The news media should be including cautionary language any time information from an unnamed “Member State” is cited as the source for allegations about covert Iranian nuclear weapons work.
How The Media Got The Parchin Access Story Wrong
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Middle East & North Africa
Why Does the U.S. Think Iran Would Attack It if Israel Attacked Iran?
Iran may hold it against the United States if, even without U.S. participation, it’s attacked by Israel.
Qur’an Burning an Arson Attack on Islam
Nearly a decade into the Afghanistan war, foreign forces continue to demonstrate a fundamental lack of understanding of Islamic culture.
Newt Gingrich and the “Madman” Theory of International Relations
It takes an irrational actor to know one.
Syria: The Wrong Drum to Beat
The Obama administration’s opposition to arming the opposition in Syria appears to be weakening.
Iran Already Has a Strong Deterrent
The evidence that Iran is developing nuclear weapons doesn’t exist. But what if it did?
The Slide Toward War
Wars are fought because some people decide it is in their interests to fight them. World War I was not started over the Archduke Ferdinand’s assassination, nor was it triggered by the alliance system. An “incident” may set the stage for war, but no one keeps shooting unless they think it’s a good idea. The Great War started because the countries involved decided they would profit by it, delusional as that conclusion was.
As Always, Good News About Nukes Soon Eclipsed by the Bad
Important as preventing nuclear proliferation is, it’s second to nuclear risk.
Where
The message comes through aol.com, finds me off
balance in a small school in Jersey, snow
puffing down, no newspaper in sight.
Hi love, the message reads, thinking of you
in London, heart in Gaza.
Unsigned, I know the e-mail address like my own
name, reply too quickly, no words in the text, then
correct my mistake, love, I write, yes
heart in Gaza. I don’t know
what else to say.
Tunisia at a Crossroads
At exactly 1:02 pm on December 17, 2011 — one year to the minute that Mohammed Bouazizi lit the match that set both himself and the region aflame — a giant portrait of Zine Ben Ali was rolled out in downtown Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia, and burnt to the ground. In its place was raised a giant portrait of Bouazizi, marking the first celebration of his immolation as a national holiday.
But for all that has happened since Bouazizi’s act of rebellion, are the changes in Tunisia deep and enduring, or simply cosmetic? And where there has been real change, has it been for the better?