Prof. Dr. Bischara Ali Egal

As crucial elections near, Ankara pins hope on financial support from “friendly” countries to ease its foreign currency shortfall and rein in inflation. Turkey’s government is on a quest to secure new foreign exchange inflows from “friendly” countries, among them Saudi Arabia and Qatar, as international observers warn that a fresh currency crisis could be inevitable for the country. With crucial elections looming in June, such inflows are important to prop up the embattled Turkish lira and avert another whirlwind of price hikes, but how much those efforts could help remains open to question. A hard currency shortfall is at…

Foreign powers have hailed the truce signed by the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan leaders to end the brutal war in the north of the country and open up the flow of aid to those at risk of famine, but questions remain over whether it will succeed. A day after the applause died away at the signing ceremony in South Africa’s capital, Pretoria, the sound of artillery is still booming over the mountains of Tigray. The deal conforms broadly with the objectives of Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed when he launched what he called a “law enforcement operation” against the party ruling the…

It’s inexcusable that these direct peace negotiations are not already underway. The recent escalation of this war makes peace talks more necessary, not less.  Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Moscow was open to talks with the U.S. or with Turkey on ending the war in Ukraine, claiming that U.S. officials are lying when they say Russia has been refusing peace talks. Reuters reports: “Lavrov said officials, including White House national security spokesman John Kirby, had said the United States was open to talks but that Russia had refused.” “This is a lie,” Lavrov said. “We have not received any serious offers…

Putin Misplays His Cards, what Could Have Been a Winning Hand has become the Road to Armageddon Paul Craig Roberts Every day that passes raises my concern that the Kremlin is mishandling a dangerous situation and making it more dangerous.  Putin and Lavrov send every wrong signal.  The message they should be sending is “Don’t Tread on Me.”  Instead, Lavrov whines that his “Western partners” are being mean to Russia, and Putin offers energy so NATO countries can continue their war against Russia and be saved from freezing to death while they are fighting against Russia.   https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/UN-Resolution-Against-Russia-is-Diplomatic-Terror-Lavrov-Says-20221013-0007.html?utm_source=planisys&utm_medium=NewsletterIngles&utm_campaign=NewsletterIngles&utm_content=13 https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/10/12/putin-offers-to-boost-gas-supplies-to-europe-via-nord-stream-2 Putin still doesn’t understand that…

This is peak crazy. A thinking species that regards as outrageous heresy any opposition to nuclear-war brinkmanship that can cause its extinction cannot get any more crazy. It’s really too bad that anyone who thinks it might be a good idea to stop exponentially escalating this proxy war is an evil Nazi Putin propagandist, because things are getting very very dangerous. Normal person: I think it would be good if everyone didn’t die in a nuclear holocaust. Crazy person: That means you love Vladimir Putin. Normal person: No, I just think it would be a good idea to try to prevent the horrific death…

When It Comes to Conducting a War, the Kremlin Has Proven Its Incompetence Paul Craig Roberts To be clear, I respect Putin as a person.  He is humane.  He cares about life and civilization. He is a good person.  In fact, he is proving to be too good of a person to be dealing with the venal and corrupt West, and he has no idea how to conduct a war. Putin thinks, or thought, that Russia and the West shared common values.  This shows how little Putin understands the West. The West is Washington, and the rest of the West are not independent countries…

The Arab public’s antipathy toward the U.S. determines their stance toward the Russian-Ukrainian war, writes As`ad AbuKhalil. Writing on twitter a few days ago, the well-known Saudi intellectual, Khalid Ad-Dakhil, lamented the phenomenon of Arab support for Russian President Vladimir Putin.  He regards that a manifestation of “vengeful” thought.  He maintains, rightly, that some Arabs support Putin just to spite the U.S. It is not easy to measure precisely the level of Arab public support for Putin in this current war; there have not been reliable opinion surveys that can guide us.  But the antipathy of the Arab public toward the U.S. …

When Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982, the imposition as president of  Bashir Gemayyel  — who introduced the worst savagery seen during the country’s civil war — was one of the chief goals, writes As`ad AbuKhalil. This year marks the 40th anniversary of Bashir Gemayyel’s installation by Israel as president of Lebanon and the 40th anniversary of his assassination. It was the summer of 1982. Israel had invaded Lebanon and controlled its state and picked out its next leader. The U.S. was fully supportive of the move on behalf of the “war thug,” (which was how  Richard P. Parker, former U.S ambassador to Lebanon, once…

Is it a weird new tactic in “strategic ambiguity” to have different parts of the administration saying completely different things in totally unambiguous ways? asks Caitlin Johnstone. The president of the United States has once again committed the U.S. military to direct hot war with China in the event of an attack on Taiwan, a commitment that was once again walked back by his White House handlers. In a Sunday 60 Minutes interview, Biden was asked point-blank by CBS News’ Scott Pelley if U.S. forces would defend Taiwan from an attack by the mainland. “Yes, if in fact there was an unprecedented…