The Post-Oil Middle East
As you all probably know, Al Gore challenged the United States two days ago to end our dependence on foreign oil within a decade. Whether or not we reach Gore's target, the Middle East's days as the...
View ArticleThe Sacred Cows of Foreign Policy, or America's hypocrisy in Israel and Kashmir
Us non-supporters of Israel often want to tear our hair out about the near-untouchable status it enjoys in this country-our media, our political class, and the majority of our population all accept on...
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Meet the Stans: Kazakhstan
This is the first in what I plan to be a series of dairies providing overviews of the nations of central asia. I hope to give everyone here some basic knowledge about this little-understood region,...
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Meet the Stans: Turkmenistan
This is the second dairy in a series I'm doing on Central Asia. I did one on Kazakhstan previously.Our trip through Central Asia continues with Turkmenistan. Unlike its wealthier neighbor to the north,...
View ArticleIran: Preparing for a crackdown
Some interesting-and extremely disheartening news out of Iran today. Iran may be about to experience a crackdown, but nevertheless a protest is scheduled for tomorrow. More below the fold. While there...
View ArticleNews from Iran-more protests, accounts of torture, abuse of imprisoned...
You know, the place that seems to have fallen off the face of the Earth since Michael Jackson died? Well, there's still news coming out-some of it hopeful, and some of it truly sickening. More...
View ArticleIran Recap (yes, stuff's still going on over there!)
Like many of you, I intensely watched the Iranian protests in June, and cheered on the demonstrators, was shocked to see the photos of Neda and the others who were killed, and hoped-apparently in...
View ArticleIranian Opposition Leader Mehdi Karroubi Predicts that Current Iranian...
BBC News, December 18thThe Iranian government is being kept in power by force and will not last its four-year term, one of the opposition presidential candidates has predicted.Opposition member Mehdi...
View ArticleIran: a tale of hope and tragedy
Well, it seems Iran is back in the news again. Many of us, including myself, have written diaries celebrating the resumption of the protests, telling the atrocities of the "Islamic" Republic, and...
View ArticleEgypt Liveblog: Sub-Diary #19
You are in the the 19th Child Diary of the Liveblog of the 2011 Egyptian Uprising and other uprisings spreading throughout the Mideast. We stand with our Egyptian friends and their courageous struggle...
View ArticleA Straight Guy in Scotland? "Syrian Lesbian" Blog Revealed to be a Hoax
The blog "A Gay Girl in Damascus", which preported to describe the life of a Syrian lesbian woman, has been conclusively revealed to be a hoax. From BBC News:On Sunday, an "apology to readers" appeared...
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