Juan Cole

US Militarism, Having Provoked ISIL into Being, Kills Cult Leader Baghdadi

by Juan Cole

“Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,” the nom de guerre of the notorious Iraqi terrorist Ibrahim al-Samarrai, is dead, killed in a US special forces raid on his compound in Syria’s northwest Idlib province. 

No, Fox’s Katie Pavlich, the US Wasn’t the First to Abolish Slavery

by Juan Cole

Slavery began in British North America in the 1600s. So it took longer than 150 years to abolish it. More like 200 years.

Juan Cole says he wouldn’t write a letter of recommendation for a student wanting to study at an Israeli "squatter institution on illegally acquired Palestinian land”

by Juan Cole

But unlike his colleague John Cheney-Lippold, he would write a letter for a student going to Tel Aviv University.

Juan Cole says Israel is now openly embracing apartheid and racial supremacy

by Juan Cole

“The Israeli parliament or Knesset has passed a law openly declaring Palestinians to be second-class citizens.”

Juan Cole: Top Six Reasons Pompeo should not be Secretary of State

by Juan Cole

Reason #1: Pompeo has openly stated that he intends to undermine the Iran Deal.

Juan Cole has an interesting take on Jared Kushner

by Juan Cole

The historian thinks Kushner is being targeted by the intelligence community, led by HR McMaster.

Top Ten Signs the US is the Most Corrupt Nation in the World (2018 Edition)

by Juan Cole

“Don’t tell the global South how corrupt they are for taking a few petty bribes.”

What I'm Reading: An Interview with Juan Cole

by Tiffany April Griffin

The interview includes his favorite history book, his reason for writing a new textbook on world history, and his advice to history grads. 

Juan Cole claims the Arab Spring is still promising. Doubters say he’s naive.

by Andrew E. Harrod

His new book already seems out of date.

The West's Chemical Weapons Hypocrisy

by Juan Cole

British firms received licenses to sell chemical agents to Syria in 2012... and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Juan Cole: Bradley Manning in a World of Cheneys, Hadithas, and NSA Domestic Surveillance

The sentencing of Bradley Manning to 35 years in prison came because he leaked government documents, mostly with a low level of classification that probably shouldn’t have been classified in the first place. 

Why Egypt Fell Apart

by Juan Cole

Resorting to violence is a long-term, deeply-ingrained habit in human history, and is not easily discarded.

The Danger in Egypt is Real

by Juan Cole

Egypt’s future stability and prosperity now depends on whether the officer corps and youth are mature enough to return to pluralist principals and cease persecuting the Muslim Brotherhood just because Morsi was high-handed.

Top Ten Conclusions from Iran’s Election

by Juan Cole

Those who believed that Khamenei would try to fix this election for Jalili as he is accused by the Green ovement of doing four years ago were mistaken. 

Is Erdogan Really a Dictator?

by Juan Cole

Originally posted on Informed Comment.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Obama's Terrorism Speech

by Juan Cole

Originally posted on Informed Comment.Here are the good, the bad and the ugly things in President Obama’s important speech on counter-terrorism Thursday, and in the off-stage steps he has announced that mysteriously did not appear in the speech:The Good:

Jesus and Muhammad

by Juan Cole

Credit: Wiki Commons.Originally posted on Informed Comment.I’ve always liked Andrew Sullivan even when I disagree with him. I’m going to disagree with him, or more specifically Alexis de Tocqueville and one of his readers who quotes him:

Hugo Chavez's Sullied Progressive Legacy in the Mideast

by Juan Cole

Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad meeting in 2010. Credit: Flickr/chavezcandanga.Originally posted on Informed Comment.

Juan Cole: Tunisian Democracy Challenged as Prime Minister Resigns

Juan Cole is the Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History and the director of the Center for South Asian Studies at the University of Michigan.  His latest book, "Engaging the Muslim World," is just out in a revised paperback edition from Palgrave Macmillan. The resignation of Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali in Tunisia has created a political crisis that the elected government will have to deal with. Jebali is a politician of the Muslim religious right, from the Ennahda Party, and had led an Ennahda-dominated cabinet in coalition with two smaller secular parties, Moncef Marzouki’s social democratic Congress for the Republic and another small partner.

Obama’s Inaugural and the Danger of an Iran War

by Juan Cole

President Obama, Air Force chief of staff General Mark A. Welsh III, and Vice President Joe Biden talk during the inauguration. Credit: Flickr/DoD.Originally posted on Informed Comment.President Obama addressed the big issues of war and peace in his inaugural address, and despite the vagueness of some of his pronouncements, they contain strong clues to his foreign policy agenda in the Middle East. His announced policy will be one of ending U.S. military engagements abroad, multilateral cooperation with allies to face security challenges, negotiation, and avoidance of further military entanglements in the Middle East. In other words, Syrians are on their own, France can have Mali, and Iran is probably not going to be bombed.