Category Archives: Middle East

Noam Chomsky: American Power Under Pressure

Seeing states as the vehicle for projecting power is dated, particularly as far as understanding America’s position is concerned.

Spontaneous Protests in Baghdad Green Zone Show Cracks in the Security Apparatus

The occupation of Parliament in Iraq’s Green Zone is a secular, cross-ethnic group effort.

Nuland Tells Cyprus To Cut Russian Ties – Pressures Anastasiades To Accept Nato Plan For Turkish Troops In Cyprus

Victoria Nuland is leading a US effort to pressure Cyprus to accept a secret NATO plan to keep Turkish forces on the island.

Open Thread: Debacle for US Iraq Policy as Protesters Seize Parliament in Green Zone

Discussion of the Sadrist occupation of the Iraqi parliament building, and the implications thereof.

Tom Engelhardt: Donald Trump – Campaigning on America’s Decline

Trump’s campaign is proof of America’s decline….but not in the way you think.

Mathew D. Rose: Merkel’s Refugee Strategy – A Brown Nose Becomes the Chancellor

Toadying up to dictators and intervening in failed states are major elements of Merkel’s new improved refugee strategy.

The Dirty German Ditty That Got Erdogan So Angry That He Sued

It appears that Erdogan never got the memo: if you are going to be in politics, you need to have a thick skin.

Youth Unemployment in the Mediterranean Region and its Long-Term Implications

The data on European youth unemployment is sobering, and the migrant influx is making a bad situation worse.

Mathew D. Rose: The Remarkable World of Angela Merkel and Her Friends

With friends like Merkel’s, who needs enemies?

New Zealand Foreign Trusts and the Unaoil Scandal: More Chickens Coming Home to Roost, and They’re Big

First a political fracas in Malta, now a giant international bribery scandal: New Zealand Foreign Trusts cover themselves in more glory

Mainstream Media Ignores Blockbuster Expose of Massive Bribery in Iraq by Unaoil

Fairfax and Huffington Post have broken a monster story on bribery by Unaoil in Iraq that implicates major multinational corporations and officials all over the Middle East. So why the media blackout?