Ukraine’s Second Front: Obama and Kerry Are Now at War With Europe
The Obama administration appears to be spinning the Ukraine crisis out of control and doing serious damage to trans-Atlantic relations all at once. Tensions between Europe and the U.S. over how to address the year-old crisis in Ukraine have simmered…
A U.S. Deal with Iran Could Reset the Balance of Mideast Power
Memo to Secretary of State Kerry: Mr. Secretary, When you arrived in Oman over the weekend to resume talks on Iran’s nuclear program, you must’ve known your pass-or-fail moment is on the line. The deadline for a deal is November…
For Israel, a Victory That Will Prove Short-Lived
The Mideast peace talks Secretary of State Kerry staked his tenure upon have crashed; and to state the instantly obvious: Israel emerges from this debacle in a position of strength. Does a near-term tactical advantage assure strategic success in the…
Federalizing Ukraine Gives Putin Exactly What He Wants
Whatever anyone may think of Vladimir Putin, there is no longer any denying his mastery of statecraft. The Russian president’s gifts for surprise and exploiting the mistakes of those set against him, evident all along in the Ukraine crisis, now…
Obama Needs Putin to Salvage His Failed Syrian Strategy
Now that Russia’s annexation of Crimea is an accomplished fact, the Ukraine conversation, is all about consequences. And there will be a lot of them, intended or otherwise. In coming weeks how many fall to Moscow and how many to…
How the White House Is Blowing Off Europe
The Obama administration needs to declare a “pivot to Europe” policy, and quickly. Not that the famous pivot to Asia has amounted to much: It drifts somewhere in the Pacific like a dead fish. But relations between the U.S. and…
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…
Why Syria Is Obama’s Foreign Policy Proving Ground
It is getting hard to count all the surprises arising from the Syrian crisis. And there are more coming. Outcomes unthinkable even a week ago can now be responsibly imagined—and pursued. Atop this columnist’s wish list: (1) Relations between Washington…
Obama’s Red Line in Syria Was Drawn in Pencil
Suddenly, the Syria crisis has grown more complicated for the US—and notably for the Obama administration. After many months of staying scrupulously clear of a conflict that has now claimed 80,000 Syrian lives, it looks as though the White House…
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