Gary Sick on Iran’s Foreign Policy

Gary Sick, who served as an Iran specialist on the National Security Council staffs of Presidents Ford, Carter and Reagan, speaks to Foreign Affairs editor Gideon Rose about an article that he wrote for the magazine in 1987, which still holds… Continue Reading

Spies Against Armageddon–and towards a Moral Morass?

Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel’s Secret Wars, a real life “thriller” about the exploits of Israel’s intelligence agencies,  has been making headlines since its publication on July 9. Not only do its authors, CBS News’ Dan Raviv and Israeli journalist… Continue Reading

Neocons Gloat About Islamist Iraq, Denounce Islamism

Something of a little blog firestorm was sparked when the Washington Post‘s neoconservative blogger Jennifer Rubin claimed that George W. Bush deserved credit for setting in motion the Tunisian uprising against its U.S.-backed dictator because the seed that sprouted popular… Continue Reading

Foreign Affairs on Kinzer’s Iran-Turkey-U.S. Book

In the newest edition of Foreign Affairs, Turkish journalist Mustafa Akyol has a review of Stephen Kinzer’s latest book, Reset: Iran, Turkey and America’s Future. The former New York Times journalist’s previous book, All the Shah’s Men, is a must-read… 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