The Elephant in the Room: Russia’s Role in the Demonstrations
The Elephant in the Room: Russia’s Role in the Demonstations One of the great unknowns is the extent to which Russia may have stoked racial…
Read MoreU.S. Intervention
Trump undercuts U.N. democratic efforts in Libya, siding with authoritarian dictatorships
Trump Steers Dangerous Course in Venezuela
Opinion: Lying Republican Senators confirm lying Supreme Court nominee (Kavanaugh) nominated by lying president (Trump)
50 Years Ago: The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, and its enduring significance
REPRISE: Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr.
North Korea crisis: The risks of accidental nuclear war
After Tillerson’s trip to Moscow, will Trump lift sanctions against Russia, or ever criticize Putin?
Europe’s shame: EU response to Russian war crimes in Aleppo and Syria
War news from Syria
While President Obama and other Western leaders look away from the horror, the terror of Russian and Syrian war crimes in Syria contnues, every day….
Watch the ball move: Obama moves attention to Mosul, distracting from abject appeasement by Merkel, EU, and U.S. in response to ongoing Russian war crimes in Aleppo and Syria
Developing Appeasement has many colors and takes many forms. In the last few days, it has taken the form in Europe of shifting the focus…
Personal Takes: Russian war crimes in Syria, appeasement, and disgust
Developing PERSONAL TAKES Once in a while, The Observer reflects on his own personal involvement in world events. Today’s news triggered such a reflection. The…
REPRISE — Civilization falters: Aleppo Burns; Obama looks the other way; Putin threatens, Petraeus underlines feasability of military options; U.S. government paralyzed by Obama’s obstinancy (Updated October 8, 2016)
Check back for further updates UPDATE: October 8, 2016 Russia has this afternoon vetoed a French-sponsored Security Council resolution aimed at halting the war crimes…
Vice-Presidential debate: Pence pushes Kaine and Clinton on military action in Syria
Developing In VP Debate, Pence Reveals Thrust of Foreign Policy Attack Against Clinton During the Vice-Presidential debate between Tim Kaine and Mike Spence, Spence revealed…
Aleppo: Srebrenice on a massive scale
Developing See Liz Sly and Louisa Loveluck, “Darkness and fear in Aleppo as the bombs rain down,” Washington Post, September 28, 2016 (6:12 p.m.). Srebrenice,…
Russian war crimes in Aleppo and Syria: Civilized nations must impose sectorial sanctions now
Given the gravity of Russian violations of international humanitarian law, by a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, civilized nations should undertake two specific…
Aleppo and Syria: Obama’s legacy of ashes
Never, it seems, have the United States and its Secretary of State groveled before the Russians to such an extent in begging for their cooperation…
Reasoning from conclusions: Blind hope as the basis for U.S. foreign policy in Syria
Developing See Karen DeYoung, “U.S. calls on Russia and Syria to ground all aircraft in northwest Syria,” Washington Post, September 21, 2016 (8:28 PM). Karen…
With Obama having checked out, U.S. foreign policy is on auto pilot—“Do nothing”
As we have pointed out, President Barack Obama has effectively checked out of his responsibilities to vigilantly promote and defend the foreign policy interests of…
A “cessation of hostilities” in Syria? (with link to text of February12, 2016 Munich communique)
The ghost of Kofi Annan lives on, in the form of the U.N. negotiations under the aegis of Stefan de Mistura and the Security Council’s…