Commentary

The Israeli movie The Gatekeepers, nominated for an Oscar award earlier this year, serves as extraordinary background for a discussion of critical issues—and not just with respect to the Israel-Palestine conflict. What makes the movie compelling is the direct,...

The current visit by Moroccan king Mohammed VI to three countries in sub-Saharan Africa—Senegal, Gabon, and Ivory Coast—has opened new doors for the Moroccan-American partnership to fight jihadist groups on the continent. But will the White House seize the...

Is the new, very marginally more muscular, U.S. disposition toward the Syrian opposition a good idea? To answer this question properly, we have to take a step back about two years to get some perspective on where we are,...

Syria’s Druze community once played a major role in shaping the country’s modern history, despite comprising a mere three percent of the population. Today, however, this enigmatic highland minority that seldom met an anti-government revolt it didn’t like finds...

As the U.S. prepares to withdraw from Afghanistan, perhaps no nation has more to fear from the consequences than Russia which faces the possibility of both instability in Central Asia and the radicalization of its own Muslim population. In...

John Quincy Adams famously proclaimed “America goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy” in a speech that has been quoted ever since to justify noninterference by the United States in the affairs of other nations. However Adams...

With dozens of treaty allies and a strategic priority of promoting the sovereignty of weak states, the U.S. military has been gradually shifting from a force designed for confrontation to one intended to promote international cooperation. To be sure,...

Viewed from Washington, rapid systemic change has become a constant feature of global geopolitics.  Nowhere is this truer than in the long overlooked precincts of Southeast Asia.  Just a decade ago U.S. foreign policy and security strategy were entirely...

“You know, when it comes to Egypt, I think, had it not been for the leadership we showed, you might have seen a different outcome there.”  —President Barack Obama, “60 Minutes,” January 27, 2013 With President Mohamed Mursi’s proclamation...

On January 15, I wrote in my blog a short essay on the situation in Mali. Little did I know then just how much giddy-up-and-go this story would acquire. In just about 50 hours, from the time I left...