Opposition activists report attacks in Deraa and mass arrests in Douma as Sarkozy and Berlusconi call for end to the violence EU countries are discussing imposing sanctions on Syria if the regime continues its violent suppression of pro-democracy protests. The foreign secretary, William Hague, said Damascus faced “a fork in the road” as opposition activists [...]

Is a counter-revolutionary tide beginning to favour the “strongmen” of the Arab world, whose regimes appeared a couple of months ago to be faltering under the impact of the Arab Awakening? From Libya to Bahrain and Syria to Yemen, leaders are clinging on to power despite intense pressure from pro-democracy protesters. And the counter-revolution has [...]

The solution to Jewish supremacism in Palestine is simple: End it. Demand of Jews in the peace movement that they stop yelling only about a 1967 “occupation”, and start condemning the creation and maintenance of a Jewish supremacist state imposed by force upon an unwilling and incredibly resilient native population in 1948. This was the [...]

The democracy uprising in the Arab world has been a spectacular display of courage, dedication, and commitment by popular forces — coinciding, fortuitously, with a remarkable uprising of tens of thousands in support of working people and democracy in Madison, Wisconsin, and other U.S. cities. … Each is a microcosm of tendencies in global society, [...]

It is worth looking at the grim aftermath of foreign intervention in Iraq as British, French and American involvement in Libya grows by the day. Both actions could be justified on humanitarian grounds (though Saddam committed infinitely worse atrocities than any attributed to Gaddafi). In Libya foreign powers are at the start of a process [...]

“As president, Obama has maintained the occupation of Iraq and escalated the war in Afghanistan,” said U-M’s Michael Heaney, U-M assistant professor of organizational studies and political science. “The antiwar movement should have been furious at Obama’s ‘betrayal’ and reinvigorated its protest activity. “Instead, attendance at antiwar rallies declined precipitously and financial resources available to [...]

US defence secretary Robert Gates says coalition not targeting Libyan leader after claims UK and US went beyond mandate US defence secretary Robert Gates has rejected a Russian claim that Nato is trying to assassinate Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Gates was speaking after a meeting at the Pentagon with British defence secretary Liam Fox, who [...]

Sarkozy and Berlusconi want passport-free travel within the EU suspended as north African migrants flee north France and Italy have thrown down the gauntlet over Europe’s system of passport-free travel, saying a crisis of immigration sparked by the Arab spring was calling into question the borderless regime enjoyed by more than 400 million people in [...]

The key to ending the conflict in Afghanistan may be for us to stop thinking of it as a unified state Nearly two years ago David Miliband, then foreign secretary, addressed a meeting of Nato confident that the right strategy was being pursued in Afghanistan. They would not force the Taliban to surrender, nor would [...]

Another difference between the Bush years and the age of Obama is that the latter has at least some regard for the rule of international law In a joint newspaper article yesterday, the US president and British prime minister told the world that they would maintain their assault on an Arab country until its regime [...]