The Israeli Plebiscite

Israelis are fed up with Binyamin Netanyahu. They are fed up with the government. They are fed up with all political parties. They are fed up with themselves. They are fed up. That is the reason for the disintegration of the government this week. It did not fall...

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South Stream Blues

South Stream is no more. While Western government and press hacks on both sides of the Atlantic gloated over the cancellation of the trans-Balkans pipeline as Russia's "defeat", they missed the absolutely crucial point of Monday's announcement, made by...

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Battles, Airstrikes Leave 65 Dead Across Iraq

At least 65 people were killed and 26 were wounded in the latest attacks and battles. Shi’ite militias not only cleared Jurf al-Sakhar of Islamic State militants, they have, apparently, also cleared it of Sunni civilians. The last Sunnis who left the city were told...

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War and Peace Scorecard

So are things getting better – or are they getting worse? Every once in a while it's necessary to step back and ask ourselves this question. otherwise, we have no clue as to what effect our efforts are having on the public policy debate – and no sense of where we are....

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The War Party Ascendant

Originally posted at TomDispatch. It was the end of the road for Chuck Hagel last week and the Washington press corps couldn’t have been more enthusiastic about writing his obituary. In terms of pure coverage, it may not have been Ferguson or the seven-foot...

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The Failure of Police Reform

For that first week or so after the August 9 shooting of Michael Brown, it seemed like there was momentum towards police reform. During the long months between the shooting and the grand jury’s lack of indictment of Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson, though,...

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110 Killed, 67 Wounded in Iraq Airstrikes and Attacks

A day after the Pentagon said that Iran had launched airstrikes on Islamic State militants in Iraq, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, without confirming the airstrikes, welcomed the new development. Despite the positive reaction, Iranian officials deny the strikes, and the White House continues to resist allowing the Iranians to join the coalition. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi was in Brussels asking the world community for more military and reconstruction help.
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The War Against the ‘Trolls’

Poor Anne Applebaum. Every time she writes one of her interchangeable neocon screeds on how Putin is responsible for all the world's evils or why we need to invade this or that country, her mortal enemies – the commenters! – launch an attack. They wonder why we should...

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