International Politics

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Diplomacy Dismembered
Diplomacy Dismembered

President Joe Biden was caught off guard when Saudi Arabia and Russia joined together to lead OPEC to cut oil production by 2 million barrels a day. After Biden’s fist-bump visit to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia over the summer, he thought he had a deal with Mohammed bin Salman to increase production.

Extradition Threatens Julian Assange (and Press Freedom)
Extradition Threatens Julian Assange (and Press Freedom)

With Julian Assange facing extradition to the United States, we’ll likely be hearing more about his case and see more protests around the world very soon. His legal battle against extradition from the UK to the United States has been winding its way through the British courts for months. If he’s brought to the United States, the WikiLeaks founder faces a sentence of 175 years for charges that include 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act.

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Putin’s Medals
International, Politics
Putin’s Medals
International, Politics

Vladimir Putin seems to favor wearing suits but he may as well start festooning his jacket with all the medals he’s earning in his war on Ukraine. It seems very clear the quick “special military operation” is not going according to plan, I’d be pretty nervous if I were one of Putin’s military advisers.

International, Politics
Supplying (Sort Of) Our Demand
Environent, Environment, International, Politics, Economy
Supplying (Sort Of) Our Demand
Environent, Environment, International, Politics, Economy

With the horrific war in Ukraine and tough sanctions on Russia, there is a lot of talk of increasing the oil supply. The only trouble is, oil companies don’t particularly want to ramp up that supply. After taking a huge hit during the depths of the pandemic, the oil industry is reveling in this war-fueled spike in profits.

Environent, Environment, International, Politics, Economy
Your Lying Eyes
International, Politics
Your Lying Eyes
International, Politics

Vladimir Putin is living in a dreamland and wants all of us to live in it, too. (Okay, it’s more of a nightmare-land.) Putin has clamped down on any semblance of free press in Russia and is desperately trying to blame any war, or “special military operation,” on Ukraine and the West.

International, Politics
Petro Petey Loves Petrostates!
Environment, International, Politics, Economy
Petro Petey Loves Petrostates!
Environment, International, Politics, Economy

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sent oil prices through the roof and volatile markets are desperately trying to determine what comes next in this awful war. Now that Joe Biden has announced a ban on all Russian oil imports to the United States, the cost of gasoline is definitely heading up. The U.S. doesn’t even import much oil from Russia to begin with, but the ripple effects of an embargo impacts the global market for oil.

Environment, International, Politics, Economy
The State of the Putin
International, Politics
The State of the Putin
International, Politics

Oh, how I wish Donald Trump didn’t matter any more and we could just write him off as a disgraced ex-president who is rapidly getting crazier. He is those things, of course, except he does matter. He matters because he still has such strong support in the Republican Party and may very well regain control of the White House in a couple years.

International, Politics
Isolationists’ Elegy
International, Politics
Isolationists’ Elegy
International, Politics

Now that Vladimir Putin has launched a Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Trumpist isolationist wing of the Republican Party looks even more ridiculous. The always eloquent J.D. Vance, the author from Ohio who wrote “Hillbilly Elegy” and is now running for U.S. Senate, said, “I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other.”

International, Politics
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Jared Kushner’s ‘Affinity Partners’
International, Politics
Jared Kushner’s ‘Affinity Partners’
International, Politics

Jared Kushner just raked in $2 billion from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, even after the fund’s panel of top advisers called Kushner’s new hedge fund, Affinity Partners, “unsatisfactory in all aspects.” How did the boy wonder do it? By supporting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and turning a blind eye to the murder and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi, of course.

International, Politics
Republicans: Still All-In With Trump
International, Politics
Republicans: Still All-In With Trump
International, Politics

If Republicans were to pick a presidential nominee today, who do you think it would be? Not Mitch McConnell or Mitt Romney, that’s for sure. And at this point, even Ron DeSantis — no matter how much more Trump than Trump he tries to be — wouldn’t be the nominee. That’s right, it’s the party of Donald Trump.

International, Politics
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How Biden Ruined A Perfectly Good 20 Year War, Part II
International, Politics
How Biden Ruined A Perfectly Good 20 Year War, Part II
International, Politics

In the second installment of “How Biden Ruined A Perfectly Good 20 Year War,” we take a look at the various ways the past three U.S. presidents have tried to get out of Afghanistan. Spoiler alert: not very successfully.

International, Politics
How Biden Ruined A Perfectly Good 20 Year War
Politics, International
How Biden Ruined A Perfectly Good 20 Year War
Politics, International

All eyes (for a minute) are on Afghanistan after the U.S. pullout turned to chaos. Yes, President Joe Biden, his administration and the Pentagon clearly screwed up the final withdrawal. They should have acted sooner to help people who aided the U.S.-backed Afghan government and our earlier efforts to prop up the country.

Politics, International
Featured
Pray for Blank
Pray for Blank

With major terrorist attacks coming in rapid succession lately, it’s time to take a closer look at what causes a particular attack to get extensive media coverage. Some people complained that the recent attack in Istanbul didn’t get nearly the coverage of the Brussels attack, just like they complained when ruthless attacks in Nigeria didn’t get the coverage of the Paris attacks.

Thank You. Love, ISIS
Thank You. Love, ISIS

If we carry out police crackdowns just because people are Muslim and ratchet up the torturing in response to ISIS attacks, the terrorists have won. I know it sounds dramatic, but it’s true. These religious nutballs want nothing more than for the West to pour gasoline on the fire and drive more recruits to their apocalyptic mission.

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Who’s On Whose Side?
Who’s On Whose Side?

If this cartoon seems complicated, that’s because it is.  With nearly all attention focused on the latest headline-grabbing statement by Donald Trump or a suction-cupped Trump Tower climber (fun stuff, I admit), it’s important to remember that there are real issues, real suffering and extreme complexity in the world.  A simplistic, seat-of-the-pants style will not translate well to foreign policy, particularly when it comes to Syria.

The Kremlin Convention
The Kremlin Convention

What sounded like a wild conspiracy theory about, oh, three seconds ago, now sounds like a plausible explanation.  Every time you think this presidential race can’t get any weirder, it does.  It now sounds increasingly likely that the Russians hacked the DNC’s email, then helped release what they found to the world on the eve of the Democratic convention.

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Islamophobic Air
Islamophobic Air

Now that Pope Francis made the wonderful symbolic gesture of flying twelve Syrian refugees to Rome on his plane, let’s take a look at what it’s like for Muslims flying on planes in the United States.  If you’re Muslim, whether you’re a US citizen or not, it turns out you might want to allot a little extra time for being detained after getting kicked off your flight.

Hiding, Secret and Shell
Hiding, Secret and Shell

Now that the Panama Papers have begun to reveal the shadowy world of Mossack Fonseca’s offshore accounts, isn’t it time to look at the entire system?  Remember, Mossack Fonseca is just one of many firms specializing in setting up offshore accounts that allow people to hide their money.  (Or, more importantly, hide themselves.) 

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Pray for Blank
Pray for Blank

With major terrorist attacks coming in rapid succession lately, it’s time to take a closer look at what causes a particular attack to get extensive media coverage. Some people complained that the recent attack in Istanbul didn’t get nearly the coverage of the Brussels attack, just like they complained when ruthless attacks in Nigeria didn’t get the coverage of the Paris attacks.

Thank You. Love, ISIS
Thank You. Love, ISIS

If we carry out police crackdowns just because people are Muslim and ratchet up the torturing in response to ISIS attacks, the terrorists have won. I know it sounds dramatic, but it’s true. These religious nutballs want nothing more than for the West to pour gasoline on the fire and drive more recruits to their apocalyptic mission.

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2015: The Year in One Breath
2015: The Year in One Breath

Let’s hope that my year-end animation for next year does not include a scene showing President Trump’s electoral victory. It’s been a full year, even when you get past thewall-to-wall Donald Trump coverage. Much of the year has been sadly repetitive. (See: police shootings, terrorism, mass shootings, ISIS.)

Keep Calm and Panic On
Keep Calm and Panic On

The terrible attacks in Paris have been met with widespread condemnation and horror, but they’ve also been met with overreaction and panic. Let’s take a few breaths and realize that ISIS is not about to take over the world.