“China is the only major power that still has a functional, candid channel to Tehran, to Gulf Arabs, and Washington, at the same time.” “We cannot have a sustainable resolution …
Mahdi Mohebirad on International Law, Sanctions, and Citizen Activism
“International law is fundamentally a tool. And we must calibrate our expectations to the actual capacity of this tool.” This was one of the key judgments expressed by Mahdi Mohebirad, …
John Ross on the global impact of the U.S. war on Iran, and China’s perspective
“If Iran is left after the war in control of the Straits of Hormuz, this is a tremendous strategic defeat for the United States.” This was one of many crucial …
Prof. Maryam Jamshidi unpacks the international-law status of the Hormuz Strait– and much more
“The key to Iran’s leverage right now … is the Strait of Hormuz.” “If the future of international law is that it comes completely unraveled, we are going to be …
Ray McGovern on Araghchi in Russia, U.S. & Israeli naval piracy, and more
The former CIA official, now longtime antiwar activist and thinker, Ray McGovern noted Friday that Russia’s president Vladimir Putin has warned Pres. Trump in the strongest possible terms against launching …
Helena Cobban on Hormuz’s 5,000-year role at the hinge of history
5,000 years ago, the Strait of Hormuz was a key connecting point between the seminal ancient civilizations in the Indus Valley and Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq.) That was a key insight …
Trita Parsi on the prospects, dynamics, as end of U.S.-Iran ceasefire approaches
“The most likely scenario, and I would put it at 70%… is that there will essentially be a new non-negotiated status quo that ends the war… Trump ends the war, …
Rami Zurayk on Israel’s ongoing assault against Lebanon
In April 12, JWE president Helena Cobban conducted a timely conversation with with Prof. Rami Zurayk on the impact on Lebanon of the violence that Israel has unleashed against the …
Amb. Chas Freeman on the China-Pakistan peace initiative
In an April 1 conversation with Helena Cobban, retired U.S. Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr argued that the peace initiative that China and Pakistan proposed on March 31 for the …
Vijay Prashad on the implications of Iran’s achievements in the war for the Khalij, West Asia, and the world
“There is no way, there is no scenario, no supercomputer can devise a scenario where Israel and the United States can win this war politically. It’s just– it is actually …