Taking “Yes” For An Answer

by James A. Russell The image of the finger-wagging Israeli Prime Minister at the United Nations this week provides the international community with a powerful message: the world — and the United States — must tirelessly search for “yes” as an… Continue Reading

Saudis Should Welcome A US Move Toward Iran

by Thomas W. Lippman Shortly after President Obama’s startling telephone conversation with Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, a Saudi Arabian journalist wrote that “The phone call between Obama and Rouhani shocked the Gulf states, Jordan, Turkey, Israel, and other countries.”  No matter… Continue Reading

Ex-UN Special Commission on Iraq Chairman: “Don’t Go Baghdad on Tehran”

By Paul Mutter Rolf Ekéus, who was executive chairman for the UN Special Commission on Iraq between 1991 and 1997, writes with Målfrid Braut-Hegghammer, a nuclear expert at Standford University, on the parallels between the run-up to the Iraq War and the present state of… Continue Reading

Takeyh’s History Lesson: Mossadegh and 1953

As noted in today’s Talking Points, former (and briefly, at that) Obama administration official and current Council on Foreign Relations fellow Ray Takeyh has an interesting op-ed in today’s Washington Post. The piece centers an unusual take on history: that… Continue Reading

Lessons of the Sanctions Against Iraq

If there is a single takeaway from the thirteen years of “crippling sanctions” against Iraq, it’s that the program didn’t work. Neocons and their allies — who pushed for a full invasion in the first Gulf War — were declaring… Continue Reading