Analysis + Opinion | Older
Analysis + OpinionJuly 17, 2011The sacred and the humaneAnat BiletzkiNew York TimesHuman Rights are all the rage. They have become, currently, a very popular arena for both political activism and rampant discourse. Human rights, as we all know, are the rights humans are due simply by virtue of being human. But there is nothing simple here, since both “human” and “rights” are concepts in need of investigation. |
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Analysis + OpinionApril 20, 2011Using refugees as weaponsKelly GreenhillNew York TimesIn the early days of what grew into the Libyan uprising, Muammar el-Qaddafi summoned European Union ministers to Tripoli and issued an ultimatum: Stop supporting the protesters, or I’ll suspend cooperation on migration and Europe will be facing a human flood of from North Africa. Given Libya’s history as an attractive transit point for North Africans seeking entry to Europe, it was a credible threat. For one thing, it has worked to varying degrees at least four times in the last decade alone. |
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Analysis + OpinionApril 8, 2011When intervention is easyHarvey Sapolsky & Ben FriedmanPhiladelphia InquirerFor post-Cold War America, military adventures forever beckon - and their lessons are quickly forgotten. |
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Analysis + OpinionOctober 25, 2010Wikileaks docs underestimate Iraqi deadJohn TirmanAlterNet OnlineFor all their value, the newly leaked documents will, unfortunately, reinforce the inaccurate lower estimates of Iraqi mortality. |
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Analysis + OpinionJuly 28, 2010An ancient tool for holding passions captiveRichard SamuelsBoston GlobeFOUR YEARS after a young corporal named Gilad Shalit was abducted by Hamas fighters who tunneled beneath the border from Gaza into southern Israel, the Mideast peace process remains trapped by a complex kidnapping drama. Israel and Hamas have exchanged deadly attacks and negotiated fruitlessly for an exchange of prisoners. |
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Analysis + OpinionJanuary 21, 2010Tokyo and Washington celebrate their alliance — too soonRichard J. SamuelsForeign PolicyThe U.S.-Japan security alliance just had its golden anniversary -- but it isn't time to break out the bubbly just yet. |
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Analysis + OpinionJanuary 19, 2010Playing politics with Japan's money supplyRobert MadsenWall Street Journal OnlineThe central bank is picking the wrong time and the wrong way to assert its independence. |
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Analysis + OpinionOctober 2, 2009Putting the ‘I’ in aidPeter Bergen and Sameer LalwaniNew York TimesThe top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, is right to warn that efforts to rebuild that country depend on winning the “struggle to gain the support of the people.” And few issues do more to stoke the resentment of ordinary Afghans than the tens of billions of dollars of foreign aid from which they have seen little or no benefit. |
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Analysis + OpinionSeptember 25, 2009Sanctions can’t be the centerpieceJim WalshNew York TimesWith Iran, the more public the chastisement, the more likely the answer will be resistance, no matter what the cost. |
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Analysis + OpinionJuly 2, 2009Achieving detente with IranJohn TirmanBulletin of the Atomic ScientistsThe apparently fraudulent Iranian presidential election and the domestic unrest have presented President Barack Obama with a problem. Since his own election, Obama slowly has tried to open a diplomatic path to Iran, which, while scarcely consistent or imaginative, had the potential to be productive. However, because of its violent response to the protests that followed the election and the election fraud itself, Iran's current leadership lacks both moral and political legitimacy, making bold U.S. diplomacy difficult. |
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Analysis + OpinionMay 22, 2009Post-war Sri Lanka must uphold rightsBalakrishnan RajagopalThe Baltimore SunThe Sri Lankan government's stunning defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was as swift as it was unusual in world history. Rarely has a government won so decisive a military victory against a long-running domestic armed group. However, this victory has come at a steep price. |
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Analysis + OpinionApril 19, 2009Bold action needed on IranJohn TirmanBoston GlobeThe reaction in Tehran to President Obama's remarkable video message last month and his speech in Turkey has been cautious, even abrupt, but it conveys something important. It tells us that we need to do more than speak pleasing words to transform 30 years of a bad relationship. |
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Analysis + OpinionJanuary 23, 2009An alliance in need of attentionby Richard J. Samuels and James L. SchoffInternational Herald TribuneRecently declassified Japanese documents have disclosed that after Beijing's successful nuclear test in October 1964, Japan's prime minister urged the United States to use nuclear weapons against China in the event of hostilities. "If war breaks out [with China], we expect immediate nuclear retaliation from the United States," Prime Minister Eisaku Sato told Defense Secretary Robert MacNamara. |
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Analysis + OpinionJanuary 14, 2009Grieving over GazaAnat BiletzkiThe NationSome of us, as Israelis, are grieving over what we have become. Blaming the other side with a roster of rehearsed clichés cannot mitigate the grief. |
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Analysis + OpinionJanuary 6, 2009Iran, Iran, IranWilliam Luers, Thomas R. Pickering and Jim WalshNew York TimesThree of the most pressing national security problems facing the Obama administration - nuclear proliferation, the war in Iraq and the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan - have one thing in common: Iran. All three challenges are, in principle, amenable to diplomatic solution, but only if we give it a try. Success on any of the three will not be possible without serious engagement with Iran. |
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Analysis + OpinionAugust 20, 2008All the oil we needEugene Gholz and Daryl PressNew York TimesWhile oil prices have declined somewhat of late, the volatility of the market and the political and religious unrest in major oil-producing countries has Americans worrying more than ever about energy security. But they have little to fear — contrary to common understanding, there are robust stockpiles of oil around the globe that could see us through any foreseeable calamities on the world market. |
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Analysis + OpinionAugust 15, 2008What counts as 'success' in Iraq?John TirmanBoston GlobeA voluble attempt to describe the Iraq war as a success is widely apparent, and will increase as the Republican National Convention nears. John McCain is staking his campaign on this assertion. There is little doubt that the level of violence in Iraq has subsided noticeably in the last 12 months. But is this “victory”? |
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Analysis + OpinionJuly 20, 2008Surge protectorWilliam J. FallonNew York TimesThe prospect of a long-term security arrangement between the United States and Iraq has become a lightning rod for criticism. Yet such an agreement — which the White House believes could be completed this month now that the two countries have agreed to set a “general time horizon” for reducing the number of American troops in Iraq — would be in the best interests of the governments of both countries, and of the people who live in a region of the world that urgently needs stability. |
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Analysis + OpinionJune 21, 2008Awaiting Japan's global visionRichard J. SamuelsBoston GlobeThere were times when Japanese leaders knew exactly what to do. In the late 19th century they knew Japan needed to build a "rich nation and strong army," so they mobilized the population and took them on a forced march to industrialization and international prominence. |
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Analysis + OpinionJune 19, 2008What's next for Iraq?Barry R. PosenBoston GlobeThe month of May saw the lowest US casualties in Iraq since early 2004. But counterinsurgencies are not won on points. |