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    Who Wins and Loses in the Middle East?

    Following Iran’s missile attacks on a two US airbase, one outside Baghdad and the second near Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan, US President Donald Trump almost triumphantly announced that Iran is now standing down in their the two countries’ intensified conflict following the killing of Quds Force commander, General Qassem Soleimani, in an American drone attack […] More

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    The US Will Never Leave the Middle East

    A large number of people seem to believe that World War III has begun with the drone strike that killed Iran’s Quds Force commander, General Qassem Soleimani, on January 3. On December 27, a US military contractor was killed in a rocket attack in Iraq, and the US responded with a bombing campaign. Iraqis rioted and […] More

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    The Global War of Error

    Yes, our infrastructure stinks, our schools are failing, this country’s a nightmare of inequality and there’s a self-promoting madman in the White House. So, isn’t it time to take pride in the rare institutional victories America has had in this century? Arguably, none has been more striking than the triumphal success of the American war system. Oh, you’re going […] More

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    Will Iran and the US Go to War?

    The assassination of the commander of Iran’s Quds Force, Major General Qassem Soleimani, by the United States on January 3, along with his right-hand man in Iraq, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, was a surprising move for many. Soleimani’s assassination increased pressure on President Donald Trump in Washington and has already intensified concerns about a new war […] More

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    Was Qassem Soleimani a Bad Guy or a Martyr?

    When people live (and die) with a binary vision of the world, the same object may end up with two opposite meanings. This tends to be the norm in wartime, but the trend toward reducing everything to a binary opposition has increased radically in recent years, even in times of peace. The instinct to label […] More

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    What Next for Tehran and Trump?

    In the days since the January 3 assassination of Major General Qassem Suleimani, commander of Iran’s Quds Force, on the orders of US President Donald Trump, the world has anxiously waited to see whether, where and how Tehran would fulfill its pledge to wreak vengeance on the Americans. Thus far, Iran’s strategic response has been […] More

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    When Presence Becomes Absence in the Middle East

    History is constructed out of symbolic moments. As the year 2020 and a new decade begin, US President Donald Trump has provided the iconic gesture destined to ensure that future memories of both the year and the decade will be focused on his towering personality. How Will Iran Respond to the Assassination of Qassem Soleimani? […] More