The Man And The Myth
Urbi et Orbi, the city and the world, Tehran and the globe. In his turban and clerical robe, softly speaking of peace, Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, resembles a spiritual guide mor...
Scotland
The Power-Hungry vs. the War-Weary
Russia’s Vladimir Putin, seething over the collapse of the Soviet Empire, wants to become the hegemon of Eurasia — at least. Iran’s Ali Khamenei, outraged by the...
Op-eds
Know Your Enemy
In the summer of 2008, Barack Obama, senator and presidential candidate, toured the war zones of Afghanistan and Iraq. Obama had endeared himself to the antiwar left by denouncing President Bush’s d...
Op-eds
Faith-Based Negotiations
O believers, when you encounter the unbelievers marching to battle, turn not your backs to them. Whoso turns his back that day to them, unless withdrawing to fight again...
Op-eds
Wishing for an Iranian Moderate
There’s nothing wrong with wishful thinking — unless it gets confused with serious thinking. Policy makers and legislators have a professional responsibility to resist that temptation...
Op-eds
Rowhani Is a Tool of Iran’s Rulers
The odds are poor that the election of Hassan Rowhani to the presidency will change Iranian society or diminish the...
Op-eds
EU Moving Toward Ban of Hezbollah Military Wing
Co-authored by Jonny Paul The European Union has moved toward a consensus on outlawing the armed wing of Hezbollah, with its inclusion on the EU terror list slated to take place...
Op-eds
Perceptions of the “Arab Spring” Within the Salafi-Jihadi Movement
Co-authored by Tara Vassefi “The popular uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen and Bahrain have not only shaken the foundation of the authoritarian order in the...
Op-eds
German MPs Do Business with Iran
European politicians in Brussels and Berlin have unleashed a storm of criticism over their planned trips to meet representatives of Iran’s regime. A group of five left-wing MEPs ha...
Op-eds
European Lawmakers Cool to Obama’s Iran Sanctions
President Obama's efforts to isolate Iran’s rogue regime is drawing a cool response from some key European lawmakers, who may be putting trade over principle. A group of Germa...
Op-eds
Hoover’s Lessons
Learning from a half-century-old foreign policy critique.
Op-eds
Mob Tactics
Egypt captured Israeli-American Ilan Grapel to generate popular support among the volatile anti-Western middle class at home
Op-eds
From Tripoli to Tehran
Killing Muammar Qaddafi wasn’t easy. What President Obama said would take days wound up taking eight months. At first the administration did not seem to understand that NATO’s objecti...
Op-eds
Libya’s New Government Should Give Up the Lockerbie Bomber
Berlin — As Moammar Qaddafi’s 42-year tyranny comes to an end, the transitional government faces enormous challenges in establishing democratic institutions and eradicating t...
Op-eds
Beyond Farce
The following is not the outline of a rejected screenplay by an aspiring Hollywood writer trying to outdo 24. Nor is it product of a freshman political science student's imagination, concoct...
Op-eds
The First Time
Desert Hell: The British Invasion of Mesopotamia by Charles Townshend Belknap Press, 624 pp., $35 THIS BOOK IS an exquisite history of the excruciatingly diffi...
Op-eds
Achieving the Impossible
President Barack Obama's response to the spread of unrest across the Middle East has been an unpredictable combination of neutrality (Tunisia), reluctant involvement (Egypt), and force...
Op-eds
Libya’s Makeover
‘The relationship has been moving in a good direction for a number of years now, and I think tonight does mark a new phase,” said Condoleezza Rice. President Bush’s secretary of...
Op-eds
The Libyan Terrorist: Muammar Qaddafi
It is not surprising to see Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi use any and all means, including the most savage violence, to hold onto power. Qaddafi is, after all, a terrorist. There was a...
Op-eds
EU Slaps New Sanctions Against Islamic Regime
The European Union implemented its new sanctions against Iran on Wednesday, targeting the country's energy, transportation and bank sectors with additional restrictions. The robust...