Syrians lined up today to vote in what was billed by government and allied media outlets as the first multi-candidate election under the Assad family rule. In the run up to the June 3 polls the regime of Bashar al-Assad undertook a savvy public relations campaign to present the incumbent as the sole guarantor of […]
When President Obama took to the stage to address West Point’s Class of 2014 on Wednesday morning, the leader of the free world sought to lay out a vision for a post-Iraq and post-Afghanistan American foreign policy. In doing so, he also looked to address his domestic and international critics — those who have pointed […]
Let’s be honest, foreign policy making has never been democratic. The label of national security has offered governments around the world the power to hide information from their citizens. Aside from this statement, the making of American foreign policy has completely shifted since 9/11. Not only this shift was abrupt and made under intense emotional stress, but […]
Eric Margolis is an American-born award-winning and internationally syndicated columnist. With three decades of reporting from the world’s hotspots in the Middle East, Southwest and Central Asia, Mr. Margolis is considered a veteran of many conflicts. His articles have appeared in major Western and Asian newspapers. Mr. Margolis is also a regular contributor to major […]
The recent tensions between the Obama administration and Israel are based upon cultural misunderstandings. If U.S. decision makers understood Israeli culture and mentality, Ya’alon’s statements would not be so offensive to them. A basic understanding of Israeli culture by U.S. decision makers could enhance Israeli-American relations. Last week, Samantha Quint wrote an article for the […]
If the 20th century was about an ideological fight between market-economy versus Communism, the 21st could very much be about liberal democracy versus imperialism. This could be the very lesson of Russia’s invasion of Crimea. Power politics is – even though it has never disappeared – now a reality that the EU and the U.S. […]
On Friday, we will look back on the 50 years since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and how that tragic event in Dallas changed history. Also, on Friday, Morocco’s King Mohammed VI will pay a state visit to Washington, D.C. and meet with President Barack Obama to look forward at how both our nations […]
When the average American is asked how much of the federal budget they believe is allocated to foreign aid, the response is 25 percent — twenty-five times the current amount. When Americans are surveyed on how much funding they believe should be allocated to foreign aid, the response is 10 percent. In reality, USAID comprises less than […]
The snowball effect of the Snowden revelations is finally picking up. Between the revelations of the National Security Agency eavesdropping on Merkel’s cellphone and massive collection of European citizens’ emails and phone calls (as demonstrated by the illustration below), Europeans are furious and have been asking questions to a reluctant Obama administration. US Secretary of […]
Chicago is the murder capital of America. Why? Because in Chicago, drugs rule. Which is the same thing as saying Joachim “El Chapo” Guzman rules. Is this news? NPR seems to think so — in a recent interview, NPR’s Steve Inskeep asks Bloomberg reporter John Lippert if “El Chapo” Guzman, the leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa […]
After a two-week marathon, wherein the world was expecting military strikes against Syria in order to punish the Assad regime, the situation is finally settling down. Two reasons behind this abrupt shift from missiles to diplomacy: Russia and western public opinions. First, Russia, a close Syrian ally, has been trying to avoid any sort […]
Editor’s Note: The following interview with Gary Sick and John Mearsheimer was conducted by Arash Azizi. Mr. Azizi is an Iranian-born journalist based in London, U.K. His work has appeared in many publications in Canada and Iran, including the Toronto Star, Macleans, Dominion, Shahrvand, Sharq, Aseman, Merhname and Kargozaran. Mr. Azizi was International Editor for […]
The last plan to solve the Syrian war could certainly lead to a positive outcome – as diplomacy is always better than force – but raises serious problems: does the Euro-Atlantic community have any idea of what it want to accomplish in Syria? What is the end game in Syria? Does the West want to […]
The people of the Central African Republic (CAR) may be left to fend for themselves. Despite the increasingly dire humanitarian crisis emerging in the country, conflict in other countries may overshadow the situation so much that the country will be left to its fate. Scores of people were killed on September 9 amidst new clashes […]
As tension mounts after Syria’s alleged—though clearly evident—use of chemical weapons to systematically slaughter civilians, outreach against the regime emerged most vocally from the White House and State Department, as well as their counterparts across Europe. Some voices — namely those from China and Russia — are, as expected, silent or deflecting criticism from the […]