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Top Eight Mideast Stories of 2016 that Shaped our World

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – In 2016, the Middle East continued to be a major focus of the US public, and it often came up in the primary and presidential debates. Alas, the Middle East referenced by US politicians and many pundits does not actually exist, and the American fixation on […]

Employment

Even in the Trump Era, Inequality can be Reduced

By Josh Hoxie | (Otherwords.org) | – – With Washington looking hopeless, it’s up to local communities to close the gap between the richest and the rest. In a lot of ways, 2016 was a big year for reducing inequality. Five states raised their minimum wage through citizen-led ballot initiatives. A job-killing free trade agreement, […]

Syria

Syria: Now that the US has Failed, what does 2017 Hold?

By Christopher R. Hill | (Project Syndicate) | – – DENVER – The end of the fighting in Aleppo will not end the Syrian war, despite the countrywide ceasefire that has just been agreed. Nor will it ease the suffering of the city’s population, much of which has been displaced. What the Aleppo siege will […]

Israel/ Palestine

Does Israel’s UN Tantrum Actually Further Palestine’s Struggle?

TeleSur | – – Though the motion is largely symbolical, Israel’s heavy retaliation has further isolated the apartheid state while increasing support for Palestine. Israel’s tantrum against the United Nations Security Council resolution condemning its illegal settlements in Palestinian land has entrenched its extremist nature, and has actually deepened the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions […]

Corruption

Trump’s Extreme Oligarchy

By Simon Johnson | ( Project Syndicate) | – – WASHINGTON, DC – US President-elect Donald Trump is filling his cabinet with rich people. According to the latest count, his nominees include five billionaires and six multimillionaires. This is what is known as oligarchy: direct control of the state by people with substantial private economic […]

Barack Obama

Top 5 Ways Obama Sanctions on Russia work for Democrats

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – President Obama’s sanctions on Russia are small potatoes and will have almost no effect on the Russian Federation. The high officials sanctioned are unlikely to have assets in the US that Washington can attach. When you hear that the US is sanctioning the FSB (the Russian […]

Iraq

After all these Years, Iraq still generating Fake News, this time in Mosul

Special Correspondent | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | – – Controversial videos are common on Iraqi social media. Viewed by millions, they increase social division and violence. NIQASH tries to separate two particularly disturbing examples into fact or fiction. The divisions between the different components of Iraqi society, whether those are ethnic or religious, has only […]

Government surveillance

Russia Vows Response to ‘Aggressive’ Obama Sanctions

TeleSur | – – The Russian diplomats will have 72 hours to leave the United States. The United States’ new sanctions against Russia prove the foreign policy of the Obama administration is “aggressive,” Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin press-secretary, said Thursday, as the Kremlin indicated retaliatory measures against Washington. “In our point of view such actions […]

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