Chinese state television is gaining influence in Africa. But while the media outlets involved officially claim their journalism is independent, those who work for the companies tell a different story. By Bartholomäus Grill.

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told NBC that Iran is an active threat to US interests and 'sowing chaos' in the Middle East. It strikes me that exactly the opposite is true. The Islamic Republic of Iran has in recent years, despite its heritage in the 1979 revolution, acted as an Establishment, status quo power. I don't agree with Iranian policy, e.g. its Syria intervention; I'm just acting as a dispassionate analyst and asking if it is really destabilizing. I conclude, not so much.

Some 18 million barrels of oil transit through every day. The economic impact would be catastrophic. By Scott Ritter.

It is a cliché that the United States and Britain are obsessed with Middle East oil, but the reason for the obsession is often misdiagnosed. By Tom Stevenson.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez isn't going away, and neither is surging rage at plutocrats hanging in the Swiss alps who think charity makes up for a rigged game.​​

House Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) won the race for New York’s 14th congressional district by leading with her democratic socialist politics and running on a progressive platform advocating for an increased marginal tax rate on the wealthy and universal healthcare. Much to the surprise of her new colleagues on Capitol Hill, Ocasio-Cortez has not backed down on pushing for these ideas. And she’s using some nerdy quotes to do it.

People say we’re about to enter the “Asian century.” That would be true if the world still did centuries. But it doesn’t; change driven by technological advancements now comes so rapidly and with such force that it’s challenging to know what the next year of geopolitics will look like, let alone the next 50.

As poverty and violence force Guatemalans to leave their country, one anthropologist reflects on her work with Indigenous peoples in the highlands—and shows how the U.S. is implicated in its own “migrant crisis.” By Emily Yates-Doerr.

The Real News

Getting to the bottom of the Jamal Khashoggi disappearance is a bit like peeling an onion. By Philip Giraldi.

The tragic death of a Washington Post columnist should not destroy our relationship with Saudi Arabia.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan urged Kyrgyzstan on Saturday to crack down on groups linked to the Fethullah Gulen movement which Ankara blames for a failed 2016 coup, something Bishkek has so far refused to do.

Erdogan’s real crimes are buying the Russian S-400 missile system for Turkey, refusing to accept US support for America’s Kurdish YPG allies and allowing Islamist fighters to pour over Turkey’s border into Syria along with a load of weapons, mortars and missiles. By Robert Fisk.

We’ve got the uranium, the know-how and a sudden desire to be respected by our nearest neighbour. By Tristin Hopper. [Autoplay]

You can hardly blame Russian President Vladimir Putin for enjoying a “told you so moment”. He lately reminded European leaders that their all-out spat with the United States is what happens when you are too deferential to American hegemonic ambitions.

The partnership with America had a long and fruitful life — but Europe is ready to start over.

Fresh back from Damascus, I was taking my coffee on the Beirut Corniche this week when a neat little Greek warship hove into sight... By Robert Fisk.

After World War II, Americans had hope for the Soviets. Powerful winds would change that, and quickly. By John Rossi.

Prepare for dumb wars. By W. James Antle III.

The week that has just ended was exceptionally rich in events. But no media were able to report it, because they had all deliberately masked certain of their number in order to protect the story that was being woven by their government. London had attempted to provoke a major conflict, but lost to Russia, President Trump and Syria. By Thierry Meyssan. (Mar. 20, 2018)