Secretary of State John Kerry was asked at a press conference in London Monday morning if there was anything that could forestall a US missile attack on Damascus, and he replied off the cuff that Syria could surrender its chemical weapons stockpile to the international community within a week. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian […]
Johns Hopkins University Orders Cryptography Professor’s Blog Posting Removed for Classified NSA Links (Larson & Elliott)
Jeff Larson and Justin Elliott write at ProPublica Citing concerns about linking to classified material, Johns Hopkins University asked a professor this morning to remove a blog post discussing last week’s revelations about the NSA’s efforts to break encryption. The post had linked to government documents published by ProPublica, the Guardian, and the New York Times. […]
How US Grand Strategy in Syria led to the idea of Missile Strikes
Are there any grand strategy considerations behind the Obama administration’s desire to bomb Syria? Yes, though they rest on doubtful premises. The increasing importance of al-Qaeda-linked radical Sunni fundamentalist groups to the civil war in the north of Syria has posed a dilemma for the Obama administration, which began calling for the ouster of President […]
Congress Could now Alter our Militarized approach to the Middle East– But likely Won’t (Bacevich)
Andrew J. Bacevich writes at Tomdispatch Sometimes history happens at the moment when no one is looking. On weekends in late August, the president of the United States ought to be playing golf or loafing at Camp David, not making headlines. Yet Barack Obama chose Labor Day weekend to unveil arguably the most consequential foreign […]
Can you Pass the Qatar Quiz? (Rudolph)
CAN YOU PASS THE QATAR QUIZ? By Jeffrey Rudolph Qatar, once one of the poorest Persian Gulf states, has become one of the region’s wealthiest countries and also one of the most active in regional affairs. However, Qatar, like the other Gulf states, faces meaningful internal and external challenges, which require more than energy wealth […]
When Syria was a US Ally (or at Least Helpful)
One of George Orwell’s keenest insights in 1984 is the kaleidoscopic character of modern state-to-state relations, wherein countries go from being allies to enemies and back again, and government spokesmen and the press report on each situation (friendship or enmity) as though it was eternal. As the US prepares a possible missile attack on Syria, […]
NSA Spying: Indian Gov’t Bans Employee Google Use as Euro Parliament Weighs Law Fining Cooperative Firms
The rest of the world is much more appalled at the spying of the National Security Agency on telephone, email, web browsers and other personal information than is the US public. As new revelations come out almost daily about the cavalier way in which the NSA has spied on the world’s presidents, parliaments and ordinary […]
American Jews Divided on Syria Strike, Many Oppose AIPAC
That the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is pushing Congress toward attacking Syria is no secret. As usual, however, AIPAC is out of touch with Jewish Americans. There is a good reason for which the proper diction for AIPAC is “an Israel lobby” rather than “a Jewish lobby.” AIPAC doesn’t represent the views of […]
On Obama’s attack on Syria: Donohue/ Bacevich
At Bill Moyers’ site, Phil Donohue interviews military historian Andrew Bacevich about President Obama’s plans to attack Syria: From the transcript: “PHIL DONAHUE: Welcome. I’m Phil Donahue. Bill Moyers is away this week and I am pleased to be sitting in for him. Our subject is Syria. What began there two and a half years […]
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