Al Qaida’s dull Osama-lectures in Arabic never had the pizazz of IS’s sleek magazines and certainly not the charisma of their reality-tv snuff films. Their gruesome short films are filmically excellent.
The Real Reasons For This Qatari Kerfuffle
The allegation Qatar supports terror is rich coming from the Saudis who for decades have been promoting and subsidizing Wahhabism, the sharp end of fundamentalism which is intellectual architecture for ISIS.
Finding Aggressive Patriotism at the World’s Militant Theme Parks
Patriot Park is the physical manifestation of aggressive patriotism added to a cult of personality centered on Vladimir Putin, both popular in Russia lately. It was opened by President Putin himself last year.
A Yemeni Catastrophe That is Being Totally Ignored
We don’t hear much about it in part because the West is more concerned with Syria and Iraq’s rolling disasters, and tribal beefs in obscure, non-oily countries don’t interest us. Horribly though, we favor the Saudi destroyers.
Book Exposes World of the Sons of the North Korean Elite
That said, Ms. Kim’s book is one of the most insightful reads a NK buff can use to explore from an armchair. Published in 2014, it could have been written yesterday, nothing has changed.
What’ll Happen in the Syria Civil War?
Only a fool would predict, so here goes: Lebanon’s war lasted 15 years, but Syria’s will last longer because the foreign backers are in it for the long haul: for global, not regional, victory.
Liberals in 2017 – SMILE!
The hard right’s flank has opened. This is not empowering for them, it spells disaster as the bulk of decent Americans and all liberals turn on the Republican Party with full force.
Faith-Based POTUS Tourism
For his inaugural trip abroad our President has picked an unpredictable but thematically consistent itinerary. He’ll be stopping at the Vatican, then on to Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Wrecking Foreign Policy
Given his “transactional” personal psychology and lifetime of terrible business decisions, Trump’s defunding of State is also the obvious logical conclusion of decades of Republican policy.
“Othering” and Islam in Australia
Along with being similar societies with all the good; strong rule of law, secularism, and equality, the dark forces of mistaking religion for geographic culture, Islamophobia, and “othering” continue to divide.