Foreign Policy
Planes and Propaganda
There’s still a lot we don’t know, but at this point it seems highly likely that the downing of a Malysian airliner over the Ukraine was the work of trigger-happy pro-Russian Ukrainian separatists who literally didn’t know what they were ...
Read MoreIsrael/Palestine: Explaining America’s Failure
In his newsletter yesterday, M.J. Rosenberg succinctly described the obstacle to peace in Israel/Palestine: Everyone knows that the only way to permanently end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is by Israel getting out of the territories occupied after the ’67 war in ...
Read MoreWhat to do About Iraq (And then what?)
It’s not easy to know just what the United States should be doing about Iraq, but President Obama’s approach thus far seems about right. As the Los Angeles Times reported today, the President has followed a very deliberate and, to ...
Read MoreObama at West Point
President Obama’s commencement address Wednesday was a good speech; about as good as could be expected. I say as good as to be expected because there are parameters that define the longstanding US foreign policy consensus that Obama, a cautious ...
Read MoreThe Israel/Palestine Impasse
Like most people, I can’t resist saying “I told you so” when the opportunity arises. So, in light of the breakdown of the Israel-Palestine peace talks pushed by John Kerry, I am wont to point to my post of December ...
Read MoreA Slight Imbalance
An article in today’s NY Times reports on the UN’s Human Rights Council’s decision to extend the term of its monitor for Iran. The vote was 21 to 9, with 16 abstentions. Iran, naturally, was opposed. Its government would like us ...
Read MorePutin’s Rage, Obama’s Restraint
President Obama’s restrained handling of the Ukraine/Crimea crisis is just about right, for now. Putin has legitimate grievances, but they don’t justify his illegal seizure of the Crimea. Some kind of reaction from the West was necessary, even though there is ...
Read MoreRussia, the Ukraine and the West: Another View
The Cold War is history, but Cold War modes of viewing the world persist. The current crisis is playing out in the media as a familiar morality tale of Western innocence and Russian (/Soviet) perfidy. The reality, now as ...
Read MoreAmericans and the Deaths of Others
Every author has an article or a story languishing somewhere in his computer that has not been accepted anywhere for publication. One of the great advantages of having your own blog is that you can always make sure that such ...
Read MoreHillary Comes Out
Since I ended my last post with a reproach for Hillary Clinton, it is only fair that I pass on the news—which doesn’t seem to have gotten a lot of attention– that she has in fact come out against threatening ...
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