The Unhappy U.S. Occupation of Iraq
The biggest impediment to any resurgence of ISIS in Iraq would be good governance and stability in Iraqi politics. U.S. troops are not contributing to those goals.
The biggest impediment to any resurgence of ISIS in Iraq would be good governance and stability in Iraqi politics. U.S. troops are not contributing to those goals.
If Iranian military and political leaders learn the right lessons from this incident, they will implement the long overdue reform of Iran’s political, economic, and administrative structures.
It is in the interest of the region, Europe, and the world to help Iran succeed in managing the economic fallout from Trump’s sanctions.
Can we breathe easy or have we merely paused to catch our collective breath before resuming the climb up the escalation ladder?
If there is a silver lining, it is that Washington and Teheran have moved away from the brink of war and have opted to take the de-escalation off-ramps they offered each other since Soleimani’s killing.
Individuals outside Iran who are advocating for an aggressive intervention or a war against Iran are primarily driven by their own ideological convictions, rather than by genuine care for the wellbeing of the people of Iran.
Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia have breathed a collective sigh of relief following signs of de-escalation between Tehran and Washington.
There are plenty of intermediaries working to cool U.S.-Iran tensions. The European Union should be putting its recourses toward saving the JCPOA.
One well-established principle of sanctions policy is that the country or group imposing the sanctions must be prepared to take yes for an answer.
Few noticed Trump’s recent offer to work with Iran to combat ISIS and on other “shared priorities.”
The assassination of Qassem Soleimani emphasizes America’s confounding inability to think through the role of military force as an instrument of strategy.
Pompeo’s directive appears to put an end to the Trump administration’s hinting that it supports efforts to destabilize the Iranian government if not topple it.
Ultimately, negotiations, dialogue, and engagement remain the real pathway out of the decades-long conflict between the United States and Iran.
Is Donald Trump beginning to learn some of the lessons that can enable him finally to start growing up in the presidency?
If we, the people of the U.S. and Iran realize that we have much more in common with each other than we do with our respective national governments, then we can come together and promote global engagement, people-to-people exchanges and diplomacy.
The past almost 20 years provide good evidence that our bomb-first-ask-hard-questions-never approach to violence and security challenges has not made us or the world safer.
Like people of color and those of different religions or genders, women experience different challenges and can face greater obstacles to progress — particularly in security-focused careers and institutions that are male-dominated.
Why was the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies paying Richard Goldberg’s salary while he was working for Trump’s National Security Council?
In the end, Trumo’s assassination of Qassem Soleimani is a futile act, a confession of a bankrupt non-strategy.
We’ve avoided war for now. But the regime-change crowd in Washington won’t stop trying.
Trump doesn’t seem to realize that he himself built the escalation ladder by withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal.