All Commentaries
State of the Union’s Foreign Policy: Unilateral Triumphalism
Obama returned to his perceived strong suit in the end to discuss how the United States must operate from a position of strength. Unfortunately, he was talking about the strength of the U.S. military. The United States should indeed set an example: of wise diplomacy, global economic equity, and sensible budget priorities at home. Perhaps the next State of the Union can begin on a note of international cooperation instead of unilateral triumphalism.
Putting a Country on a Leash: Iran and Uranium
If Iran agrees, on paper, to end uranium enrichment, it will no longer be inspected and could then secretly recreate its program.
An Alternative to War with Iran
Relations between Iran and the West, fraught with tension and conflict for decades, have in the past few months reached a fever pitch. There is talk of war on a daily basis from both sides. Hundreds of millions, if not billions, have been spent both to fuel the Iranian missile and nuclear program and the counter-measures taken by the West to frustrate it. Leaders on both sides have worked themselves into paroxysms of rage regarding the alleged homicidal intensions of the other side.
Cold Comfort for Egypt
What shape will the convergence of Egypt’s civilian and military management with the Muslim Brotherhood take?
Steer clear of this climate ‘Ponzi scheme’
LAST winter, when carbon prices fell 15% in one week, industry analysts called it “carnage”. Then, in the fortnight before last month’s Durban climate summit, carbon prices fell more than 30%, with front-year European Union (EU) Allowance permits dropping below €8,50 a ton. And they have crashed even further since.
Bad-Judgment Jonathan Incites Public, Boko Haram
Questions remain about how well Nigeria’s government will manage public dissatisfaction, ethnic and religious divisions, and violent resistance from the Islamist Boko Haram movement.
Pollyanna of Peace?
Virtually everything we read in novels and newspapers, not to mention the video games we play and the Hollywood movies we watch, reminds us that we’re steeped in violence and that it’s only going to get worse.
Everything, that is, except Steven Pinker.
Is Disarmament to Proliferation as Spending Is to Austerity?
Disarming to prevent nuclear proliferation strikes some as counterintuitive as spending during an economic crisis instead of cutting spending.
The End of the Iraq War: the Proverbial Tree Falling in the Forest
The end of the Iraq War went largely unremarked upon by the American public.
In Signal to Israel and Iran, Obama Delays War Exercise
The exercise, called “Austere Challenge ’12” and originally scheduled for April, was to have been a simulation of a joint U.S.-Israeli effort to identify, track and intercept incoming missiles by integrating sophisticated U.S. radar systems with the Israeli Arrow, Patriot and Iron Dome anti-missile defence systems.