On Wednesday, Turkey retaliated against a Syrian mortar attack earlier in the day that killed five civilians in the Turkish border town of Akcakale. Turkey responded in kind with limited artillery attacks against Syrian army outposts. Whether planned or not, Syria’s shelling of Akcakale is just another step in the …
As the Obama Administration’s account of the terrorist attack on the Benghazi consulate continues to evolve, disturbing new information has emerged about the consulate’s security environment. Two House Republicans say they have been informed by whistleblowers that the consulate was attacked or threatened 13 times before the September 11 attack …
Recent survey results show that the Obama Administration’s foreign policy has been unsuccessful in the promotion of America and in improving hostile relationships, especially in the Middle East. What’s more, polls taken by Transatlantic Trends 2012 show that the disapproval of the current Administration continues to grow. Directly linked to …
Washington is notorious for dropping news it doesn’t want scrutinized too closely on the last day of the work week. So last Friday was a convenient time for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) to release a statement about the Obama Administration’s conflicting accounts of the attack …
A nuclear-armed Iran was a key topic of discussion at the U.N. General Assembly this week, including speeches by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama. While both leaders agreed that “a nuclear-armed Iran is not a challenge that can be contained,” there are key differences in approaching …
Judging by President Obama’s speech to the U.N. General Assembly yesterday, U.S. public diplomacy messaging on the Middle East crisis is stuck perpetually on a setting of “apology.” It has been this way since the much-criticized September 11 statement from the U.S. embassy in Cairo, which apologized to the threatening …
The attacks on United States embassies in the Middle East raise questions about President Obama’s policy in the region. But the administration’s reaction to these events is troubling as well. Its strong condemnation of a video it claims incited the violence, its attempt to censor the video, and its weak …
In an interview with 60 Minutes on Sunday, President Obama referred to the problematic relations with Middle Eastern governments as “bumps in the road.” These “bumps” (failures, in reality) are the result of a policy based on profound naiveté and shortsightedness. When he came to office, President Obama attempted to …
President Obama spoke to the United Nations General Assembly in New York yesterday – and what a disappointing speech it was. He actually scrapped his original speech outline to focus on the controversial YouTube video that many have suggested sparked recent anti-American attacks in the Middle East, including one in …
