RSSShameless Cronyism
Sound Advice for the Next President
To grasp the challenge facing U.S. foreign policy, read Helena Cobban’s new book Engage!
Is Israel-Iran Enmity Irreversible?
No, it isn’t. Two of my favorite commentators, Daniel Levy and Trita Parsi, explain why
Buy This Book!
Former New York Times staffer Sarah Boxer has done a wonderful service in her new book Ultimate Blogs: Masterworks from the Wild Web, showcasing some truly fine writing from the much-hyped blogosphere.
Iran, the Inflatable Bogey
I’m delighted and honored to welcome Dr. Trita Parsi as a guest columnist at Rootless Cosmopolitan. Following the escalating tension between Iran and the West over the past two years, I’ve found Trita to be a singular voice of sanity in the proverbial world gone mad. As both a scholar and as president of [...]
West Africa/East Africa
Downtown in Arusha, Marcello’s new home
Cronies seem to be showing up all over the Mother Continent. It was when she went off to see the Teranga Lions thrash the hapless national team of Tanzania in an African Cup of Nations qualifier that I realized I had not done enough to plug Senegal Stories, [...]
Telephone Call for Mr. Horrible
Not just any American in Paris, but a vicious, potty-mouthed, epically angry American in Paris…
I’m please to share with you Mr. Horrible’s Ugliness Glob, the new blogging effort by my friend Bruce Crumley, who busts out of the constraints of his day job to rain invective and obscenity on what passes for politics back home…
Like [...]
Dosunmu’s African Game
My friend Andrew Dosunmu has done an extraordinary book of photographs of African football, capturing the almost subversive joy and exuberance it brings to the global game, and its place in the urban African social fabric. “For me, it was about photographing what soccer does to people—it’s more of a celebration. Soccer is a center [...]
Avian Flu is Bad for You…
Five reasons you should buy Karl Taro Greenfeld’s new book , “The China Syndrome” — besides the fact that it’s a gripping chronicle of China’s handling of the SARS outbreak in 2003 is a timely and frightening read as the world watches the spread of Avian Flu.
1) Karl provided the looping cross from out on [...]
Captain of the ‘Contradiction’
Max Ozinsky is one of my dearest friends and favorite people on the planet. We worked together in our young activist days, but made some different choices along the line. These days he’s chief whip of the ANC delegation in the Cape Provincial legislature, still involved in the cut and thrust of the ever-fractious [...]
Tom’s Dispatch is Haute Cuisine for your Brain
If, like me, you find that the self-affirming babble of Air America and the predictability of The Nation don’t exactly answer your need for a media alternative, it’s time you took a look at Tom Engelhardt’s Tom Dispatch.
Tom has a fine, hungry mind, a fascinating rolodex and the editorial chops of a [...]
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Glancing Headers
Waxing Brazilian on Euro 2008
The lesson for South Africa is clear. Our talent pool is so piss-poor that Brazilian coaches won't help -- we need to learn from the Europeans and import Brazilian players!Could Die Laughing
Whatever Became of that Nice Mr. Blair...
The problem with a global conversation between Muslims and Christians refereed by Tony Blair? Two words: Tony Blair.The Whole World's Africa
Stop South Africa's Pogroms!
Violence against immigrants in South Africa may be a product of poverty, but my friend Ray Hartley argues, the only answer is to make them full and equal citizens99c Blogging
Hamas as 'Willie Horton'
By insisting that he never advocated talking to Hamas, Obama digs himself a hole -- anyone who seeks peace in the Middle East will have to talk to HamasHear! Hear!
Bush's 'Peace' Effort Imperils Peace
Daniel Levy explains why the farcical negotiations between Olmert and Abbas actually undermine the prospects for Mideast peaceFeatured Analysis
About That 'New' Middle East...
Could there be a more perfect image of the catastrophic self-inflicted rout suffered by U.S. Middle East policy under President George W. Bush? This week, the President will party with Israel's leaders celebrating their country's 60th anniversary -- and champion a phony peace process whose explici...A Skeptical Read
Beheading Barack
First, he couldn't be President because he's Muslim. Now, we're told, he can't be President because he's not Muslim enough!Shameless Cronyism
Sound Advice for the Next President
To grasp the challenge facing U.S. foreign policy, read Helena Cobban's new book Engage!A Wondering Jew
Israel is 60, Zionism is Dead, What Now?
Israel at 60 is an intractable historical fact. It has one of the world's strongest armies, without peer in the Middle East, and its 200 or so nuclear warheads give it the last word in any military showdown with any of its neighbors. Palestinian militants may be able to make life in certain parts...The 51st State
A Teachable Moment in Basra
It should come as no surprise that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's disastrous offensive against the Mahdi Army of Moqtada Sadr in Basra has had the exact opposite effect of that intended -- strengthening rather than weakening Sadr, and making clear that he, and the Iranians, have far greater in...Futures Market
Will Russia Partition Kosovo?
Why my tea-leaf reading suggests that Moscow has a nasty surprise in store for Washington in the BalkansGuest Columns
Iraq and U.S. Faith in Violence
Guest Column: Alastair Crooke warns of a dangerous fantasy that persists in Western capitals in which the West faces an "onslaught" from "radical Islam." The problem is that this intersects all too tragically with a the persistent belief in Washington and elsewhere that by applying its overwhel...Cuisine
Yummy yummy Umami
Why a leftover lamb bone turned a bean stew into an ecstatic eventHousekeeping
'Lost' Entries on Rootless Cosmopolitan
Previous entries that now register as "not available" are ones that got left behind in a server migration. We're working on retrieving themUnholy War
U.S. Pours Gasoline on Gaza Fires
Once upon a time, Israelis and Palestinians looked to the U.S. to intervene at moments of heightened confrontation to mediate between the two sides and contain the damage. The Bush Administration, however, has proved entirely incapable of playing this role, because its own interventions are hidebou...Annals of Globalization
Honey, I Shrank the Superpower
In a snide reference to Bill Clinton's 1992 promise to "build a bridge into the 21st century," Barack Obama recently quipped that what Hillary Clinton really offers is a bridge back into the 20th century. Yet, a bridge back into the last century may be what all the major candidates are offering when...New York Moments
The Debka Made ‘Em Do ItFrom Tony's Archive
A Playground Lesson for Bush
How a spontaneous alliance of jocks, do-gooders and lesser bullies against the biggest bully at the school changed the balance of power at Milnerton PrimaryRebellion Into Money
The Rebel Grace of Patti Smith
