When U.S. President Obama sat down with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin at the latest G-8 Summit in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, the evolving civil war in Syria dominated the conversation. The push had been for a negotiated political settlement under the guise of the Geneva II process, but it seems fated to be a stillborn process […]
More than two years after the beginning of the Syrian rebellion, the Obama administration reported on Thursday, June 13, that it would begin supplying small arms and ammunition to rebels fighting the Syrian government. Proposals for more direct intervention, such as the establishment of a no-fly zone, were rejected, at least for the time being. […]
By Sarwar Kashmeri Robert Morgenthau, the legendary Manhattan District Attorney, used to have a framed Oliphant cartoon in his office. It comically depicted the attempt by the newly inaugurated President Nixon to fire Morgenthau, a Democrat, from his then position as U.S. Attorney of the Southern District of New York, arguably the most influential federal jurisdiction […]
Silent War By Michael Joseph Gross Vanity Fair Did the U.S. bid to stop nuclear proliferation unleash an even great threat? The cyberwar between Iran and the U.S. may not involve shooting, but it’s taken a number of casualties in the business community with it, whether they are banks or huge parts of the telecommunications […]
The Japanese government approved legislation last week to set up a national security council, according to a Thomson Reuters report. The council, a Japanese version of the White House’s National Security Council, is purported to facilitate more rapid foreign policy decisions for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the face of North Korean saber-rattling and territorial […]
On Monday Arab governments in the Persian Gulf pledged to put sanctions on the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah. The militia-cum-political party’s foray into neighboring Syria, in an attempt to protect the regime of Bashar al-Assad, has elicited widespread condemnation across the Middle East. Its estimated 1,700 fighters inside Syria bolstered Alawite militias and the Syrian […]
By Manuel Langendorf & Abul-Hasanat Siddique After decades of secular dictatorships, how will a new Middle East and North Africa alter centuries-old Arab-Western relations? This is the last of a two part series. Read part one here. Security related issues and natural resources are of core concern for Western nations in the Middle East and North […]
Dear Leader Dreams of Sushi By Adam Johnson GQ Kenji Fujimoto, an alias, was Kim Jong-Il’s sushi chef and sidekick for eleven years. Once he finally escaped, he became one of the biggest intelligence assets for the Japanese intelligence services on the Kim family. Johnson interviews him to dig up some wild stories about the […]
The civil war in Syria could soon turn to favor the Assad regime’s unyielding hold on power. The minority Shia-Alawite regime has recaptured the strategically important city of Qusair, until now held by the rebel Free Syrian Army. It did so in part by employing overwhelming military force and in part by welcoming and recruiting […]
By Manuel Langendorf and Abul-Hasanat Siddique After decades of secular dictatorships, how will a new Middle East and North Africa alter centuries-old Arab-Western relations? This is the first of a two part series. Since December 2010, the Arab revolts have shaken an entire region. Uprisings, initiated by youth activists, have undoubtedly changed the history and […]
Each week the editors at FPA choose five must reads from around the web and five of the best of ForeignPolicyBlogs.com. So if you’re looking for reading for the weekend, we’ve got you covered.
Two weeks ago I discussed the talking points that Ambassador Susan E. Rice had used to discuss the attack on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, on number of TV current-events programs last September. The succession of drafts showed how the document had evolved in the bureaucratic revision process, with the final version being […]
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