Month

Archives: Libya

Demand-Side Slavery, Libyan Instability and European Crime Networks

Neil Thompson | (Informed Comment) | - - After several years in which refugees and migration have featured heavily in the Western media narrative, a disturbing correlation between human trafficking and conflict…

Is Russia trying to take back over Libya from NATO, Radicals?

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Reuters is reporting that some 22 Russian special operations forces have set up a base in Western Egypt near the Libyan border in…

Failing Libya

By Alison Pargeter | ( OpenDemocracy) | - - If peace and national unity in Libya seem remote five years after the fall of the Qadhafi regime, western powers and the international…

Clinton: No US ground troops in Iraq, Syria; Trump: Steal Iraqi Oil

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The NBC Candidates Forum continued the shameful corporate coverage of the Great American Meltdown that is our election season. That season has given…

The Next Libyan Revolution Will Be Led by Women Wielding Words—Not Guns

By Alaa Murabit | ( Yes!) | - - This article was originally published by New America Weekly. The Next Libyan Revolution Will Be Led by Women Wielding Words—Not Guns “Soft power”…

As ISIL goes Global, Will the ‘War on Terror’ extend for Decades?

By Paul Rogers | ( OpenDemocracy.net) | - - The war against ISIL has seen 18 months of of airstrikes by United States-led coalition forces in both Iraq and Syria. An even…

How Europe’s Post-Revolution Abandonment of Libya led to Mediterranean Crisis

By Ioannis Chapsos | (The Conversation) | - Libya has been in a state of chaos ever since the fall of its former dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, and the situation scarcely seems to…

Rand Paul: GOP Hawks are Obama’s “Lapdogs;” McCain: Paul ‘Worst Candidate’

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) The philosophical difference between the Libertarian-leaning Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and the GOP hawks has burst into open name-calling. First, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said that…

ISIL’s Libya Affiliate Murders 30 Ethiopian Christians

By EurActiv | - A video purportedly made by Islamic State and posted on social media sites on Sunday (19 April) appeared to show militants shooting and beheading about 30 Ethiopian Christians…

Egypt: Sisi’s struggle with the Muslim Brotherhood and his Strikes on ISIL/ Daesh in Libya

By Henry Clements | (Informed Comment) - Egyptian president Abdel Fatah El-Sisi wants to rally the international community against terrorism in the Middle East. In a televised speech earlier this week he…

2 1/2 yrs after US Consulate Attack, Libyan Nat’l Army advances in Benghazi against Radicals

CCTV Africa | - "Footage from Benghazi showed troops, equipped with tanks, gun-mounted trucks and automatic weapons, advancing through farmland." CCTV Africa: "Libya’s Army Makes Gains In Fighting Against Militias" The Algerian…

Avenging its Christians, Egypt Bombs Libya in first formal Campaign since 1991

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - The murder by Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) thugs in Sirte, Libya, of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians this weekend provoked the first formal Egyptian military incursion…

Sen. Lindsey Graham furious GOP House Benghazi Report Shows He Wasted All our Time & Money

The Young Turks | --- ""Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Sunday blasted a House GOP-led investigation that recently debunked myths about the 2012 Benghazi attack. “I think the report is full of…

The Wider Appeal of ISIL and Sunni Grievances

By Juan Cole al-Quds al-`Arabi [Arab Jerusalem] reports on the appeal of ISIL to Salafi hard line Sunni Muslims. In a worrisome development, radicals throughout the region are rallying to the so-called…

Will Egypt Intervene in Libya as part of Generals’ War on Political Islam?

CCTV Africa: "Pressure is growing on Egypt's government to intervene in Libya. That's after the emergence this week of an Islamic State-style caliphate - close to the Egyptian border. Many in Cairo…

The Arab Political Crisis: It isn’t a Matter of Civilization and it isn’t Unique

By Juan Cole Hisham Melhem has a piece on what he calls the collapse of Arab civilization. The piece is riddled with contradictions and fuzzy thinking and with all due respect to…

Cole’s “The New Arabs” at Firedoglake Book Salon

By Juan Cole Firedoglake Book Salon on Juan Cole, The New Arabs: How the Millennial Generation is changing the Middle East See also this recent NYT review by Irshad Manji FDL Book…

5 Ironies of US Reaction to Egypt/UAE Bombing of Libya

The diplomatic angst issuing from Washington around the United Arab Emirates and Egypt bombing of weapons depots belonging to the Qatar-backed fundamentalist militia of Misrata holds many delicious ironies: 1. According to…

The Appeal of Intervention: New Iraqi Premier, Libyan Parliament ask for Int’l Troops

By Juan Cole According to a spokesman for his Da'wa Party (Islamic Call or Islamic Mission), Iraq's prime minister-designate Haydar al-Abadi is preparing a platform on the basis of which he will…

Middle East Crisis: Juan’s “Ask Me Anything” at Reddit Discussion

By Juan Cole Mirrored from LevantineWar at Reddit.com I am Juan Cole, author of the new book The New Arabs: How the Millennial Generation is Changing the Middle East I teach Middle…