Indonesia’s Shi’a minority is under heavy attack. Men, women, and children have been assaulted, schools damaged, and villages burned to the ground. It’s becoming increasingly clear that Saudi Arabia’s intolerant brand of Wahabbi Sunni Islam—propagated far and wide by Saudi oil money—is behind most of assaults.
In the latest eight-day conflict, six Israelis were killed by Palestinian rocket fire. In Gaza, however, Israeli bombs killed 179 Palestinians—a substantial portion of whom were civilians, including several dozen women and children. One of them was Hitham’s oldest child, who was visiting relatives in Gaza.
The November 22 cease fire between Israeli and Hamas forces is a huge relief for the civilian population on both sides—the primary victims of the conflict. But the Obama administration’s unconscionable decision the previous week to block a ceasefire effort by the UN Security Council not only resulted in additional civilian deaths but also serves as an indication that, despite the president owing his re-election to the hard work of his progressive base, his foreign policy will continue to lean to the right.
We can save $440 billion over a 10-year period without compromising national security.
Latin America itself got scarcely a mention in the U.S. presidential campaign, but a new generation of voters has put it definitively on the agenda. Indeed, the rigid divide between “Latin America” and the United States needs to be revised.
The United States, under Obama, is finally coming to terms with the fact that the world is multipolar. The notion that one man – or one country – can change this multipolar world is fast becoming antiquated. Accustoming Americans to this power shift may ultimately be Obama’s chief legacy.
China’s once-in-a-decade leadership transition will have major implications for China’s neighbors in Southeast Asia. Given this, it might be worthwhile to review the changing understanding of the momentous developments in China on the part of people in our region, using my generation—the so-called “baby boomers”—as an example.
As Hamas’ break with its longtime patron Bashar al-Assad illustrates, the Palestinian Islamist group is adapting to the new Middle East. Even with new bombs pounding Gaza, the group is bound to be recognized as a legitimate international player in due course–and the Israelis would do well to take a lesson.
Lawrence Wittner, Professor Emeritus at the State University of New York at Albany, has written a delightful memoir of his life as a public intellectual and activist. Working for Peace and Justice is a compelling chronicle not just of an interesting man living in interesting times, but also how he worked to improve those times, and how that work has enriched his life as well as those close to him
Saad Hariri—the Saudi-born son of the late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri—has been on something of a speaking tour lately. The billionaire former prime minister has repeatedly tried to make the case that Lebanon’s incumbent government (read Hezbollah) has put the country in harm’s way because of its stance on the conflict in neighboring Syria. But Hariri may be stoking the sectarian fires himself.