By Chas W. Freeman, Jr October 9, 2019 There is currently a good deal of hysteria here in Washington about something called “authoritarianism” allegedly taking the offensive against democratic systems of government. A century ago, imperialists, colonialists, fascists and communists did indeed articulate theories about their superiority to democracy and seek to impose autocratic systems […]
By Gordon M. Hahn October 1, 2019 Five or six years ago, when I was still working most intensively on issues related to jihadism in Russia and globally, I warned of the Caucasus Emirate-tied network running from Russia’s North Caucasus to ISIS in Syria and Iraq through Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia (with Tbilisi’s connivance) (see […]
September 25, 2019 By Jan Oberg Look at this CNN online frontpage in the evening of September 24, 2019. It may well come to be seen in the future as an indicator of the beginning of the end. Earlier that same day, Britain’s highest court ruled PM Boris Johnson’s suspension of Parliament unlawful and in […]
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (L) shakes hands with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on August 26, 2019. Photo by IRNA. By Juan Cole September 9, 2019 Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was in Beijing recently for what turns out to […]
By Martin Jacques, Cambridge University August 28, 2019 A delightful conversation about the essential difference between the West and China and why they have vitally different ways of relating to other countries and cultures. If you do business in China, travel as a tourist – which far too few Westerners do – teach international relations […]
August 16, 2019 There is a permanent, more or less intensive, narrative that China is the Enemy # 1 of the West. We have the permanent US/Western assertion that China is the new military super enemy. There is the argument that the world’s – if not history’s – largest co-operative project, the Chinese-initiated Belt and […]
By Jan Oberg August 13, 2019 With due respect, Mr. Pompeo, civilisation’s clock should be ticking for what I allow myself to consider inhuman, unfair and tension-creating policies such as those you conduct. You and your President constantly tell others not to do what the US itself does tenfold worse – because, as it seems, […]
Af Jesper Munk Jakobsen* 10. august, 2019 Trump besøger Danmark, og verdens økonomiske og militære supermagt har haft travlt over sommeren med at håndtere konflikter med Kina, Rusland, Iran, Sverige og Tyrkiet. For USA er altid en af parterne i verdens konflikter, og måske vi skulle tale med den amerikanske præsident om netop det? […]
Crop of Book Cover for The Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities. Photo: Counterpunch.org By Michael Welton August 10, 2019 I first discovered John Mearsheimer’s work in 2014 when he published a courageous article in Foreign Affairs on why the Ukraine crisis was the West’s fault. The blame could not be laid at Putin’s doorstep. […]
By Jan Oberg August 1, 2019 The Trump administration imposed sanction on Iran’s foreign minister, Dr. Mohammad Javad Zarif last night – as if the present intensified sanctions – primary on Iran and secondary on, in principle, everybody else, were not enough already. Here is AlJazeera’s story which also includes Iranian President Rouhani’s and Zarif’s […]
