All Commentaries
“So Many People Died”: The American System of Suffering, 1965-2014
For all the dissimilarities, botched analogies, and tortured comparisons, there has been one connecting thread between the wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan that, in recent years at least, Americans have seldom found of the slightest interest: misery for local nationals. Civilian suffering is, in fact, the defining characteristic of modern war in general, even if only rarely discussed in the halls of power or the mainstream media.
Whither Serbia’s Future When Its Citizens Elect “The Undertaker” President?
Voting the nationalistic Serbian Progressive Party into power reflects, in part, disillusionment with the Democratic Party.
Don’t Call China’s Liaoning a “Starter” Aircraft Carrier
China understands that aircraft carriers are no longer flagship crafts.
Time to End the Korean War
Thirty-eight years ago, just before Christmas, our lives as missionaries came to a sudden end when South Korea’s military dictator, Park Chung-hee, deported my husband, George Ogle, because he prayed in public for eight innocent men who had been falsely accused of having Communist ties, tortured to confess, and sentenced to death by secret military court.
Major Test for Israel Lobby As Obama Leans to Hagel for Pentagon
With President Barack Obama reportedly primed to nominate former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel to head the Pentagon early next week, the powerful Israel lobby, led by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), faces a major dilemma.
A Focal Points Roundtable: Is the Taliban Losing?
A panel of experts looks at the U.S. and NATO end game in Afghanistan.
Bulgarians Wear Their Pessimism as a Badge
In a 2009 Gallup poll, Bulgaria ranked at the bottom of the world in their view of what life would be like for them five years hence.
Kerry’s Cuba Sanity
Admittedly, Kerry has not always applied the lessons of Vietnam properly—witness his regrettable support for the Bush administration’s disastrous invasion of Iraq. But elsewhere, as in his efforts to ease the archaic U.S. blockade on Cuba, Kerry continues to promote engagement as the fundamental tool of foreign policy.
Mali: After the Intervention
The international community must implement stabilization measures alongside political solutions, military intervention, and humanitarian aid.
The Case Against Kerry
President Obama’s selection of John Kerry as the next secretary of state sends the wrong signal to America’s allies and adversaries alike. Kerry’s record in the United States Senate, where he currently chairs the Foreign Relations Committee, has included spurious attacks on the International Court of Justice, unqualified defense of Israeli occupation policies and human rights violations, and support for the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq.