John Bolton, fresh from suggesting military action in Somalia, said today (on Fox) that not only would Israel likely act on Iran before the end of the year, but it’s the best option since diplomacy hasn’t worked. No wonder Republicans find themselves in the wilderness. As to Mr. Bolton’s reaction to Iran’s offer on nuclear [...]
Tag Archives | diplomacy
When Iran Thinks of Afghanistan, Think U.S. Battles with Mexico over Drugs
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Clinton to Hold Digital Townhall of the Americas
Summit of the Americas is coming up April 17-19. Secretary Clinton is holding a digital townhall on April 17th from the Dominican Republic. From DipNote: Digital Town Hall of the Americas will be streamed live on the Department of State’s Social Media Hub for the Fifth Summit of Americas (http://townhall.howcast.com/), powered by Howcast. Content will [...]
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Twitter Liveblogging: Cuba
TM NOTE & UPDATE: The plugin that allows me to liveblog via Twitter is created and designed by Mash, via @thisismash. Great thanks to him, someone who has offered many foreign policy posts for me, focusing on Central Asia. Great plugin. Incredibly valuable to my continued foreign policy reporting. 8:57:28 AM: New America Foundation forum [...]
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Obama Shifts U.S. Cuba Policy
Well, Obama finally made the move, easing restrictions on Cuba, plus giving a little help to the telecoms dealing with Cuban telecoms. Humanitarian issues are also in the mix. Long overdue, but there’s a long way to go. We’re already hearing voices stuck in the past that it’s a big mistake, aka some Republicans are [...]
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Obama’s Nixon to China Moment on Iran
Once again Richard Cohen provides foundational reality: I think it’s almost certainly too late to stop Iran achieving virtual nuclear power status — something like Brazil’s or Japan’s mastery of the know-how without a weapon. Iran’s advances of the past eight years cannot be undone. What can be transformed is the context Iran operates in; [...]
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‘Peace Deal’ in Swat Region Called Off
First I’d have to ask if you can call anything a “peace deal” if it sacrifices women on its altar. You know my answer to that one. Secondly, if you break your promises of “peace” through kidnappings, police murders and general civic mayhem, why should anyone care if you call of the “peace deal”? Then [...]
Iran Overtures as American Roxana Saberi Charged with Espionage
Joining in on nuclear discussions with Iran is now a reality. This has been coming since Richard Holbrooke had the recent exchange. Since tomorrow is Iran’s “National Nuclear Day”, the irony on this one is thick. The Obama administration said Wednesday that the United States for the first time would participate regularly with other global [...]
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Global Outrage Over Karzai Rape Law Brings Change
President Karzai underestimated the global attention that legalizing rape in Afghanistan would cause. Karzai’s rape law has now been put on hold. Being a signatore of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights means something. Especially when you have the American President calling you out openly, as Barack Obama did by calling Karzai’s rape law “abhorrent.” [...]
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Ask a Stupid Question…
Get a stupid answer. Rasmussen and Politico doing a tag team on North Korea. Rasmussen asks the question (h/t Democracy Arsenal), with Politico setting up Newt Gingrich pretty well in their “Voters back force in N. Korea” headline on the polling. In what seemed to be a swipe at the Obama administration’s response, he warned, [...]
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Hannity Hate Speech Sure to Grow as Obama Reaches Out to Muslims
Barack Hussein Obama in Turkey today does what no other American president could do by virtue of his background and who he is. But the sheer act alone of reaching out to this Muslim nation is certain to drive the Hannity hate speech crowd to further ends of division and derision. Even as a new [...]
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It Isn’t Just About Israel and Iran
North Korea’s launch is the backdrop, but in the conversation on nuclear proliferation this isn’t just about Netanyahu’s bluster, and Ahmadinejad’s ambitions in the face of little proof of manifestations as yet. It’s also about Russian loose nukes, as well as the underground market that Pakistan let run unchecked so long, the tensions yo-yoing with [...]
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Hail To The Chief
In one visit, President Obama turned the page from the Bush-Cheney era of cowboy leadership to one that acknowledges that in the 21st century we cannot go it alone. Merkel of Germany and Sarcozy of France went from promising disgruntlement to giving credit where it’s earned: Both credited the new U.S. president with helping to [...]
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Obama Unites France and China
At the end of this day, President Barack Obama will have some serious points on the board. The House passed his budget, give or take a billion or two, with the Senate likely to pass it later tonight. On top of that was a G-20 summit that was not so notable for the $1 trillion [...]
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The Cool Customer at Defense
Robert Gates has been around a very long time. He made his bones during William Casey’s days in Afghanistan, when the C.I.A. director was running his own little covert war. In 1985, under Casey, Afghans “began cross-border operations into the Soviet Union itself,” according to Steve Coll’s Ghost Wars (pg. 104). Being Casey’s executive assistant [...]
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Petraeus Takes Netanyahu Seriously
In a hearing today in front of the Armed Services Committee, US military’s Central Command David Petraeus stated he believes Mr. Netanyahu is serious about Iranian threats against Israel and is prepared to act. … “the Israeli government may ultimately see itself so threatened by the prospect of an Iranian nuclear weapon that it would [...]
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