Opening a rally for Bernie Sanders in early March, Rep. Ilhan Omar turned to the audience and asked people to hold hands with those next to them in a show of solidarity. But that was before the coronavirus disrupted politics as normal. Now the rallies are gone and touching others is strongly discouraged. American politics […] More
Middle East Monitor features an article by American-Palestinian journalist Ramzy Baroud, who celebrates Tunisia’s progress as a democracy. The author cites recent data produced by two independent agencies that monitor the state of democracy in the world. He makes a point of comparing the North African nation that set off the short-lived phenomenon known as […] More
The shock to Western civilization produced by the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 is only beginning to register. Most commentators have focused on the political and economic dimension of a historical moment unlike any other, in which entire nations across the globe have moved into shutdown mode. Other commentators, such as Andrew Sullivan and Umair […] More
Donald Trump was elected in 2016 on his promise to “Make America Great Again.” Four years later, he presides over a country that would be the laughing stock of the world if the situation were not so dire. The greatest country in the world apparently cannot provide its citizens with toilet paper, is running out […] More
The COVID-19 pandemic has placed almost the entire world on lockdown. The current crisis is often compared to historic events such as the two World Wars, the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 or 9/11. The worst-case modeling of the spread of the novel coronavirus predicts millions of deaths on top of immeasurable economic consequences across […] More
The major political news in the US from last week concerned the coronavirus bailout bill eventually agreed by both parties and submitted for signing by President Donald Trump. One controversial part of the law focusing on helping businesses in distress drew the ire of Democrats, who worried that it could turn out to be Secretary […] More
In 1978-79, the United Kingdom experienced the winter of discontent. Trade unions around the country went on strike. On January 22, 1979, the UK experienced the largest strike action since the General Strike of 1926. Even gravediggers and waste collectors joined in, leaving corpses and rubbish piling up. A bitterly cold winter with blizzards and heavy […] More
After discovering massive oil reserves in the past five years, Guyana, one of the poorest countries in South America, was poised to become one of the richest nations in the world. Also noteworthy is the fact that, since Guyana’s independence from Great Britain in 1966, Venezuela claims nearly 70% of its territory. Reminiscent of the […] More
