On what we should learn from 11 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Foreign Policy
Long-Term Uncertainty Remains in Nuclear Talks with Iran
Anyone banking on a big-win breakthrough in Wednesday’s nuclear talks with Iran will likely find themselves in the same boat as investors who bet on an instant surge in the Facebook stock price last week. If there’s value to …
Obama’s European Stimulus Challenge
Barack Obama’s reelection may well depend on stimulus. Not the stimulus bill that passed Congress in 2009. Or the monetary injections administered by the Federal Reserve. This stimulus won’t even be debated in Washington. …
Iran Nuke Concession?
The New York Times is reporting that Iran may be about to open its Parchin military facility to international inspections. This is a biggish deal, but not a complete breakthrough. Parchin is where Iran may have been conducting experiments on weaponizing its nuclear fuel; there has been speculation that the facility housed a chamber to …
At NATO Summit, Obama Seeks Clean Break from Afghanistan Conflict
President Obama’s goal at the NATO summit this week is looking increasingly clear: wrap up U.S. troops’ combat role over the coming year, and get the allies to pay more money to enable the Afghan military to fill the gap.
All signs are that NATO will agree to the first of those two goals Monday in Chicago.
Hillary Clinton’s Legacy at the State Department
Richard Wolf over at USA Today has a lengthy and comprehensive summary of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s legacy-to-date. I say to-date because Wolf leaves ample hints that her biggest role might yet be in the making. For example, he notes the numerous times Clinton is asked about a 2016 run — and her pat denials. His kicker from a …
Obama Unveils Private-Public Partnership on Food Aid
Any one remember sending their left overs to Africa? Not so long ago, that food aid consisted of massive amounts of random extra food that developed countries would send to the developing world in response to crises – mostly to …
The G8 Summit at Camp David: This Time, It’s Important
Not since the oil shocks that first brought the world’s superpowers together in 1974–back then they called themselves the “Library Group” because they met in the White House library–has the G8 had so much substantive …
Richard Lugar and the Death of the GOP Foreign Policy Moderates
Everyone understands that Tea Party-era Republicans have moved right on domestic policies like taxes and entitlements. At the same time, there’s a sense that In the Tea Party era, there’s a sense that Republicans have mellowed on foreign policy—that the post-9/11 neocon-hawk moment has passed, and restraint has taken over among …
Neoconned
The illustrious patriots over at the Commentary blog have, predictably, taken me to task for defending Peter Beinart’s fine book about the crisis in Israel. They have done so in a predictably specious way. So I’d like to make my position, and theirs, perfectly clear: the argument against West Bank settlements is not merely a demographic …
Chen Guangcheng: Potential Study Abroad Deal May End Diplomatic Impasse with China
The blind legal activist who has been at the center of diplomatic struggle between the U.S. and China has been offered a fellowship to study at an American university, and the Chinese government has indicated it will accept Chen Guangcheng‘s application for travel documents, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. …
And, er, What About the Settlements?
The neoconservative assault on Peter Beinart’s fine book, The Crisis of Zionism, continues. It has taken many forms–ad hominem attacks usually and now, mocking his sales figures. Indeed, it has taken many forms but one: there still is no coherent response to Beinart’s argument that the West Bank settlement policy is a long-term …
Was the bin Laden Raid Really ‘Not a Tough Decision’?
On Wednesday, Donald Rumsfeld joined the bin Laden-anniversary party by declaring that it was “not a tough decision” for Barack Obama to order the Navy Seal raid in Abbottabad, and that to decide otherwise would be “dumbfounding.” Set aside for a moment the fact that a guy as tough as Rumsfeld’s successor as Defense Secretary, Robert …