By Barbara Slavin With the advent of the Trump administration, many Iran analysts feared the new president would scrap the landmark nuclear deal that curbs Iran’s nuclear program in return for sanctions relief. Little did we know that U.S.-Iran relations were about to be set back more dramatically as collateral damage in a counter-productive presidential […]
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Omar Mateen, American Monster
Posted June 16th, 2016 at 9:25 am (UTC-5)
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The massacre in Orlando, where 49 people were gunned down at an L.G.B.T. nightclub and dozens of others were wounded, came at the hands of a coward and a monster, but make no mistake: This was our monster.
Orlando Shooting Reaction has the Feel of Eternal Recurrence
Posted June 15th, 2016 at 4:29 pm (UTC-5)
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Whether the culprit is American imperialism, guns, Guantanamo Bay or, this week, homophobia, we instantly race to comfortable excuses and comfortable arguments. The true nature and scope of the challenge is too unpleasant to contemplate, and so we return to our scripts and read our lines until the next slaughter…
Stop Asking “Why Do They Hate Us?”
Posted April 12th, 2016 at 4:04 pm (UTC-5)
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Those who fail to understand the ideology of Islamism will remain confused by it, attributing the violence to hatred because they don’t understand the real motives. So like battered spouses, victims of Islamist violence continue trying to alter their behavior in futile attempts to make “them” love “us.”
Burma Shifts to Civilian Rule
Posted April 1st, 2016 at 1:55 pm (UTC-5)
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Today, the first civilian government in 54 years assumed power in Myanmar, led by democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi. If hopes are high, expectations are even higher. It has been a long, painful road to this moment and much work is ahead. How the Burmese military behaves in the new era will be a key measure of how quickly democracy takes root. Although Suu Kyi does not hold the office of the presidency due to her late husband’s nationality, under the new government, power resides with her—if she is allowed to exercise it. The days ahead will reveal whether or not the same military structure that kept her under house arrest for much of the 1990s is ready to stand down.
Donald Trump’s Fascist Inclinations Do Not Bother His Fans
Posted December 9th, 2015 at 5:25 pm (UTC-5)
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Trump is Don Rickles with the political inclinations of Francisco Franco.
Demagoguery or Democracy? Trump’s Take on Muslims
Posted December 9th, 2015 at 3:58 pm (UTC-5)
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“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” These famed words, written by American poet Emma Lazarus and inscribed on the Statue of Liberty, have greeted immigrants arriving on the shores of New York since 1903. They are the essence of these United States, the foundation of its democracy. So, when Republican hopeful Donald Trump proposed barring all Muslims from entering America in response to the San Bernadino terror attack is he practicing democratic principle of free speech? Or, are these the words of a demagogue?
‘We Will Not Be Terrorized’
Posted December 6th, 2015 at 8:48 pm (UTC-5)
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In his usual Saturday address, President Barack Obama vowed to fight acts of terror following the deadly mass shooting at a holiday party in San Bernardino, California.