Patrick Lawrence
Menu
  • Biography
  • Books
  • Q&A’s
  • Archives
    • The Nation.
    • Salon
    • Alternet
    • Asia Times
    • Consortium News
    • CounterPunch
    • Raritan
    • ScheerPost
    • The Fiscal Times
    • The Floutist
    • The Scrum
    • The Washington Quarterly
    • Elsewhere
  • Journal
  • Appearances
  • The Mail
Browse: Home » Syria » Page 9
Barack Obama pulls a George W. Bush: Lies, misinformation and chemical weapons

Barack Obama pulls a George W. Bush: Lies, misinformation and chemical weapons

April 10, 2014 · by Patrick L. Smith · in Articles, Salon

Remember the almost-war in Syria last year? An amazing new report — which our media won’t touch — is a must read Am I misjudging our time, or have we entered some accelerated cycle of American subversions, and then another…

Obama Needs Putin to Salvage His Failed Syrian Strategy

Obama Needs Putin to Salvage His Failed Syrian Strategy

March 24, 2014 · by Patrick Smith · in Articles, The Fiscal Times

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…

Misinformation, disinformation, lies: Can the New York Times’ foreign coverage be trusted at all?

Misinformation, disinformation, lies: Can the New York Times’ foreign coverage be trusted at all?

January 16, 2014 · by Patrick L. Smith · in Articles, Salon

The Times walks back a story about Syria and chemical weapons, a reminder of the media’s complicity with power The big doings do not stop in the Middle East. We now have a deal on Iran’s nuclear program that anyone…

Why Iran Is Now Obama’s Best Middle East Bet

Why Iran Is Now Obama’s Best Middle East Bet

January 13, 2014 · by Patrick Smith · in Articles, The Fiscal Times

“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…

Washington hates real democracy: The reality is worse than anything Robert Gates suggests

Washington hates real democracy: The reality is worse than anything Robert Gates suggests

January 9, 2014 · by Patrick L. Smith · in Articles, Salon

It’s deeper than Gates’ new book: We’ve no control over events, but — dangerously — keep pretending we do The third anniversary of the Arab Spring is upon us. Three years ago next week Tunisians toppled the crooked regime of…

American empire is over: Somebody tell John Kerry!

American empire is over: Somebody tell John Kerry!

December 12, 2013 · by Patrick L. Smith · in Articles, Salon

New York Times embarrassingly praises Biden and Kerry’s sorrowful efforts, all unaware U.S. exceptionalism is dead We have made ourselves a navel-gazing folk, a little like Americans of the 19th century — until we lunged into the world by bravely…

Are Things Actually Looking Up in the Middle East?

Are Things Actually Looking Up in the Middle East?

October 21, 2013 · by Patrick Smith · in Articles, The Fiscal Times

It is only a faint outline—call it a pencil sketch—but the lines of a significantly remade Middle East are suddenly falling into place. We have to wait for the region’s leaders and the diplomats asserting the influence of interested outsiders…

Why Syria Is Obama’s Foreign Policy Proving Ground

Why Syria Is Obama’s Foreign Policy Proving Ground

September 16, 2013 · by Patrick Smith · in Articles, The Fiscal Times

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…

Let’s hope for an American defeat over Syria

Let’s hope for an American defeat over Syria

September 13, 2013 · by Patrick L. Smith · in Articles, Salon

It’s time to walk away from the deadly, irrational myth of American might The Syria crisis deepens not by the day but by the hour, and it delivers us to the threshold of a reality that will cause some to…

Obama’s Dithering, Dickering, Dire Foreign Policy

Obama’s Dithering, Dickering, Dire Foreign Policy

September 9, 2013 · by Patrick Smith · in Articles, The Fiscal Times

Last week was a stinging passage for President Obama as he tried and mostly failed to find support, at home and abroad, for his plan to bomb Syrian military facilities. Things will not improve for the beleaguered administration in days to…

← Previous 1 … 8 9 10 Next →

Search

Recent Pieces

  • Patrick Lawrence: Waves Upon the Sea of Silence May 17, 2025
  • PATRICK LAWRENCE: Diplomatic Chess, Ukraine the Pawn May 16, 2025
  • “Demolitions.” May 6, 2025
  • Patrick Lawrence: Germany in Crisis Part 4: Wanderers and Seekers May 6, 2025
  • Patrick Lawrence: Germany in Crisis Part 3: A Culture of Submission April 26, 2025

Tags

Ukraine Syria Obama American Empire China News Washington COMMENTARY Media Column Policy Europe Foreign Policy BIDEN ADMINISTRATION U.S. Israel Iran America Opinion New York Times Russia Politics Putin Economy Trump

Recent Comments

  • Mark Miller on “Report from Donbas.”
  • Tom Jackson on PATRICK LAWRENCE: Musk & the Myth of USAID
  • George on PATRICK LAWRENCE: Blinded to Syria
  • Carl Zaisser on Sharmine Narwani on the end of the Syrian war and the “post-imperial Middle East”
  • Randy Laird on Patrick Lawrence: Shall We Celebrate, the World Being as It Is?

Archives

About Patrick Lawrence

Writer, commentator, longtime newspaper and magazine correspondent abroad. Writes often on Europe and Asia. Published five books.

Connect

Please feel free to Contact me to arrange lectures, commissions, or reprint rights, or simply as a reader.




Sustain the work via Patreon.

Become a Patron


You can also follow me on Twitter.

Follow @thefloutist

Recent pieces

  • Patrick Lawrence: Waves Upon the Sea of Silence May 17, 2025
  • PATRICK LAWRENCE: Diplomatic Chess, Ukraine the Pawn May 16, 2025
  • “Demolitions.” May 6, 2025

Publications

  • Appearances
  • Articles
    • Alternet
    • Asia Times
    • Consortium News
    • CounterPunch
    • Elsewhere
    • Independent
    • Raritan
    • Salon
    • ScheerPost
    • The Fiscal Times
    • The Floutist
    • The Nation.
    • The Scrum
    • The Washington Quarterly
  • Cú Chulainn
  • Featured
  • Uncategorized
​​This site is published in honor of Sheila and the late Chalmers Johnson.

Copyright © 2025 Patrick Lawrence. Designed by Blue Anchor Design.