

ROB L. WAGNER: She thought is was just an accident – a pipe had fallen – but the basic human instinct to get away took over

 Mondoweiss

Boston Bombings Unleash ‘Fresh Wave of Islamophobia’

Boston Bombings Unleash ‘Fresh Wave of Islamophobia’

ALEX KANE, MONDOWEISS: It began even before we discovered that the two perpetrators were indeed of Muslim extraction. It’s set to be very ugly again.

 Francis Matthew

GCC and Korea: When Silence is not Golden

GCC and Korea: When Silence is not Golden

It is disturbing that the crisis in North Korea is moving forward with very little comment from the Arab world.

FRANCIS MATTHEW: It is disturbing that the crisis in North Korea is moving forward with very little comment from the Arab world.

 Ramzy Baroud

Turkey’s Dilemma: Fence-Sitting Not A Viable Option

Turkey’s Dilemma: Fence-Sitting Not A Viable Option

'Confused’ may be an appropriate term to describe Turkey’s current foreign policy in the Middle East and Israel in particular. The source of that confusion - aside from the appalling violence in Syria and earlier in Libya – is Turkey’s own mistakes.

RAMZY BAROUD: Turkey’s attempt to re-position itself as a fulcrum between East and West has come unstuck…

 Mondoweiss

Asmaa’s Mecca Visit: Who Will Make It Happen?

Asmaa’s Mecca Visit: Who Will Make It Happen?

WALAA AL GHUSSEIN, MONDOWEISS: Asmaa lives in a densely populated area, is dangerously ill. She dreams of Mecca…

 Francis Matthew

Tangled: The CIA’s Confused Middle East Web

Tangled: The CIA’s Confused Middle East Web

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has got itself into the confused position of fighting Sunni fighters in Iraq, but supporting some of them in Syria.

FRANCIS MATTHEW: The CIA is in the position of fighting Sunni fighters in Iraq, but supporting them in Syria.

 Mondoweiss

72 Hours With Obama: He’s Israel’s BFF

72 Hours With Obama: He’s Israel’s BFF

If you ever had a burning desire to see the American-Israeli alliance shine, there wasn't a better place to be than Jerusalem last week.

MONDOWEISS: If you had a desire to see the U.S.-Israeli alliance shine, there wasn’t a better place than Jerusalem last week.