Tag Archives: Middle East

Anticipation

For someone who keeps asserting that the presidential contest is proceeding pretty much as expected, and who spends much of his time trying to calm the nervous Nellies, I have been spending an awful lot of time lately at FiveThirtyEight.com, … Continue reading

Posted in Agora | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Willpower

Ever since the news of the foiled alleged liquid-explosive multiple-airliner plot in the UK, I’ve been racking my brain trying to recall where I’d read that the primary approach to terrorism should be internationally cooperative police work, not large-scale military operations, but … Continue reading

Posted in Agora | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Peaks

Informed Comment is where one goes to keep up with events in the Middle East, courtesy of the indefatigable Prof. Juan Cole. For some time now it has consisted of a relentless barrage of bad news—an unending litany of suicide … Continue reading

Posted in Agora | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

FOIA

Happy Birthday, Freedom of Information Act! Forty years old today. Having just watched Syriana, which purports to show how the world really works, I can say I fully endorse the headline of Jimmy Carter’s commentary: We Need Fewer Secrets. And … Continue reading

Posted in Agora | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Clarification

Yesterday I asked a quasi-rhetorical question: … but would this administration be smart enough to accept the invitation to depart? This obviously assumes the US has the best interests of Iraqis at heart. There are several competing assumptions: The Iraq invasion … Continue reading

Posted in Agora | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Possibilities

This from Haaretz: Just meters from the Brandenburg Gate, the 18th-century structure that came to symbolize Nazi power and was only reopened with Berlin’s reunification, stands one of city’s most beautiful and famous hotels, which is where the American Jewish … Continue reading

Posted in Agora | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Hamas

Vladimir Putin has invited Hamas leaders to Moscow, and the world press has dutifully reported the yowling from certain quarters of Israel and from their amen corner abroad (most particularly, in the US government and mainstream American media). As usual, there … Continue reading

Posted in Russia | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment