From the outset of the Obama presidency and the emergence of the Obama Doctrine, the similarities between this Administration and that of Jimmy Carter have been striking. Like Obama, Carter trumpeted soft power and international institutions as the means to solve the most perplexing foreign policy problems. The programs of both Presidents hinged on the cooperation of adversaries who interpreted the U.S. initiatives as signs of weakness, and in the second half of their presidencies, both faced the prospect of sharp reversals.
The Obama Administration’s engagement policy suffered two major defeats in recent days due to the collapse of negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, which followed the collapse of Lebanon’s pro-Western government two weeks ago. The diplomatic dead end over Iran’s nuclear program has received the lion’s share of Western press attention. Although expectations had been low, Iran’s inflexible diplomacy sorely disappointed the few observers who still harbor hopes that a diplomatic process can be designed to resolve the simmering nuclear standoff. Tehran refused to negotiate unless all sanctions imposed on Iran …
Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez recently returned from October encounters with some of the least savory actors on the international stage. His trip focused on cementing a new nexus or alignment in world affairs, some cleverly dubbed VIRUS. It is not a computer malfunction or a contagion but rather a shadowy network of cooperation linking Venezuela, Iran, Russia, and Syria. A core element of VIRUS is developing nuclear capacity and acquiring nuclear weaponry, the ultimo ratio of international power politics. Chávez did exactly that when he purchased a nuclear reactor in Moscow, …
In Washington last Friday, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov announced that Russia will supply P-800 Yakhont cruise missiles to Syria, confirming the rumors about the contract between the two countries that appeared in October 2009. The contract was signed in 2007 according to Moscow. A ram-jet powered Yakhont (“Ruby” or “Sapphire” in Russian) is a universal supersonic anti-ship cruise missile. It can be launched from land, sea, air, and submarines. Because it flies at 2.5 Mach at water-skimming altitudes, it is virtually cloaked from radar detection. It also has a …
While hosting Syria’s President-for-life Bashar al-Assad on June 25-26, Venezuela authoritarian populist and aspiring president-for-life Hugo Chavez was quick to promise ever-closer ties with Syria. Assad’s Syria is the longest running country on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list. Chavez described the Syrian leader’s visit as part of a “strategic project of cooperation to build the Caracas-Damascus axis” linking two socialist countries. Chavez made clear that he shares common enemies with Syria: “We have common enemies: “the Yankee [U.S] empire” and “the genocidal state of Israel.” Chavez continued: Arab civilization …
The storyline of the Gaza embargo has been written by now, defined by the Turkish so-called “peace activists,” clearly a misnomer if ever there was one. But misnomers and public relations is in large part what the convoy and the attempt to break the Israeli embargo was all about. In terms of information warfare, the activists have won so far, hands-down. Israel needs to do all it can to capture the information offensive. This can be done in several ways if only the media would be responsible enough to listen: …
The first president of Iran after its 1979 revolution, Abol Hassan Bani-Sadr, has added his voice to the growing chorus calling for regime change in Iran. Bani-Sadr said in an interview that “We would also like the regime to be replaced by a democratic system. However, the position of the west with regards to the current regime is not clear.” He complained that “From my perspective the west needs to be unambiguous about its wants and wishes so that the Iranian people are reassured that it is not looking for …
The Obama Administration has failed to budge the Islamist dictatorship in Tehran on a wide variety of issues, after one year in office. Iran has made a mockery of the Obama Administration’s engagement effort. It not only has rejected any compromise on the nuclear issue but it stubbornly resists moderating its hostile foreign policy as well. To its dismay, the Obama administration has discovered that apologies and professions of good intentions are not enough to sway the ruthless regime in Tehran. Iran remains the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism …
Today is the 26th anniversary of the 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, by Lebanese terrorists supported and directed by Iran. The attack, which killed 241 American servicemen (220 Marines, 16 Navy personnel, and 3 Army soldiers), was the deadliest single-day death toll for the Marines since the World War II battle of Iwo Jima and the deadliest for the U.S. military since the 1968 Tet offensive in Vietnam. The suicide truck bombing, along with a similar bombing that day that killed 58 French paratroopers, was perpetrated …
A new poll released this week by McLaughlin and Associates shows that Americans understand better than Congress that Iran is a serious a threat to our national security and is a dangerous actor amongst its neighbors. According to Joel Rosenberg’s Weblog, the poll found: Nine in ten voters (91%) say that Iran supplying a nuclear umbrella for terrorists is a serious threat to the United States. Seven in ten voters (71%) say the United States will not be safe with a nuclear Iran. Eight in ten voters (80%) say it …
