Lionel Beehner
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
Romania just unveiled a new memorial dedicated to the hundreds of thousands of gypsies and Jews killed during the Holocaust. This is no small accomplishment for Romania. The country has many things going for it: its acceptance of gypsies, or Roma, is not one of them.It is no surprise Madonna felt ... Read More
I am befuddled. We are handing the Pakistanis a check for $1.5 billion next year and their top military brass is angry, calling it “typical American arrogance?” I agree U.S. foreign policy has been abrasive over the past few years (and the proposed fortress-like embassy there looks like a big middle ... Read More
Um, why is Washington cutting Pakistan another check after it was revealed that only $500 million out of previous $6.6 billion package actually went toward fighting Taliban and other terrorists? Obama appears determined to continue the Bush administration’s failed policies of the past, even as the ... Read More
There are signs of hope trickling in from Gaza. Some say this rump state may have the world's fastest growing economy (though its base point was not very high). There are signs that Fatah and Hamas may agree to an Egyptian proposal aimed at reconciliation between the two groups. Palestinian leaders ... Read More
The broken record of diplomacy skips on. Over talks with Iranians in Geneva, negotiators agreed to hold more talks. Hopefully at those talks they can reach some sort of agreement to yet again hold more talks. And so forth and so on.There are essentially three options, we keep hearing: strikes ... Read More
About Lionel Beehner
Lionel Beehner is a term member and former senior writer at the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a member of USA Today's Board of Contributors and frequent contributor to the New York Times Sunday Travel section. His writing has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, Guardian Online, International Herald Tribune, Baltimore Sun, New York Daily News, Newsday, New Republic, New York Magazine, Slate, Seed, Foreign Policy, and Foreign Affairs Magazine. He teaches op-ed writing at Mediabistro, and is writing a book about U.S. foreign policy and non-state actors.