Publications

Twenty-five years ago, the opening of the Berlin Wall transfixed the world, but somewhat obscured a bigger story: the peaceable seizure of the state by that part of East German society that did not want to go to the West.

A quarter-century ago this month, East Germany's communist leaders announced they were opening the Berlin Wall in an act that, as much as anything else during that momentous year, symbolized the Cold War's end.

To say U.S.–Israeli relations are on the rocks would be something of an understatement. It has been quite obvious for some time that diplomatic ties between Jerusalem and Washington have become badly frayed, with President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu failing to see eye to eye on a range of issues. Even so, bilateral relations are now unquestionably at a new nadir, as a recent bombshell article by Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic details.

Russia shows no sign that it is willing to de-escalate tensions with the West. Indeed, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has made clear that he anticipates a long-term freeze in ties with Washington.

Sometimes, it's difficult to see the forest for the trees. Optimism may currently be running high in Washington that next month's deadline for negotiations will yield some sort of durable deal over Iran's nuclear program. But amid all of the diplomatic euphoria, one aspect of the Iranian challenge has received remarkably short shrift: its expanding presence and activities in our own hemisphere.

Recently, Human Rights Watch reported that both sides in the war on Ukraine had employed cluster bombs. The story, however, quickly received a curious spin. In an article for the New York Times, Andrew Roth headlined that Ukraine alone had employed these weapons.

Western views toward Israel have returned to Kafkaesque normalcy after a brief break for sanity, as the United States now argues that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is making Islamic State group recruiting easier, and Europe punishes Israel and rewards the Palestinians for their ongoing conflict.

Last month yet another standoff at the disputed China-India border reached yet another peaceful conclusion, though not before spoiling the atmosphere of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s inaugural visit to India. In mid-September, as many as 1,000 Chinese soldiers crossed the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, Kashmir and were met in a prolonged face-off by an equal number of Indian troops. While violations of the de facto border are a common affair, the conspicuous timing and motives of the latest intrusion, and its broader implications for Sino-Indian relations, merit greater scrutiny.

Nothing could be more curious to Muslims than Western non-Muslims telling them what their religion is about. Would not Christians find it odd to hear from Muslims what the true meaning of their religion is? Nevertheless, after almost every terrorist act against a Westerner, particularly the more gruesome ones like beheadings, Western heads of state reflexively react with protestations that such acts are absolutely un-Islamic, despite the explicit claims of their perpetrators that they are done precisely as religious acts, as they exultantly declare, “Allahu Akbar.”

With the Islamic State group on the march again and Baghdad under new threats, it is a good time take care of some unfinished business in Iraq.

Monday's reported explosion at Iran's secretive Parchin nuclear site - leaving two dead and shattering windows 12 kilometers away - is welcome news to those concerned about Tehran's nuclear progress, but it's likely a mere blip on what seems an increasingly smooth Iranian road to nuclear weaponry.

For a host of reasons, Washington is growing ever-more desperate for a nuclear deal through which to claim a diplomatic victory, while Tehran is growing less concerned about the ultimate outcome of the ongoing talks and, not surprisingly, more intransigent about offering new concessions.

The Obama administration’s strategy for destroying the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, forces the United States to take sides in Syria’s civil war. But in a three-way war, that can mean taking the wrong side.

The president sets U.S. foreign policy but, with regard to Ukraine, Congress has an opportunity to push the United States in a more fruitful direction by approving bipartisan legislation from the Senate that would give Kiev $350 million in military aid to help it fend off Moscow’s advances.

"We shall proceed with reform and opening up without hesitation," said Chinese President Xi Jinping to his country's top leaders at a symposium last month that marked the 110th birth anniversary of his predecessor Deng Xiaoping. At first glance, his pledge appeared sincere. In the two years since taking office, Xi has consistently advocated a reform agenda intended to continue the economic revitalization and restructuring that Deng started in 1978. Xi’s campaign includes plans to reduce government meddling in the economy by making it easier for private-sector firms to compete with state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and allowing companies and individuals to invest and borrow more freely.

She was at her high school in Chibok, Nigeria when the Islamist monsters of Boko Haram arrived in April, brandishing their guns and forcing the girls onto trucks for an unknown destination.

Fearing where the trucks would take them, she and a friend jumped off during the trip, scampering into the forest. With her friend injured from the fall, they slept under a tree and then found a shepherd to help them find their way back to their village, where their parents and other relatives were weeping.

Quite suddenly, all eyes are riveted on the Islamic State (IS). Ever since its self-proclaimed “emir,” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, declared the creation of a new “caliphate” during a speech in Mosul, Iraq this June, his group has become global public enemy number one.

Last week, President Barack Obama pledged to destroy the Islamic State group (also known as ISIS or ISIL). It is worth asking what that means, and whether the United States can actually do it.

What a difference a couple of months can make. This summer, the Bipartisan Policy Center released a new report from Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton, the original co-chairmen of the 9/11 Commission. That study, titled "Today's Rising Terrorist Threat and the Danger to the United States," warned that America was running the risk of becoming a victim of its own counterterrorism success.