America’s ‘Grand Chessboard’ Breeds Destruction in Ukraine and Beyond
March 3, 2014
Writing in the Boston Globe about the U.S.-Russian jockeying in Ukraine, Stephen Kinzer has it exactly right: From the moment the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the United States has relentlessly pursued a strategy of encircling Russia, just as it has with other perceived enemies like China and Iran. It has brought 12 countries in […]
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Heard the One About Obama Denouncing a Breach of International Law?
March 3, 2014
International law is suddenly very popular in Washington. President Obama responded to Russian military intervention in the Crimea by accusing Russia of a "breach of international law." Secretary of State John Kerry followed up by declaring that Russia is "in direct, overt violation of international law." Unfortunately, during the last five years, no world leader […]
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This Is Something John Kerry Actually Said
March 2, 2014
This is something Secretary of State John Kerry actually said. It is not from The Onion: “You just don’t in the 21st century behave in 19th century fashion by invading another country on completely trumped up pretext.” He was criticizing Russia’s incursions into Crimea and Ukraine. But the condemnation apparently did not strike him as […]
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Jim Lobe: Blackballed by AIPAC?
February 28, 2014
Originally published at LobeLog, reprinted with permission. In my 30 years as the Washington DC bureau chief for Inter Press Service, only one institution has denied me admission to their press or public events. That was the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) shortly after the broadcast in 2003 of a BBC Panorama program (its equivalent, more […]
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Netanyahu Wrong on Iraq, Wrong on Iran
February 28, 2014
The Bibi who cried wolf:
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Kerry Was Right the First Time: America Is Not ‘Retreating’ Into ‘Isolationism’
February 27, 2014
Report from Thursday, February 26, 2014 (today): U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry decried what he called a “new isolationism” in the United States on Wednesday and suggested that the country was beginning to behave like a poor nation. Speaking to reporters, Kerry inveighed against what he sees as a tendency within the United States […]
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Ukraine, Crimea, and Washington’s Pointless Geo-Political Contest With Russia
February 27, 2014
In response to the revolution in Ukraine, Moscow has ordered a 150,000-troop Russian military exercise in the semi-autonomous region of Crimea, right on Ukraine’s border. Amid the commotion, pro and anti- Russian residents residents of Crimea have protested. Dmitri Trenin and Andrew S. Weiss at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace give a brief primer on […]
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China Hawks Walk the Line on Advocating War
February 26, 2014
Writing at The National Interest, Robert Haddick, an independent contractor with U.S. Special Operations Command, welcomes “getting tough” on China. He argues that Washington has been too accommodating to China’s regional ambitions and has thus failed to provide a military deterrent to China’s rise. “Heretofore, the U.S. has pursued a policy of forbearance with China,” Haddick […]
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The US Has No Legitimacy on Venezuela
February 26, 2014
The U.S. State Department announced yesterday that it was expelling three Venezuelan diplomats after “similar action against three U.S. consular officials in Caracas.” When nations expel diplomats from their respective countries, it is an indication tensions are somewhat serious. The media here in the U.S. has covered the protests in Venezuela predictably by portraying the post-Chavez […]
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Obama’s Broken Promise to Shift Drone War to Defense Department
February 26, 2014
At the National Journal, Michael Hirsh reports: It’s been more than a year since incoming CIA Director John Brennan signaled his intention to shift drone warfare to the Pentagon as soon as possible. Brennan, a career spook, was said to be determined to restore the agency to its roots as an espionage factory, not a […]
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