Undiplomatic

It looks like the Iranians have balked on their promise to ship lowly enriched uranium to Russia. One wonders if the whole thing was a ruse to tamp down the criticism that followed Pittsburgh (when it was revealed Iran was operating a secret nuclear facility)—if in fact they never had any intention ... Read More

It’s becoming a familiar theme. An election is held somewhere in the developing world that is hotly contested. The opposition cries foul and demands a recount. Allegations fly as both camps dig in their heels and make their pleas before the international community. Protestors might take to the ... Read More

We need to disabuse ourselves of several untruths being told about our war efforts in Afghanistan. One is that we are fighting for democracy. Democracy is fine for Norway and Denmark but it is bad in war-torn places that are undeveloped because it becomes a patronage system for kickbacks being ... Read More

Who shot Major Hasan? It sounds like the title of a bad Simpsons episode, were the storyline not so tragic. But what unfolded last week at Fort Hood followed a predictable cable-news-friendly narrative. An “evil” gunman goes on a rampage and would have done more damage were it not for a “heroic” ... Read More

It's unbelievable, really. The US military is holding up Iraq as a model for Afghanistan. They'll tell you it took a few years to get right but by golly, Iraq is at peace with itself, with a large armed forces, a democratically elected government, and commerce flourishing. Let's replicate that ... Read More

Thirty years after Iranian extremists stormed the U.S. embassy and held 52 Americans hostage in Iran it is well worth asking: Isn’t it high time we serious consider reconstituting some kind of American presence in Tehran? Today the shell of the old embassy compound remains, its walls scribbled with ... Read More

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards is getting in on the “smart power” bandwagon. It just announced the launch of a new news agency called Atlas to deliver the day’s news. The head of the basij euphemistically described the venture as “super media power.” Um, that is an understatement. Surely, like U.S ... Read More

To those who thought Obama would end all war, wipe out global poverty, save the environment, and eradicate terrorism in one fell swoop, they will be sadly disappointed by this earthling-like leader of the free world's slacker performance.But Obama's foreign policy has not been half bad. I would ... Read More

Radovan Karadzic is making a mockery of efforts to strengthen courts’ ability to try and prosecute accused war criminals. Karadzic faces charges of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, all of which left 100,000 dead in the 1993-1995 war. Yet he has failed to show up when the trial ... Read More

I am in the heart of Tamil territory. I am surrounded by jungles and tea plantations. A few miles north of me is a camp of 250,000 internally displaced Tamil civilians made homeless by the decades-long war. Only months ago, the Sri Lankan government announced that the war was over. It had won and ... Read More

In a vindication of sorts for Stalin’s victims – as many as 20 million – a Moscow district court last week ruled against the dictator’s grandson, who sued a Russian newspaper for calling him a “bloodthirsty criminal.” But the verdict, while a welcome sign, does not undo the disturbing fact that many ... Read More

A burka is visible from 20,000 feet. So is an AK-47. That is not insignificant, as the debate rages on over whether to send more troops to Afghanistan. One alternative to putting thousands of more troops in harm’s way is flying more unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), as Jane Mayer recounts in this ... Read More

Hillary Clinton, her elbow healed up, finally made it to Moscow, only to be rebuffed by her Russian counterpart in her push for stricter sanctions against Iran. Getting from nyet to da in Russia on this issue will be difficult. It was fascinating to see how much every party involved backpedaled on ... Read More

Let’s hand it to Joe Biden’s savvy press secretary Jay Carney: the guy is EVERYWHERE. There is a full-on media blitz to buff up the veep’s image as he emerges as the main dissenter to the president’s plan to “surge” more troops into Afghanistan. He’s had gushy write-ups in Newsweek and the New York ... Read More

I understand why Americans love lists. It jives with our competitive ethos, not to mention our Trump-like love of superlatives. Ours is a culture of Top Ten Lists, Best-Of Issues, college rankings, and Final Fours. Heck, even the wizards at CNN have figured out a way to rank American heroism somehow ... Read More