Tag: Arab Spring

In the short run, Biden might well keep his promise that Iran won’t get nukes

Interesting times.

Playing charades. Kerry, Ashton, and Zarif meet for coffee in Muscat, Oman on 10 Nov. (Image: Reuters/Nicholas Kamm via Al-Monitor)
Playing charades. Kerry, Ashton, and Zarif meet for coffee in Muscat, Oman on 10 Nov. (Image: Reuters/Nicholas Kamm via Al-Monitor)

New post up at Liberty Unyielding.  Enjoy!

Team Obama’s obsession: A “peace process” that’s past its shelf life

Stick a fork in it. And get a clue while you’re at it, Team Obama.

It’s time to just say it. The obsession of Barack Obama and John Kerry with forcing along a discredited and unproductive “peace process” involving the Palestinian Arabs and Israel is weird – even creepy.

Notice I didn’t say “peace process between the Palestinian Arabs and Israel.” There’s nothing “between” about it. At this point, the Obama-Kerry show seems to involve the Palestinian Arabs and Israel only tangentially. All the action is in Washington, D.C., and it’s all one-sided.

When we left our drama last week, Mahmoud Abbas had just delivered “three ‘no’s’” to the White House on this freighted topic: no recognition of Israel as a Jewish state; no relinquishment of a so-called “right of return”; and no commitment to honoring a pact with Israel as an “end of conflict” between the two.

Continue reading “Team Obama’s obsession: A “peace process” that’s past its shelf life”

The crown in the gutter: Saudis, Lebanon, and Middle Eastern realignment

No, really. ALL bets are off in the Middle East.

The end of the year is a hard time to write about developing trends.  There’s a lot to say, long-term projections to be made, the natural urge to lay out the scope of likely developments over the next 365 days.  But there’s also the sense of endings, and a preference for brevity.  One wants to put the right period to the passage we have just made.

For now, I’ll go with brevity.  The Saudis have decided to fund a big arms buy for the Lebanese armed forces, to the tune of an unprecedented $3 billion.  The vendors will be Continue reading “The crown in the gutter: Saudis, Lebanon, and Middle Eastern realignment”