Current Analysis Burying the Hatchet with Iran Don’t tell anyone, but the United States and Iran are getting closer -- perhaps closer than ever -- to letting go of 35 years of enmity. No, Washington and Tehran aren’t going to be BFFs or anything. But they do share a common interest in rolling back the so-called Islamic State, whose well-armed Chris Toensing • 2 min read
Current Analysis The Next Round of an Unwinnable War Beckons Once again, a U.S. president vows to eliminate an extremist militia in the Middle East to make the region, and Americans, safe. And that means it’s time again for a reality check. Having failed in its bid to destroy the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, the United States is still trying to disma Amanda Ufheil-Somers • 2 min read
Current Analysis Not Much Better Than Bush President Barack Obama got it right [http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/19/politics/obama-iraq-transcript/index.html] when he declared: "There's no military solution inside of Iraq, certainly not one that is led by the United States." But his Iraq track record doesn’t mark much of an improvement over the m Amanda Ufheil-Somers • 2 min read
Current Analysis Modernizing Memorial Day Whoever made the decision to open the National September 11 Memorial Museum just a few days before Memorial Day was both bold and intuitive. The theme of remembrance unites both events, but the 9/11 memorial is a departure because it is dedicated to those so often forgotten in the recollection of na Amanda Ufheil-Somers • 2 min read
Current Analysis A Loveless Diplomatic Marriage with No Future Among the would-be therapists of the foreign policy world, the alliance between the United States and Saudi Arabia is a textbook case of a “loveless marriage.” Though the values of the two states are at odds, or so the thinking goes, the great democracy and the absolute monarchy are bound together Amanda Ufheil-Somers • 2 min read
Current Analysis The Diplomatic Dance with Iran A six-month diplomatic [http://www.dawn.com/news/1084989/iran-nuclear-deal-possible-in-six-months] dance with Iran is underway—each step as dainty as a minuet because any misstep is weighted with danger. The issue is Iran’s nuclear research program and the UN inspections that are taking place as a Chris Toensing • 2 min read
Current Analysis Seeing Through the Fog Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel was full of tough talk when he visited the island kingdom of Bahrain in early December. The United States, he vowed, will continue to guard “the free flow of energy and commerce” from the Persian Gulf and keep Iran nuclear-free, through the presence of 35,000 US mil Amanda Ufheil-Somers • 2 min read
Current Analysis What Comes Next Whatever comes next [http://mondoweiss.net/2013/10/israelpalestine-recognized-comprehensive.html] in the land between the Jordan and the Mediterranean, the State of Israel is here to stay. To acknowledge this fact is not to nod to Israel’s “right to exist” -- people have rights, states are supposed Chris Toensing • 4 min read
Current Analysis Rays of Hope in Egypt Three days before the coup that removed Muhammad Mursi from the presidency, I marched with tens of thousands of Egyptians to the presidential palace. A sea of protesters had filled Cairo’s streets, waving flags and chanting for the downfall of the regime. As we passed a military compound, two soldi (Author not identified) • 2 min read
Current Analysis True Democrats Don't Bankroll Juntas The military’s coup in Egypt has placed the American political establishment in a bind. Many observers insist that the Obama administration must either formally condone the military takeover or call it a “coup,” which would require a cutoff of American aid, as Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has advocated. Joshua Stacher • 4 min read
Current Analysis How to Help Syria Now The appalling civil war in Syria is well into its third year. With upwards of 70,000 dead, countless numbers maimed and injured, and millions of refugees, there are recurrent calls for the United States to “do something” to end the mayhem. That “something” is usually defined as military intervention Chris Toensing • 2 min read
Current Analysis Futile Military Financing One of the more regrettable things that Uncle Sam does with your tax dollars is sending $3.1 billion in military aid to Israel every year. He’ll be doing that until 2018 -- and probably after, unless Americans decide enough is enough. When President Barack Obama traveled to Israel in March, he was Chris Toensing • 2 min read
