“If they want Iran to return to its commitments,” Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, declared this week about the 2015 global nuclear agreement, “the United States must lift all sanctions in practice.” Hours later, President Biden told CBS News that he will not lift sanctions until Iran agrees to abide by the agreement’s restrictions on …
Continue reading “Iran nuclear program presents new challenges”
U.S. envoy Richard Mills didn’t say anything particularly surprising the other day when he told the UN Security Council that, to keep the “two-state solution” viable, Israel should refrain from settlement and annexation activity, while the Palestinians should abandon incitement and payments to terrorists. But, as President Joe Biden restores a traditional U.S. approach to …
Continue reading “Peace Problem: Israel Knows How to Capitalize on Its Conflict With Palestinians”
“See how futile and disastrous American democracy is,” Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s secretary-general, told a TV audience in Lebanon the other day. “It lacks the necessary checks, and this is how people like Trump get to power… This exposes the truth about American democracy, which they have tried to spread all over the world.” From Beijing …
Continue reading “Biden should double down on democracy promotion”
Even the closest of bilateral relationships have their ups and downs, and that’s surely true of the vibrant ties that the United States has maintained with Israel since the latter was established more than 70 years ago. As President-elect Biden prepares to assume office, however, he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be wise …
Continue reading “Biden and Netanyahu can carefully nourish U.S.-Israeli ties”
No one knows for sure how Israel’s assassination of Iran’s top nuclear scientist will shape prospects for U.S. relations with Tehran under President Joe Biden—whether a cowed regime will seek accommodation or a defiant one will double-down on its nuclear pursuits and regional mischief. America’s presumptive president, however, has made clear that he plans to …
Continue reading “Iran Trap: Why Biden Must Avoid Tehran’s Tried and True Tricks”
The news that Bahrain’s foreign minister is meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel this week highlights the predicament that president elect Joe Biden faces in the Middle East: he wants to restore a U.S. approach to the region that relies on increasingly out-of-date assumptions. For starters, Biden promises to rejoin the U.S.-led global …
The Trump administration is increasingly shutting the door on refugees who want to come to America and, even worse, shutting it on Iraqis who risked their lives to help America’s military and now face the threat of deadly retribution at home. Last year, the White House limited refugees to America to just 18,000, down dramatically …
Continue reading “Why America’s Refugee Reset Could Drive Away Valuable War Allies”