Before we get cynical about 2014, let’s recount the good news from 2013: declining U.S. militarism, a resurgence of diplomacy, and a more forceful global discussion about inequality.
Reasons To Be Cheerful
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diplomacy
Ten Good Things about 2013
2013 had its fair share of bad news, but it was also a year of extraordinary activism.
Hope, History, and Unpredictability
A meditation on history and the long arc of justice.
Why Israel Won’t Abide Any Iran Nuclear Accord
With or without nuclear weapons, Iran and its allies are the chief impediments to Israeli hegemony in the Middle East.
The U.S. Cuba Embargo: Making Diplomacy Impossible
The Obama administration says it wants to improve U.S. ties with Cuba, but its own policies are preventing the country from keeping its diplomatic facilities open.
Iranian Nuclear Deal: Hardliners Despair, Pragmatists Rejoice
The six-month interim agreement between Iran and the P5+1 powers will echo through the decades if it can bring Washington and Tehran in from the cold.
How We Got Here: A History of Missed Opportunities with Iran
Iran has been willing to deal for at least a decade. Why are there still calls for more sanctions?
Congress vs. Obama on Iran
Hardliners in Tehran are not happy with the recent rapprochement between the United States and Iran and the related progress in negotiations to address Western concerns about the Iranian nuclear program. But the bigger threat may come from hardliners in the...
Is Diplomacy, Not War, Finally on the March in the Middle East?
The Middle East is normally a depressing topic of conversation with talk of ongoing wars, repressive governments, ethnic violence, and terrorist attacks. Yet two of the region’s most troublesome challenges (Syria and Iran) are on diplomatic tracks toward peaceful...
Collapsism
When small children want something to go away, they close their eyes. Poof! The monster disappears. The spoonful of spinach vanishes. The spilled milk evaporates. Except that they don’t. U.S policymakers indulge in a similar variety of child’s play called collapsism....