Emphasis, as always, added.
Emphasis Added: The Foreign Policy Week in Pieces (5/17)
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Middle East & North Africa
Trouble on the Other Side of the Euphrates
Spurred on by the deaths of hundreds of Iraqi civilians each month this year, and by persistent complains about the government’s poor performance and rising authoritarianism, Iraqi demonstrators are now taking matters into their own hands. With ever louder chants of effective governance from certain sectors of the country, what Iraq may be going through is its own version of the Arab Spring movement—smaller and less universal, but equally empowering to those who are in the middle of it.
Despite Horrific Repression, the U.S. Should Stay Out of Syria
The question on the mind of almost everyone who has followed the horror in Syria as it has unfolded over the past two years is, “What we can do?” The short answer, unfortunately, is not much.
In Tehran, All Eyes on North Korea
North Korea’s nuclear weapons and Iran’s purported nuclear ambitions are the subject of constant speculation by Western pundits. However, the connection between the two is often overlooked. Although Northeast Asia and the Middle East are home to different geopolitical realities, the resolution of tensions on the Korean peninsula will almost certainly influence calculations made in Washington and Tehran regarding the Iranian nuclear program.
Syria: Great Game or Just a Tug of War?
None of the sides is close to a decisive military victory.
Next Step for Assad — Exile to a Rump State?
What does Syria plan to do, if anything, about Israeli air strikes?
The U.S. and Chemical Weapons: No Leg to Stand On
If, as alleged, the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons, it would indeed be a serious development, constituting a breach of the Geneva Protocol of 1925, one of the world’s most important disarmament treaties, which banned the use of chemical weapons. However, U.S. policy regarding chemical weapons has been so inconsistent and politicized that the United States is in no position to take leadership in response to any use of such weaponry by Syria.
Emphasis Added: The Foreign Policy Week in Pieces (5/2)
Emphasis, as always, added.
Emphasis Added: The Foreign Policy Week in Pieces (4/26)
Emphasis, as always, added.
R.S. Zaharna
Dr. R.S. Zaharna is a professor in the School of Communication at American University whose research focuses on Arab cultural communication patterns, intercultural and international public communication, and public diplomacy.