November 2011
2 posts
7 tags
The next step in our Iran policy
Talk of attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities is springing up again, on the heels of two major developments: one is an an IAEA report on the progress of the nuclear program, and the other is a column by Israeli journalist Nahum Barnea outlining the debate in Israel’s security establishment over whether to attack.
This has forced the question in Washington: What is the next step once our...
3 tags
A convenient guide to Paul Pillar's commentary on...
It is with increasing frustration that I see Paul Pillar continually rant against those who consider Iran a dangerous country. I am stunned how frequently he writes about the topic, all without addressing the most important development in Iranian politics — the consolidation of political power behind Supreme Leader Khamenei and the Revolutionary Guards. His posts resemble each other so much...
October 2011
8 posts
12 tags
A moral narrative to progressivism to counter the...
In 1979, Margaret Thatcher was elected Prime Minister of the UK. Her election was a triumph for British Tories, the modern heirs to the classical conservatism of Edmund Burke. Though Thatcher is compared to Ronald Reagan, and modern American conservatives try at all costs to invoke Reagan’s legacy, the truth is that Thatcher and the Tea Party are worlds apart. Ironically, it is liberalism...
4 tags
People (unwittingly) think Obama's economic...
4 tags
Iran's nuke program see-sawing back in our favor?
Extrapolating the course of Iran’s progress in constructing an atomic weapon is pretty hard to do. A year ago, everyone in the counter-proliferation world was buzzing about the potentially game-changing effects of the Stuxnet virus, with speculation that Iran’s nuclear program was all but kaput. Then, just months later, came reports that Stuxnet merely caused a mild hassle, and that...
6 tags
A new direction for Israel's public diplomacy
A couple of weeks ago, I had the chance to speak with a respected expert at a Washington-area Middle East think tank about regional events. (He did not know that his comments might end up on the Internet, so I will not mention his name.) I asked him about the Netanyahu government’s lack of strategic direction in the recent months, an issue which has the unfortunate effect of both making...
5 tags
Blogger: Palestinains claim getting a 100,000%...
The normally astute analysis at the Camel’s Nose Blog has instead left me baffled today with a post on the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange:
Outside of Israel, including here in Washington, there are those who have made the argument that the deal is indicative of a double-standard on Israel’s part. The argument is that Israel devalues Palestinian life as evidenced by the 1027:1...
7 tags
Processing the strange Iranian terrorist plot
Quite understandably, various commentators are trying to make sense of an absurd plan by Iran’s IRGC to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. Spencer Ackerman thinks it sounds like it “passed through a bull’s digestive tract.” And the Iranian government, innovators of the conspiracy theory, believe the story was concocted to distract people from the Occupy Wall...
6 tags
Is this man ready to be president?
According to Herman Cain, Uzbekistan is a small, insignificant country that is not vital to American security interests.
Now, it’s OK not to know immediately that the president of Uzbekistan is Islam Karimov. Still, it’s best not to dismiss a country’s importance simply because you haven’t read up on it. Uzbekistan, as it turns out, is an important supply route to troops...
4 tags
Negotiating with a divided Iran is no good
It’s impossible to really understand Iran’s diplomatic policy without first understanding its internal politics. But some observers are skipping that crucial step as they search for ways to end the deadlock over Iran’s nuclear program.
In one recent story at The Diplomat, Richard Dreyfuss takes a relatively nuanced look at the possibilities for discussion:
It’s not easy...
September 2011
3 posts
11 tags
Is Israel blameless for its woes? Not quite.
Yossi Klein Halevi, writing from Jerusalem in The New Republic, shows what happens when Israel is once again under the world’s microscope. The tendency on the part of Israel supporters is to line up in defense of the outnumbered nation. More often than not — and this is no exception — outrage directed against Israel by the world community is done largely out of convenience,...
8 tags
Washington falls under the spell of an Iranian...
Iran presents a serious challenge to American foreign policy, with only bad options (sanctions and containment) and worse options (use of military force) on the table. The worst of all options is to follow the lead of a growing circle in Washington who think the magic bullet to the Iran issue is a “reformed” terrorist-insurgent cult known as Mujahedin-e-Khalq, or MeK. They have...
6 tags
Pity the rich
Jacob Heilbrunn wants to know, “Why Does Obama Keep Trying to Raise Taxes?“ Since I don’t have the energy to engage the obvious discussion about a giant budget shortfall that can’t be addressed solely by spending cuts, there’s one little comment Heilbrunn makes that’s indicative of some common confuson over the tax system:
In pursuing this policy, Obama is...
August 2011
6 posts
7 tags
Bibi Netanyahu is not a leader
George W. Bush left an unfortunate model of “leadership” by which American conservatives today judge leaders. That model consists of talking tough, shooting without asking questions, and denying you did anything wrong when criticized. Of course, Bush was kinder to himself. For example, at the very end of the second presidential debate in 2004, Bush was asked by the moderator if he...
7 tags
The unapproachable Martin Luther King, Jr.
I was raised to believe that Martin Luther King, Jr. believed in the natural equality of all people and peoples. Then the Chinese government pulled a fast one on us and put their own perverse mark on Dr. King’s legacy. They provided $25 million to the project and in exchange were given essentially free rein on its design and construction. Hence the selection of Lei Yixin, sculptor of such...
7 tags
Nukes, huh? What are they good for?
I understand and agree with the argument that the U.S. needs nuclear weapons. What I don’t get is the idea, as Adam Lowther argues in The National Interest, that we need more nukes. Not only does he argue against decreasing our stockpile, he also wants an increased role for nukes in American foreign policy. He criticizes the idea of “minimum deterrence,” or the idea that the U.S....
3 tags
Delayed damage caused by the Citizens United...
Remember the flap over President Obama’s State of the Union in 2010, when he criticized the Citizens United v. FEC Supreme Court case? The ruling held that corporations were entitled to unlimited campaign contributions, since monetary contributions are a form of political speech (according to the Court). Obama said to Congress,
With all due deference to separation of powers, last week the...
4 tags
“Netanyahu and I, we are looking at the region, we see the same issues, we see...”
– Tzipi Livni, to Jeffrey Goldberg, recognizing the danger and folly of Netanyahu’s passivity.
8 tags
"Greater Israel" makes an unwelcome comeback
You’ve probably heard the phrase “pre-9/11 world” before. But have you heard “pre-First Intifada world” before? Probably not, because I think I just invented it. Though a bit clunky-sounding, the phrase quite accurately depicts the current mindset of the Israeli and American Zionist right wing.
Hussein Ibish of the American Task Force on Palestine recently wrote a...
July 2011
2 posts
6 tags
The wrath of China: one more reason to raise the...
Picking up on a story from last month, I’d like to look at a couple points on U.S.-China relations. First, there’s this:
New economic analyses of China provide further indication that the nation’s supercharged economy is beginning to slow, and warn that soaring inflation, rising labor costs and mounting local government debt threaten to weaken growth even more. [snip]
Since the...
Changes at The Compendium
Starting today, all my blogging on sports will be featured on a new Tumblr blog, The Outside Corner. If you’re reading The Compendium for sports analysis, I’d recommend moving there. My old entries on sports have been deleted from this blog, but they have been posted chronologically on the new one.
The Compendium will resume its main focus on world events.
Carry on!
June 2011
4 posts
4 tags
The great irony of anti-Semitic political cartoons
Eventually, the ubiquity of these cartoons ends up leading to one actor indicting himself of the Jews’ crimes unknowingly. Thanks to MEMRI, we can look at a couple of standard cartoons for the genre from the past couple of days. The first is Iran’s Fars news agency, which is close to the Revolutionary Guards, showing Saudi King Abdullah pretty clearly as a Jew/Zionist agent. The second...
6 tags
What's new with Salaam Fayyad these days?
Two related stories in the news recently caught my eye. First, Israel Central Bank governor Stanley Fischer’s bid to head the International Monetary Fund picked up the endorsement of Salaam Fayyad, who’d worked at the IMF for years before entering Palestinian politics. He commented that Fischer is “supremely qualified for the job. Indeed, it’s difficult to see how one can...
6 tags
Calling all Israel advocates! Danger ahead!
I’m fairly unhappy with the pro-Israel community in the United States. (I refuse to blame simply the “lobby,” for it assigns the pro-Israel community too much coordination and ignores non-expert opinions.) Many of the people with whom I’ve sided in the past (positions I do not renounce) appear dreadfully shortsighted these days. They have fallen for Bibi’s act,...
5 tags
Jon Huntsman: could he have a conscience?
I’m stunned at the courageous and correct stand Jon Huntsman is taking by not campaigning in Iowa:
“I’m not competing in Iowa for a reason. I don’t believe in subsidies that prop up corn, soybeans and ethanol,” Huntsman said, according to multiple news sources at the event.
Huntsman, the former ambassador to China, continued, “I think they destroy the global...
May 2011
9 posts
3 tags
Who is Obama working for?
Let’s let the Internet chime in on the real story behind Barack Obama:
Obama is a CIA agent.
Obama is Muslim.
Obama is Jewish.
Obama is a communist revolutionary.
Obama is a “socialist fascist communist.”
Obama is a lizard reptile alien.
Obama is a British citizen.
Obama is a murderer and is homosexual.
Obama is a Satan-worshipper.
Obama is a Freemason.
Pretty crazy,...
Likud chutzpanim in high gear
I really don’t understand how some Israeli leaders fail to think how their words are perceived abroad. For instance, saying something like this requires a fair amount of chutzpah:
A Palestinian state established within 1967 borders would leave too many Israelis beyond Israel’s official borders, Netanyahu’s top security advisor said on Sunday, adding that Israel was determined...
8 tags
Trading Af-Pak for India
This is the third in an occasional series of alternative analyses at The Compendium. Read parts 1 and 2 here.
As you might have gleaned from the headlines, the U.S.-Pakistan relationship is in trouble. Early this month, President Obama ordered a raid deep inside Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden, after years of Pakistani officials claiming the arch-terrorist was in Afghanistan. With rampant...
3 tags
The implacable Zionist right and the 1967 borders
Bibi Netanyahu must believe the year is 1985. There’s no other reason he could be surprised that an American president would endorse a Palestinian state whose borders would be based on the 1967 boundaries.
Here’s the key sentence: “We believe the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps.” This is actually a fine way of...
3 tags
Hamas fooling gullible Westerners
I would change one word in the following lede from an AP story:
Hamas, the Islamic militant group known for suicide bombings, rocket attacks and hatred of Israel, is sending subtle signals of moderation as it prepares to join a Palestinian unity government.
The word I would change is “subtle.” It’s true that these signals are not bold, but there are two other adjectives that fit even better —...
6 tags
Embers in Southeast Asia
As if the battle between moderate and radical Muslims needed another hotspot, there are warning signs emerging in Southeast Asia. Malaysia, which traditionally has a good track record of integrating Muslims and Christians, has faced unease this year. For instance:
Malaysia’s government sought to defuse new religious tensions Monday following allegations that church leaders were conspiring...
1 tag
In defense of celebrating the death of bin Laden
I will admit to two things: First that I attended the spontaneous White House rally after the death of bin Laden, and second that I was suppressing some doubt over the wisdom of having such a rally.
Smart friends of mine pointed out that a feeling of joy was natural, but making a spectacle was perhaps a bit too much. One friend said the images reminded her of Libyans celebrating the return of...
6 tags
Helicopter crashes and the presidency
Reading William Dobson’s article in The New Republic, which points out the death of the “Carter” tag to Obama’s foreign policy, I am reminded again of the randomness that guides presidential approval ratings, and subsequently reputations.
Jimmy Carter’s image as being weak was formed by a number of unhappy events, but the most embarrassing was Operation Eagle Claw...
6 tags
The wicked witch is dead
Some first thoughts on the momentous news.
1. Abbottabad? Bin Laden was killed in a compound in a city only 30 miles from Islamabad, the Pakistani capital. This runs counter to the conventional wisdom that he would be located in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) that line the border with Afghanistan. In fact, Abbottabad is closer to India than to Afghanistan. Bin Laden might have had...
April 2011
5 posts
3 tags
The challenge of connecting IR theory to policy
In a discussion on the utility of international relations theory to policymakers, Justin Logan defends neorealism (or “structural realism”) as a useful approach, countering a simple critique:
There’s nothing you can do. Ride the structural wave. Let it buffet you. You have no free will. No one will remember you anyhow.
I think this misses what structural realism could...
8 tags
Snatching defeat from the jaws of statehood
Fatah and Hamas have signed a sure-to-be-temporary unity government, adding yet more complications to Israeli-Palestinian relations in the coming months. Jeff Goldberg is on target:
1. Prime Minister Netanyahu has some breathing space. He can claim, with more legitimacy than he had earlier this week, that Israel is under siege; this will stabilize his coalition, and possibly even bring in the ...
4 tags
Warning signs from the subcontinent
Although much hullabaloo was made over the brave “cricket diplomacy” exercised last month by Prime Ministers Raza Gilani and Singh, there are worrying developments in Indian-Pakistani relations — most of which are coming, unsurprisingly, from Pakistan.
Pakistan is in danger of placing itself along a path toward nuclear war. It’s bad enough that they are expanding their...
1 tag
6 tags
End of the line for Bibi and Israel's right wing
It’s decision time in Israel. The diplomatic hourglass is running perilously low on Bibi Netanyahu, and the Israeli body politic is truly divided right now — between those who see the cliff from which Israel will plummet this year if it doesn’t change course, and those who will live in an imaginary world where there are no consequences to limitless isolation.
A number of...
March 2011
8 posts
4 tags
Since when does Obama need an eponymous doctrine?
I watched Obama’s Libya address on CNN yesterday, and I was met by a mix good and bad coverage immediately afterward. I thought Anderson Cooper hit the nail on the head by focusing on Obama’s framing of “the national interest,” a debate which as I’ve argued is usually framed in outdated terms. Cooper paid attention to Obama’s articulately argued realpolitik...
1 tag
Why are Americans so gung-ho on capital...
It’s not a big topic of debate these days, but American policy on the death penalty is a strange phenomenon:
Globally, there is a strong correlation between capital punishment and totalitarianism. Indeed, the United States is one of the last Western democracies that still carries out executions.
For example, as of this writing, only 3 (out of 50) nations in Europe retain the death...
3 tags
Parsing Obama on Libya
OK, I think I finally understand where the White House is on Libya. One could be forgiven for being — as many are — confused about what the aims of the Libyan intervention are. Do we aim to overthrow Qaddafi? Help the rebels directly? Fly our planes aimlessly? Believe it or not, the White House kind of knows what it’s doing — for now, at least.
The reason there’s...
3 tags
Amr Moussa decides to be cute
Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa has actually done us all a favor in his hypocrisy regarding the no-fly zone above Libya. The Arab League provided diplomatic backing for such a move, and this seems to be one of the main factors that convinced President Obama to embark on that course of action.
It was a little bit of an unwanted surprise, then, that Moussa made a point of criticizing...
5 tags
Toward a realist embrace of liberal intervention
The “fault line” being portrayed in the media between those in the Obama administration who supported the creation of a no-fly zone and those who did not seems to me, well, faulty. There’s little debate which officials are most skeptical of American intervention, and they are SecDef Bob Gates, National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen, and Chief of...
4 tags
And the world wonders: Where is Obama on Libya?
Can we please dispense of this notion that American interference in Arab affairs is ipso facto unwarranted? Or any American interference in foreign affairs? Those who argue that the Arab world doesn’t want the West to help the Libyan rebels have a much tougher argument to make now that both the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab League support a no-fly zone over Libya. Indeed, Lebanon of...
1 tag
Who says the Libyan rebels don't want our help?
Something struck me as being not quite right after reading a column by Anne Applebaum which tried to discount any Libyan or international support for deeper American intervention, like the imposition of a no-fly zone:
I’m listening hard, but I just can’t hear the “voices around the world” who my colleague Charles Krauthammer said last week are “calling for U.S. intervention to help bring down...
5 tags
Turkey's AKP is making clear moves -- away from...
The ongoing saga of Turkey’s democracy crisis continues. It seems every time I hear an AKP official these days, I am less and less convinced of their democratic intentions and their reliability as an ally of the U.S.
The latest incident happened two weeks ago, when the U.S. ambassador to Turkey criticized abuses of Turkish journalists. (The day prior, Turkish police raided a TV station.)
...
February 2011
15 posts
3 tags
An attempted terrorist attack that should reassure...
The announcement of the arrest of a terror suspect is always disconcerting, but the one revealed today has some silver linings. First a recap:
A 20-year-old Saudi student who was arrested in Lubbock, Tex., late Wednesday was close to constructing a bomb and had researched a range of possible targets including the Dallas home of former president George W. Bush and the residences of three...
5 tags
A semi-defense of the UNSC resolution on Israeli...
I must admit to feeling wobbly regarding the UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement activity as “illegal.” I ended up supporting the American veto, but only reluctantly. Here are Jeff Goldberg’s thoughts:
1) All of you who tell me, when I’m giving speeches or speaking on panels, that President Obama is an enemy of Israel, could you please stop your...
3 tags
A new authoritarianism in Turkey?
As I wrote several months back, Turkey’s political debate flows into several narratives. One, perpetrated by supporters of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), portrays their fight against the country’s old-guard secular institutions as Turkey’s first real attempt at sustainable democracy. AKP’s staunchest opponents say they are trying to make Turkey into an...