President Trump’s decision last week that he will pull the United States out of the Iran nuclear agreement was the latest in a series of reckless decisions that move our country closer to conflict. By reimposing nuclear sanctions on Iran and withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, otherwise known...
Trump Backs Out of Iran Nuclear Deal. What's Next?
Thanks to Donald Trump, the hard-won deal that set up a process to end Iran’s nuclear weapons programme is on its deathbed. After weeks of entreaties and visits from his counterparts in the other states that signed the accord, Trump has announced that the US will be withdrawing from it...
Backed by Israel & Saudis, Trump Wants To Break Iranian Regime
David E. Sanger, one of the best reporters on the planet, provides insight into what motived President Trump to pull the plug on the Iran nuclear agreement Tuesday. "For President Trump and two of the allies he values most — Israel and Saudi Arabia — the problem of the Iranian...
Is Trump Playing Right Into Putin's Hands?
By Robert J. Pranger During the week of May 7th, President Vladimir Putin is likely enjoying the start of his fourth term as president of Russia. I use the term “enjoying” with some confidence because, compared with his friend in the White House, it must feel like paradise in Moscow...
Nobel Peace Prize Winner Calls For Regime Change in Iran
Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian human right lawyer and the first Muslim woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, is calling for regime change in her home country. "Reform is useless in Iran," Ebadi said in an April 5 interview published at BloombergView. It's the first time the prominent dissident...
Who Exactly is John Bolton? And What Does He Want?
President Donald Trump’s announcement March 22 that John Bolton would become the new national security adviser took the policy world – and Bolton – by surprise. Bolton’s hawkish views are well known. During his run as a Fox News commentator, he advocated for preemptively bombing North Korea and at other...
If Netanyahu Exits, Things Could Quickly Get Complicated in Israel
Benjamin Netanyahu has dominated Israeli politics for more than two decades. Soon he could be forced from office due to several police investigations on corruption and influence-peddling. If that happens, it will surely complicate Israeli-American relations. Netanyahu, who adamantly denies any wrongdoing, has survived several police investigations in the past...
Tillerson's Firing and Pompeo's Rise Make Mideast War More Likely
After U.S. president Donald Trump fired his secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, many analysts have focused on how this high-level ouster took place: unceremoniously, on Twitter, not in a face-to-face meeting. As a former Middle East analyst at the State Department, though, I think the real drama of replacing America’s...
Chaotic Middle East Puts World at Risk
Although the drumbeat of news reports may give the impression that much of the world is in crisis, the reality is quite the opposite, according to Washington Post columnist Fareed Zakaria. In his Friday, Feb. 16 post, Zakaria notes, "In almost every part of the world, economies are growing and...
Chaotic Middle East Puts World at Risk
Although the drumbeat of news reports may give the impression that much of the world is in crisis, the reality is quite the opposite, according to Washington Post columnist Fareed Zakaria. In his Friday, Feb. 16 post, Zakaria notes, "In almost every part of the world, economies are growing and...