The Obama administration is sending conflicting signals about how far it is willing to go to prevent Iran from developing nuclear capability. Recently, Vice President Joseph Biden declared, “The United States is determined to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons,…
Last month marked a turning point in the United States-Iraq relationship. American influence is waning, while Iraq is taking steps to get on its feet economically. We suffered no combat deaths in December, and continue to reduce our presence, expecting to…
As the Obama administration prepares to engage Iran diplomatically, sentiment in Congress is rising in support of applying greater pressure on Tehran. The current centerpiece of this strategy is legislation recently introduced by a bipartisan set of congressional leaders to sanction…
Much has been made of Israel’s so-called “disproportionate” response to Hamas rocket fire against Israeli civilians. Wags have tried to create a “proportionate” response.
Israel has unfortunate experience with guerrilla/terrorist forces on its borders with Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza. It has managed them over time in different ways with more or less success. Facing enemies with larger populations and less sensitivity to…
It is now widely accepted that the surge in American troops helped dramatically improve security in Iraq in the last year. But there has been less notice of, or comment on, how the surge has improved the Iraqi oil sector,…
It has been widely reported since Super Tuesday that John McCain has effectively sewn up the Republican nomination for president but must still convince enough American conservatives that he stands as heir to Ronald Reagan. This poses an obstacle to…
November 2 marks the 90th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, when British foreign secretary Arthur Balfour committed the British Empire to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine. This pivotal event led 31 years later to the establishment of the State…
The expected withdrawal of British forces from southern Iraq highlights a critical but little discussed aspect of the conflict: The security of the southern oil sector, which is essential to Iraqi stability and important to the international oil market. The…
On March 27, 2003, Paul Wolfowitz, then deputy secretary of defense, predicted that Iraq’s oil revenue would “finance” its reconstruction and do so “relatively soon.” With wise investment and management, Wolfowitz might have been right. Even though its oil sector…