Greater Middle East

Yemen: Pyrrhic victory against al-Qaeda?

Yemeni government forces took back AQAP’s major stronghold towns after a month-long offensive. But al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has grown along with US drone strikes—from a handful of militants to a widespread insurgency.

North Africa

Countdown to intervention in Azawad?

New French president François Hollande warns that Mali’s breakaway north is harboring “terrorists.” He spoke in a meeting with Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou—who says he will seek UN approval for military action.

Greater Middle East

“Anti-war” movement betrays Syrian people

“Anti-war” voices are cynically seeking to exculpate Bashar Assad in the Houla massacre. At best, they express far greater outrage at supposed Western arming of the Syrian rebels than at Assad’s slaughter of his own people.

New York City

WHY WE FIGHT

From the Village Voice, June 11: NYPD Slammed With Lawsuit Over Handling of Pedestrian and Cyclist Deaths On July 10, 2011, Clara Heyworth was walking to meet her husband when she was fatally struck by motorist Anthony Webb, who was… Read moreWHY WE FIGHT

Central America

Next for Honduras: “charter city” neocolonialism?

Honduras passed a constitutional amendment drawn up by the administration of President Porfirio Lobo that allows the creation of “Special Development Regions” within the country—where the national state would have limited, if any, authority.

East Asia

“Nuclear dictatorship” in Japan?

Former Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan told the current government to abandon nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, comparing the nuclear industry’s hold on society to that of the Imperial military during World War II.

East Asia

Greater Tokyo to annex China-claimed Senkaku Islands?

Tokyo’s notoriously nationalist governor Shintaro Ishihara is pushing a plan for the metropolitan government to purchase and annex the China-claimed Senkaku Islands in the hydrocarbon-rich East China Sea—without consulting local Okinawa officials.

East Asia

Tiananmen Square revisionism, East and West

The official US hand-wringing is all for public consumption. On June 4, 1989, China’s rulers proved to the world that they were willing to slaughter their own citizens in the interests of “stability.” They were rewarded with massive investment.

North Africa

Azawad: Islamic state collapses —already?

The deal between Tuareg rebels of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and the jihadi faction Ansar Dine for creation of an “Islamic state” in Mali’s northern breakaway region has reportedly collapsed.

North Africa

Azawad: Islamic state declared as MNLA, Ansar Dine merge

The Tuareg rebels of the MNLA announced that they are merging with the most significant of the jihadist factions operating in northern Mali, Ansar Dine, to form the Transitional Council of the Islamic State of Azawad.

Greater Middle East

Egyptian revolution meets the new boss?

Egypt’s secular progressives see a choice between “Islamic fascist” Mohammed Mursi and “military fascist” Ahmed Shafiq in next month’s run-off. Washington connived in isolation of the secularists, because this bloc includes socialists and Nasserists.