Chippshots

Comments and Analysis from John Robertson on the Middle East, Central Asia, and U.S. Policy

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Rami Khouri on Obama's "300"

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As ever, Rami Khouri tells it like it is - in this instance, reminding us that it was Mr. Bush's Iraq escapade, and its enforcers, that...
Friday, June 20, 2014

The Pathetic Figure that is Dick Cheney

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Amy Davidson's N ew Yorker pos t spotlights the recent column by the Cheneys (Dick and Elizabeth) calling out Mr. Obama for not manning ...
Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Holocaust Denial - in California?!

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There are times when all you can do is scratch your head and wonder about the idiocy of some people. Noted Holocaust scholar and expert De...
Thursday, May 1, 2014

Apartheid in the West Bank

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Peter Beinart distinguishes between apartheid as indeed practiced under Israeli hegemony in the West Bank versus what Israeli Arabs must con...
Friday, April 18, 2014

The Bible and Oklahoma Public Education

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from today's Politico Morning Education HOBBY LOBBY PRESIDENT PROMOTES BIBLICAL CURRICULUM: Public schools in Mustang, Okla., will o...
Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Thomas Friedman's Simple Boxes

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There he goes again.  Thomas Friedman  reconstructs global politics  (for the umpteenth time) with simple boxes.  (OK OK, so he calls them ...
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Monday, February 10, 2014

Roger Cohen's Disappointing Essay on BDS

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The NYT's Roger  Cohen writes  this morning that the BDS movement is simply not to be trusted, even if its goal of ending Israeli occup...
Friday, January 10, 2014

About Those US Demands That Maliki Include Sunnis

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At  Bloomberg , former Bushie Meghan O'Sullivan calls upon Mr. Obama and his officials to head off a new Iraq war by making better use ...
Saturday, January 4, 2014

McCain and Graham Pave Path to New Intifada

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Disturbing report from WashPo about how Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham have lined up with Mr. Netanyahu in expressing grave reserv...
Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Time for a Deal with Iran is Now

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Kudos to Thomas Friedman for his piece in today's NY Times (quoted, in full, below).  With all the boo-hooing about how such a deal wou...
Friday, November 8, 2013

Bibi Pissing in the Geneva Punchbowl

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With growing signs  (John Kerry has flown to Geneva to take part) that a deal between Iran and the US-led P5+1 is steadily being pieced toge...

Elliott Abrams and Hasan Rouhani's siren song

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My latest a t Your Middle East .  Here's the tease: Elliott Abrams' intention – as is Mr. Netanyahu's – is to do whatever he can...
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John Robertson
I've been a professor of ancient Near Eastern and modern Middle Eastern history at Central Michigan University since 1982. I was formally trained as an Assyriologist and Ancient Near East specialist [Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania], but since 1984, I have also been teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in Islamic and "modern" Middle Eastern history. My book, "A Short History of Iraq," will soon be published by OneWorld Publications. You can find most of my published opinion pieces at the "War in Context" site. My scholarly publications appear in various academic journals and edited volumes.
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