At Stake in Climate Talks: America’s Global Leadership Role
The final week of climate negotiations begins today and a lot is at stake. Of the 195 nations in attendance, two have more to gain or lose than any others. One of these is the Marshall Islands. Anebok, one of…
The Abe-Obama Trans-Pacific Trade Deal Is in Trouble
The Trans-Pacific Partnership, until recently background noise for many Americans, is about to become another field of battle in Washington. As of last week, when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe concluded an unusually long state visit, we’re on notice: This…
Obama’s Deals with Cuba, Iran, TPP Split Congress
Ia single week, two interesting Congressional bills caught my attention. On Tuesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted unanimously to send a bill to the floor requiring President Obama to subject any deal reached with Iran governing its nuclear program…
Iran’s Trade Deals: Will the US Miss the Boat?
It is hard to find anything Israelis and Iranians agree upon, but they now hold one truth in common: The sanctions imposed on Tehran in mid–2010 over its opaque nuclear program are crumbling. Executives and state-enterprise bureaucrats from Beijing to…
Why 2015 Will Make or Break a Spate of Global Alliances
U.S., Russia, Iran, China, Europe all face loyalty tests Call it the “Year of Tenuous Ties” as new alliances take shape Obama has to rethink his approach to both Russia and China Last January this column nominated 2014 as “the…
How China and Russia Out-Maneuvered Obama in Asia
President Obama brought a climate agreement back from his trip to Beijing last week, and Democrats and the media advertise it as a triumphant step in the U.S.-China relationship. At the weekend, he was in Brisbane for a G-20 meeting…
The Mess Obama Made on the Way to the So-Called Ceasefire in Ukraine
Assuming the ceasefire declared in Ukraine as of sundown Friday holds—and the early signs are favorable—we celebrate the end of a conflict that has claimed a startling 2,600 lives since it broke out in April. But not so fast. It’s…
Why Iran Is Now Obama’s Best Middle East Bet
“What are we supposed to do now?” pundits and policymakers ask these days. The full question being, “What now that the Middle East spins like a dervish and the Obama administration has lost its grip on every major issue in…
Why Kerry’s Iran Deal Will Hold Up
Secretary of State Kerry pulled off a hat trick in Sunday’s pre-dawn hours, when six world powers and Iran announced an interim deal in Geneva on the latter’s nuclear program. Kerry was all over the Sunday morning talk shows, soft-pedaling…
How Secret How Secret Global Trade Talks Can Destroy the InternetGlobal Trade Talks Can Destroy the Internet
Talks on the two biggest trade agreements in history are reaching critical stages, and none of us knows anything about them. Like it or not, this is ignorance by design: Months of negotiations across both oceans have proceeded in secret,…
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