Fareed Zakaria has an important column today in the Washington Post, an antidote to the dangerous silliness about Iran that is being peddled by the Republican presidential candidates. Iran is faltering, not gaining strength, Fareed writes. The sanctions regime that the Obama Administration patiently negotiated with Russia and China is …
Diplomacy
Obama’s 10 Biggest Foreign Policy Challenges for 2012
The foreign policy crisis horizon shows little respect for the calendar New Year: The Obama Administration ought to have a good idea of the crises that await it in different global hotspots as it braces for an election year. But a recurring theme in the current menu of challenges, whether in the Middle East, north or south Asia, Africa …
U.S.-Pakistani Relations Continue Tailspin
So how well did President Obama’s telephoned condolences to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday go over? The call was intended to smooth relations between the two nations ruptured 10 days ago when NATO aircraft killed 24 Pakistani troops in a colossally snafued attack. The call, apparently, didn’t go over well, according to …
On the Departure of Dennis Ross
A few quick observations on Dennis Ross’ departure from the White House as Obama’s top Middle East advisor:
First, if there are any on the left who are taking this as a sign that Obama is finally going to get tough with Netanyahu, they shouldn’t hold their breath. Obama tried that early in the administration, when Ross was at State, …
Exit Dennis Ross, the Last of the Obama Foreign Policy “Czars”
With his just-announced departure from the Obama White House next month, Dennis Ross will be the last of the “special envoys” installed by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in early 2009. Although Obama has enjoyed his share of important foreign policy successes–the deaths of Osama bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki, the new Strategic Arms …
Hillary Clinton and the Limits of Power
Hillary Clinton argues in our cover story this week, now available online to subscribers, that America is not so much in decline as adjusting to a world of increasingly diffuse power, where like-minded networked individuals, …
At the U.N., Obama Presents a United Diplomatic Front as Israelis and Palestinians Fight On
With the country’s attention momentarily on foreign policy, it’s worth making one observation: Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have kept near-total peace in the public eye over the last two and a half years. That is no small …
Saudi Threatens U.S. Over Palestinian Statehood Veto
Last night’s GOP presidential debate and the Eurozone financial crisis may seem like the most important issues of the moment, but the biggest news yesterday may have come, barely noticed, on the diplomatic front.
“Nation Building Here at Home”
In this week’s issue of TIME, Council on Foreign Relations president Richard Haass takes President Obama’s call for domestic investment from a June speech announcing an accelerated withdrawal from Afghanistan, and expands it into a new way of thinking about U.S. foreign policy. With the threat of a dominance struggle between global …
Obama Fails to Budge Arab Opinion
The economy and the budget may be consuming Barack Obama’s presidency, but don’t forget that his candidacy was largely–perhaps even mostly–about foreign policy. At the core of Obama’s rationale for running in 2008 was his promise to restore America’s international strength, and diminish the threat of terrorism, by withdrawing our …
Bibi and Barack Meet: So Much for the Fireworks
Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continued their icy relationship in front of the cameras Friday after what the President somewhat ruefully called “prolonged” talks, suggesting that Bibi had delivered one of his trademark multi-part lectures on the requirements of Israeli security. The two were correct and diplomatic, …
Bibi and Barack, the Sequel
I’ve already registered my skepticism that not much will come of Obama’s assertion yesterday that “the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps.”
The statement is not, as many are claiming today, a demand for a return to pre-1967 borders: 1967 lines refer at most to the deployment of …
Obama Struggles to Keep Pace with the Middle East Mess
Listening to the commentary, you might think President Obama’s speech on Thursday was an important moment in Middle East history. It is a “hugely important speech,” said Wolf Blitzer on CNN in the run-up; Obama to …