On Friday, December 8, the UN Security Council met under Article 99 for only the fourth time in the UN’s history. Article 99 is an emergency provision that allows the Secretary General to summon the Council to respond to a crisis that “threatens the maintenance of...
Death and Destruction in Gaza
I do not believe that anything I say about what is happening in Gaza will affect Israeli or American policy in that conflict. But I want to be on record so that when historians look back on this moral calamity, they will see that some Americans were on the right side...
The World Has Spoken on Gaza: The US Again Stands Alone
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres “had just invoked Art.99 of the UN Charter – for the 1st time in [his] tenure as Secretary-General.” Article 99 states that “The Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in...
Moscow and Gaza: Is Russia Ready for a Major Shift in Its Middle East Policy?
Gaza was among the main topics on the agenda of Russian President Vladimir Putin as he arrived in the Middle East region on Wednesday, December 6. Some news reports referred to the trip as ‘rare’, especially since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022....
The Best and The Brightest, Redux
Reprinted with the author's permission from the American Committee for US-Russia Accord. Well-heeled and highly credentialed, the proteges of powerful political patrons with ties to New Haven, Cambridge, Oxbridge and corporate America occupy the highest councils of...
Iraq Weekly Roundup: 17 Killed
Inspiration for the Nakba?
The unspeakable violence that plagues Israel and Palestine daily relates in part to the assertion of an ancient, ancestral, and even divinely bestowed property right to a parcel of land, which is often called “holy” and “promised.” For background, here are a few...
Yes, There Are Innocent Palestinians
Recently, popular conservative Mark Levin went to X to voice his opinion on the ongoing war in Gaza. Levin’s position was rather tasteless when he claimed that there were no “innocent Palestinians.” He linked to an article written by D.W. Wilber, whose background is...
Gaza and Ukraine: How the US Risks Losing the Global South
The Global South – or perhaps more acutely, the Global Majority – is a loose club of countries who share growing confidence in their economic strength and in their ability to resist US hegemony in favour of working with multiple poles in pursuit of their own national...
America’s War for the Greater Middle East (Continued)
Originally posted at TomDispatch. One way of understanding the ongoing bloodbath pitting Israel against Hamas is to see it as just the latest chapter in an existential struggle dating back to the founding of the Jewish state in 1948. While the appalling scope,...


