The grip that neocons and liberal interventionists have on Official Washington’s opinion circles is now so strong that “realists” who once provided an important counterbalance have been almost banished from foreign policy debates, a dangerous dilemma that James W Carden explores. In a widely remarked upon article for the online version of Foreign Policy last week, Harvard’s Stephen Walt [...]

The Kremlin has found a new ally in the Kurds during its anti-terrorist campaign in Syria. They are effective in pushing Daesh (ISIS/ISIL) and other terrorist groups out of key areas in Syria, French political journalist Olivier d’Auzon wrote for Le Huffington Post. Turkey's decision to shoot down a Russian Su-24 bomber in November made Moscow furious; in turn, the Kremlin decided to support [...]

Washington's constant attempts to impose its own vision of an ideal state system on Moscow are a huge mistake. While it might be acceptable to more modest, smaller countries, it is not to be tolerated by such a heavyweight, according to Matt Rojansky, Director of the Kennan Institute. [...]

With the latest polls showing US Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders leading rival Hillary Clinton only weeks before the first two primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire, many Americans are contemplating the real possibility of having a socialist president in the White House. But even if Sanders wins the election, the United States will not have a socialist president. Why not? Because [...]

UNITED NATIONS - The West continues its strong political and military support to one of its longstanding allies in the Middle East – Saudi Arabia –- despite withering criticism of the kingdom’s battlefield excesses in the ongoing war in neighboring Yemen. A Saudi-led coalition has been accused of using banned cluster bombs, bombing civilian targets and destroying hospitals – either by acci [...]

After the incidents of sexual assault in Cologne, Germany on New Year’s Eve committed by Muslim refugees against German women, feminist apologetic have acquired renewed vigor in the European debate. Pundits and politicians assure the public that refugee males now storming the gates of Europe from the Middle East, Northern Africa and Central Asia will be required to learn that Western women ar [...]

Teachers and students at one New Jersey school said they hit the jackpot with one of their teachers who’s been with the school for more than 20 years. As CBS2’s Hazel Sanchez reported, they call her Granny and she’s been named the oldest living and working teacher in the United States. At 102 years old, Agnes Zhelesnik certainly doesn’t act her age. “I feel like, maybe 95,” she s [...]

The Titanic we all know as the Global economy appears to be moving along at full speed. But signs of sea ice are dead ahead. Is the economy moving? The Baltic Dry Index has hit a new low. The Baltic Dry Index is the assessment of the price of moving all of the globes major raw materials by sea, including commodities like coal, grain, and iron ore. Tyler Durden of Zero Hedge reports “ Last wee [...]

After the shock of the New Year’s Eve assaults, and the subsequent backlash, some migrants are trying to teach refugees about the challenges of life in Germany and about mutual tolerance. Skinny-dipping, gay relationships and parenting all form part of Magdi Gohary’s crash-course introduction to a strange new home [...]

Journalists have noticed how much current political campaigns are trading on fear. As observed in a recent article in the Washington Post, “Most of the Republican presidential contenders and their allies are now waging campaigns focused on fear—bombarding voters with ominous television spots that warn of national security threats and amping up their alarming rhetoric on the stump.” [...]

he best thing about Thursday night’s Republican presidential primary debate, the sixth of twelve currently on the schedule for 2016, is that it means we are halfway to having no more Republican primary debates. Viewers who suffered through the entire two and a half hours of the event last night were presented with a smorgasbord of soaring demagoguery, sneering ad hominem attacks, and occasion [...]

President Obama said in his State of the Union address last night: “Now, what is true — and the reason that a lot of Americans feel anxious — is that the economy has been changing in profound ways, changes that started long before the Great Recession hit; changes that have not let up. [...]

This week we’re here at MIT in Cambridge, MA to interview world renowned linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky, someone who’s authored over 100 books on everything to war to propaganda. I wanted to get his take on democracy and elections in the context of American empire. [...]

The price may vary depending on the exchange rate of the national currency. The cost of a single dose of the Russian vaccine against the Ebola virus is approximately $160, the director of the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology said Friday. [...]

The proposal comes two weeks after hundreds of women were attacked by aggressive men of allegedly Arab and North African origin in a number of German cities. After the attacks on women in Cologne and a number of other German cities, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble has called to consider the deployment of Bundeswehr forces within the country. [...]

In an interview with German newspaper Die Welt, Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio admitted that he would love to play Vladimir Putin onscreen if provided with such an opportunity. Dicaprio said that for him bringing the image of the Russian president onscreen would be a ‘very, very interesting task.’ [...]

Most in America were happy when Tehran promptly released ten US sailors, who were detained when their two boats drifted in Iran's territorial waters on Tuesday; but US hardliners were furious. "If you think about the [US] bases that surround Iran, you can understand why [the Islamic Republic] would be concerned when a heavily armed naval vessel ventures into Iranian territory," political analys [...]

Crimean authorities are working hard to make Cannes- and Nice-bound vacationers change their mind and set their sights on the Black Sea peninsula, Russian media quoted Crimea’s top prosecutor as saying on Wednesday. Natalya Poklonskaya said that she couldn’t care less about the western [...]

Nearly 18 months after Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashed in eastern Ukraine, one of the troubling mysteries is why the U.S. government – after rushing to blame Russia and ethnic Russian rebels – then went silent, effectively obstructing the investigation into 298 deaths, writes Robert Parry. As the whodunit mystery surrounding the shoot-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 nears the 1½-ye [...]

The grandees of the Republican Party are on the ropes. Donald Trump has them by the balls, but, even without Trump, they would be in what Bush the Father would call deep “do-do.” Any Republican candidate for President whom two-thirds of the electorate could abide would be anathema to the one-third that Republicans have recruited into their rank and file. Mitt Romney was the final straw. [...]

Amid a crisis that has poisoned the water supply of an entire city, authorities in Flint, Michigan are under renewed fire on Friday for sending out shut-off notices to residents who are behind on paying their water bills. Slammed as "ludicrous, the move comes as Republican Governor Rick Snyder finally asked President Obama to step in and declare a federal state of emergency. [...]

Whatever happened to the days when the primary purpose of journalism was to hold our government accountable for its stupid actions, like when the US Navy, for example, strays into the territorial waters of an Islamic nation at the worst possible time? Just how long and deep America has snorted from the cracked mirror of imperial power, intoxicating the nation with delusions of grandeur and exce [...]