As the midterm election draws near, a number of Republicans in tough races are distancing themselves from President Trump’s war. The war is unpopular because it has inflicted economic pain on the already-suffering American people. No, I am not talking about the Iran...
The Donald’s Quixote Is Tilting at Iranian Windmills
Treasury Secy Scott Bessent clearly endeavors to be the second Pete Hegseth of Trump World, albeit via packing heat in the form of economic missiles rather than the kinetic kind. In fact, however, his ballyhooed Operation Economic Outcast actually amounts to the...
Yes, More Oil Is Flowing Through the Strait – and Here’s Why Iran May Want It That Way
Reprinted with permission from Trita Parsi's Substack: Michelle Brohard, head of policy and geopolitical risk at Kpler, speculated in a recent interview with energy analyst Rory Johnston (@commoditycontext) that the reason why more crude is getting through the Strait...
Trump’s Big Bluff on Iran
Reprinted from John's Substack: The Trump administration and its supporters – including the Wall Street Journal editorial page – are working overtime these days to spin the news around the Iran war to make it appear that the US is winning and Tehran had better submit...
How ‘Never Again’ Lost Meaning in Gaza
Looking across the devastated landscape of the Gaza Strip, where surviving generations now carry the permanent physical and psychological scars of war, the ultimate indictment of our era is damning: The world watched the horror unfold in real-time, possessed all the...
The Tyranny of One Man’s Opinion
Thomas Cromwell was the Lord Chancellor of England for much of the reign of King Henry VIII. He engineered the convictions and executions of many whom Henry wanted out of the way, including his two predecessors in office — one of whom was St. Thomas More — and even...
The American Public Has Turned on Israel. Washington Doesn’t Care.
For decades, American support for Israel was a bipartisan consensus. It was believed that only fringe figures, kooks, or antisemites would question the close bond between the two nations, and that this was a relationship forged on the grounds of mutual geopolitical...
While Gaza Dominates the UN, These Are the People Keeping It Alive
When I first saw footage of Gaza doctor Munir al-Bursh and his family kneeling beside the white-shrouded body of his son, surrounded by mourners, I thought it was an old video. It was not. My conclusion, however, was understandable. In December 2023, only months after...
Reporting of the RAF Fairford Arrests Blows the Idea of a ‘Free Press’ Out of the Water
It’s easy to forget that the western media – the so-called “free press” – likes to distinguish itself from media in authoritarian regimes on the basis that, unlike them, it asks critical questions of the powerful, reports facts objectively, and formulates its analyses...
Why Didn’t Netanyahu’s Cabinet Preempt October 7 (if it Knew About it in Advance)?
In his fiery speech to the UN General Assembly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back against accusations of genocide levelled against Israel, as many delegates walked out and hundreds of protesters rallied against him across Manhattan. After Netanyahu...


