Best of the Moment
foreign-policy-defence
britain
Richard Posner | New Republic | 29 July 2010
Withering dismissal of WP's "Secret America" series. "Will impress only naïve readers who have failed to realize that the US government and its major components are huge"
Garry Wills | NYR Blog | 27 July 2010
Short, bitter account of dinner given by Obama for Wills and eight other historians. They said Afghan war was another Vietnam. Obama said "realistic solution" was possible
Christian Caryl | Foreign Policy | 26 July 2010
Popular wisdom gets history of Afghanistan back to front. For centuries it has been a cradle of empires, a land for conquerors. It chewed up Brits and Soviets, but Brits came back
Roger Cohen | NYT | 26 July 2010
Furkan Dogan was shot dead by Israeli forces on a Turkish vessel in international waters. What would have happened if an American called Michael Sandler had been killed by a Palestinian gunman in the West Bank?
Simon Jenkins | Guardian | 27 July 2010
Documents published by Wikileaks not so much sensational as relentless. Afghan war can't be about making Britain safer or about oil, drugs, Iran or Pakistan, because in each case it's making matters worse
Wikileaks | 25 July 2010
Introduction and reading guide to the dump of classified US documents on Afghan war, published by Wikileaks and written up in NYT, Guardian, Spiegel. Start here if you want to read the primary sources
C.J. Chivers et al | NYT | 25 July 2010
Epic story. Six-year archive of 90,000 US military documents, published by Wikileaks, shows grim underside of Afghan war: targeted killing, more civilian deaths, under-equipped soldiers, resurgent Taliban
William Astore | TomDispatch | 22 July 2010
Serving in combat doesn't make you a hero, nor do many troops want to be seen as such. Treating soldiers as heroes plays down brutalising aspects of war, lays ground for myth-making, maybe even prolongs conflict
Paul Salem | Project Syndicate | 23 July 2010
Analysis of the challenges facing Lebanon's powerful Shia movement. Clear and concise on source of the dangers; possibly underestimates Hezbollah's ability to withstand them
Chas Freeman | Nixon Center | 20 July 2010
Blunt public talk, coming down firmly on the "liability" side of the balance sheet. Israel is rich, US subsidises it heavily, "Yet it’s pretty much taboo to ask what’s in it for Americans"
Paul Kennedy | World Today | August 2010
US debate on China's rise "borders on the fatuous", to the extent that it exists at all. Here is a major threat to America's place in the world—and nobody in Washington is plotting a strategic response
Bagehot | Economist | 21 July 2010
Good personal chemistry with Obama made Cameron's American visit a success. But US-UK relations still threatened by simmering row over BP's role in release of Libyan terrorist
Theodore Moran | Milken Institute Review | August 2010
China strikes deals around the world to secure commodity supply. Other countries won't necessarily suffer. Chinese investment mostly enables producers to increase output, to everyone's benefit(Scribd)
Bruce Riedel | Brookings | 20 July 2010
Pithy statement of problems with Pakistan as Western ally. One, somebody in Pakistan government knows where Osama bin-Laden is hiding. Two, Pakistan intelligence trained Mumbai terrorists
Fyodor Lukyanov | Moscow Times | 20 July 2010
Think-tanker ranks Russian non-intervention in Kyrgyzstan rebellion as main foreign-policy event of past year—evidence of waning imperialism
Gideon Rachman | FT | 19 July 2010
Nuclear weapon strategists still stuck in Cold War era of second strikes and mutually assured destruction. All a country needs now is a few cheap bombs to deter any aggressor
Dana Priest & William Arkin | WP | 19 July 2010
First piece in much-heralded series arguing that growth of America's secret services and agencies since 9/11 has created an unmanageable, unaccountable, fourth branch of government
Andrew Natsios | Centre For Global Development | 1 July 2010
Monumental essay (83-page PDF) on danger of over-regulating aid programmes. You end up with programmes designed to produce metrics, satisfy regulators—not to assist development
Andrew Cockburn | LRB | 14 July 2010
Shocking account of US-led sanctions regime 1990-2003. "Invisible war" that caused horrible hardship, radicalised Iraqis, promoted corruption, strengthened Saddam's dictatorship
Lee Smith | Weekly Standard | 10 July 2010
Western media naively admires, romanticises Hezbollah. "It’s not just a militia with an appetite for slaughtering Jews, it’s also a social welfare outfit that provides educational opportunities!"
Elias Muhanna | Qifa Nabki | 9 July 2010
Interview with Syria expert Joshua Landis. Israel doesn't believe there's enough to gain by handing back the Golan. Syria thinks its only hope is to change balance of power, force Israeli reassessment
John Mearsheimer | Antiwar.com | 9 July 2010
Transcript of powerful speech at Washington's Spy Museum. Made sense for Israel to develop nuclear weapons but they expose US to possible coercion, make nuclear proliferation in the Middle East more likely
Steve Levine | Oil & Glory | 6 July 2010
Boris Volodarsky, ex-Russian special forces officer, says spy-ring discovered in US was big, serious operation. Members not meant to spy themselves, but to recruit and run American agents
David Wood | Politics Daily | 4 July 2010
Intelligent commentary on now well-established practice of journalists embedding with troops. And why writer wouldn't have used the quotes that ended the career of the senior US commander in Afghanistan
Juan Cole | Informed Comment | 4 July 2010
Critic of invasion says US can't afford Iraq - and because it's the right thing to do, Obama administration should withdraw in a systematic, deliberate manner. "We owe its people their independence. It's what we used to stand for"
Charles Crawford | Blogoir | 4 July 2010
Why we're naive and wrong to ridicule the alleged Russian sleepers operation. True that most will fail to get anywhere significant but they don't need to. They can still be immensely useful
Simon Carr | Independent | 2 July 2010
Satirical take on incoming British foreign secretary's attempt to put his stamp on foreign policy. Imagined discussion between British diplomats, fishing for meaning among the buzzwords
William Dalrymple | Guardian | 1 July 2010
Writer argues Afghanistan conflict has become a proxy war, Nato only a bit player. With signs Karzai is planning for life after the Americans, could a grand bargain between Pakistan and India be possible?
Rory Stewart | Spiegel | 1 July 2010
Critic of Afghanistan strategy argues West is confusing what is desirable with what is possible. Answer lies in recognising limitations, understanding there are things that we, as foreigners, cannot do
Robert Baer | Time | 29 June 2010
Former CIA agent mocks Russians' old-fashioned methods—but worries that Kremlin's strategic thinking hasn't advanced much since the Cold War either
Jeff Stein | Spy Talk | 28 June 2010
FBI rolls up Russian spy ring in US still using morse code and buried bags of cash. Tantalisingly good news story, and for much more detail on tradecraft, click through to the original FBI affidavit
Medi Nahmiyaz & Nathalie Alyon | Zeek | 28 June 2010
Turkish Jews used by Israeli navy as translators give most even-handed account so far of raid on Gaza flotilla. Debunks wilder accusations about incident, suggests Turks, Israelis both to blame for creating climate of misunderstanding
Fred Kaplan | Slate | 23 June 2010
Dismissal of erring Afghanistan commander was potentially risky move for Obama, but replacing him with Petraeus is unassailable politically, strategically. Maybe time for US ambassador, envoy to go too
Gary Wills | NYR Blog | 22 June 2010
America's problem in Afghanistan is the war, not the leadership. Allies are leaving, domestic support is evaporating, Karzai is doing deals elsewhere. Sacking McChrystal won't change fundamentals
Anthony Cordesman | CSIS | 16 June 2010
Disastrously misconceived and mismanaged war. Only decent exit-strategy for America is to work with existing power structure, try to leave behind something better than Taliban rule
William Dalrymple | Daily Mail | 17 June 2010
Sceptical despatch sees parallels between Nato invasion and 19th century war. Endgame could again be humiliating defeat, with Afghans left in tribal chaos, ruled by government war was launched to overthrow
Blake Hounsell | Foreign Policy | 14 June 2010
Supposed revelation of Afghanistan's "trillion-dollar" mineral wealth smacks of US attempt to make new case for occupation. In any case, doubtful whether reserves can be exploited
Juan Cole | TomDispatch | 10 June 2010
A year on from Iran's disputed election, hardliners are strengthened, reformists weakened. Explanation lies in regime's skill at repression, but Israeli, American actions also to blame. All in all, a sordid tale.
Alastair Crooke | NYT | 9 June 2010
Regional power shift. Egypt, Saudi Arabia fading as champions of Palestinian cause. Iran, Turkey, Syria taking over. Biggest loser: Egypt's Mubarak, whose bid to install his son is also failing
Gadi Taub | New Republic | 9 June 2010
Sharp critique of flotilla fiasco. "Netanyahu and Barak just don’t understand the basic parameters of the political map. For a country so small, in the midst of a huge and hostile region, this is no niggling fear"
Simon Jenkins I The Guardian I 8 June 2010
The case for eliminating, not just cutting, British defence budget. Cold war was replaced by fantasy proposition of an unspecified but potent enemy. "Truth is we're spending £45bn a year on heebie-jeebies"
Charles Crawford | Blogoir | 6 June 2010
Perhaps it doesn't take great-power confrontation to start world war. Convergence of medium-sized problems, exacerbating one another, might do the trick. In which case: time to worry
Dmitri Trenin | Moscow Times | 4 June 2010
Friendlier posture towards US and Europe marks real shift in policy. Russia now much less worried about Nato enlargement, much more worried about its own economy, and about China
Leon Wieseltier | New Republic | 2 June 2010
Reflections on the flotilla, given more in sadness than anger. "Netanyahu-Barak government has found a way to lose the moral high ground, the all-important war for symbols and meanings, to Hamas"
Stephen Walt | ForeignPolicy | 2 June 2010
Rhetorical ploys used by governments to justify misconduct. "If we hadn't done this to them they would undoubtedly have done something even worse to us. Well, maybe not. But who could take that chance?"
David Grossman | Guardian | 1 June 2010
"Insane" attack on flotilla continues cycle of panic, violence, vengeance, following from bad, failed policy of closing Gaza. Political system is bloated, corrupt, incapable of thought
Greg Jaffe | Washington Post | 30 May 2010
Touching. Just what the headline says. Fragments in Afghanistan. "In these moments troops can be goofy, brave, profane, loyal and wickedly funny. They are often just kids"
Stephen Walt | Foreign Policy | 31 May 2010
Obama must seize moment, get tough on Israel and on peace process. Reckless Israeli policy taints, endangers America. Watershed for US pro-Israel groups
Gideon Rachman | FT Blog | 31 May 2010
Flotilla attack threatens to provoke fresh intifada, elevate Turkey into Muslim rallying point for anti-Israel sentiment, and anger US by undermining UN sanctions against Iran
Stephen Walt I Foreign Policy I 28 May 2010
Critical assessment of White House foreign policy document. Authors have written long-winded, hypocritical, unrealistic report. But at least it won't matter much. Deeds are what count.
Marc Lynch | Foreign Policy | 27 May 2010
New National Security Strategy previewed. "This is not a global war against a tactic—terrorism, or a religion—Islam. We are at war with a specific network, al-Qa'ida, and its terrorist affiliates"
Alix Van Buren, Andrea Bonnani I Syria Comment I 25 May 2010
Translation of informative La Repubblica interview. Syrian perspective little understood in West but Assad remarkably frank and concise here. Mostly avoids usual word games. Lots of interesting titbits
Walter Russell Mead | American Interest | 24 May 2010
Useful piece of stock-taking. America, capitalism have emerged relatively well. Nobody understands financial markets. Demographic crunch-time is here
Glenn Frankel | Foreign Policy | 24 May 2010
Israel was main weapons supplier to apartheid-era South Africa, helped nuclear programme, tried to turn US against Mandela. All documented in new book, "Unspoken Alliance", by Sasha Polakow-Suransky
Ruediger Frank | 38 North | 20 May 2010
Who ordered North Korean strike on South Korean ship? Probably not Kim Jong-Il. Could signal power struggle in Pyongyang. Real danger of war. Other theories advanced in comment thread
P.W. Singer | Slate | 19 May 2010
US has thousands of drones, unmanned land vehicles, fighting what amounts to robot war in South Asia. High time to develop legal apparatus, military doctrine for controlling their use
Khaled Hroub I Project Syndicate I 17 May 2010
Pessimistic account of relations between the West and autocratic Arab rulers. Both sides use excuses, threats to entrench the status quo. Little change since Obama took office and little hope for peaceful change.
Peter Beinart | NYRB | 16 May 2010
For older and Orthodox Jewish Americans, and pro-Israel lobbying groups, Israel can do no wrong. But younger and secular Jewish Americans are indifferent, even hostile, to Netanyahu
Art Keller | Foreign Policy | 14 May 2010
Amazing Al-Qaeda recruitment video (embedded here) shows bomb-makers at work in Afghanistan. If Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad got this sort of training, why didn't he do a better job?
Khaled Elgindy | Brookings | May 2010
Six lessons that Palestinian negotiators have learned from past failures in peace process. Number one: "Realities on the ground must move in parallel with negotiations at the table"
Richard Haass | CFR/FT | 13 May 2010
EU's structural flaws, political parochialism, demographics, pacifism are weakening its global voice and role. NATO no longer default partner for American foreign policy
Charles Crawford | Blogoir | 4 May 2010
Retired British ambassador's furious account of declining competence and morale in foreign service under Blair and Brown governments: "Narcissism in red polyester socks"
Steve Coll | New Yorker | 4 May 2010
Interesting speculation. Times Square bomber went to Pakistan, tried to join al-Qaeda, wasn't quite trusted, was told to go home, prove himself, blow something up, but given no support
Steven Simon, Jonathan Stevenson | WP | 4 May 2010
Times Square car bomb may signal al-Qaeda has scaled down ambitions from another 9/11, to anything that kills and causes chaos. Right strategy for them. Bad news for America
Volkhard Windfuhr, Bernhard Zand | Spiegel | 3 May 2010
Perhaps the most readable interview ever given by a head of state. Libyan leader accuses Swiss government of murdering Swiss banks' clients for their money, under guise of euthanasia
Fidelius Schmid, Andreas Ulrich | Spiegel | 30 April 2010
Great story. Estonian official gave NATO secrets to Russians. Was KGB in Soviet times, covered tracks, rejoined defence ministry. How many more Russian sleepers in ex-communist countries?
Malcolm Gladwell | New Yorker | 2 May 2010
Essay on use of deception in espionage, based on “Operation Mincemeat”, Ben Macintyre’s "brilliant and almost absurdly entertaining" account of British wartime trickery
Carrie Tait | Vancouver Sun | 1 May 2010
Strong on American decline, Chinese rise. "US President is no longer indisputably the most powerful man in the world. He has to deal with his Chinese counterpart as an equal"
Jeff Stein | Spy Talk | 29 April 2010
Nice little story about how France beat CIA to get close-in pictures of Syrian nuclear reactor after 2007 Israeli bombing. French military attaché coolly drove out to site and took them himself
Philip Stephens | FT | 29 April 2010
European Union could well fall apart. Greek crisis is symptom as well as cause of decline. National leaders, especially in Germany, focus only on national interests, leaving vacuum in EU leadership
Europe View | Economist | 29 May 2010
Head-slappingly brilliant provocation. Geopolitically optimised map of Europe. What if countries were moved to other parts of the continent where they would be happier, among friends?
Benjamin Birnbaum | New Republic | 27 April 2010
Scrupulous account of long-running internal struggle at Human Rights Watch over whether HRW is biased against Israel—as its founder Robert Bernstein, publicly insists
Richard Haass | WSJ | 26 April 2010
Israel-Palestine peace won't solve all problems in Middle East, may even cause new ones. Durable deal will only come when Israel, Palestine both ready for it. US shouldn't try to force pace
Anne Stenersen | Norwegian Defence Research | February 2010
The term "essential reading", is much overused, but for anyone interested in Afghanistan, it fits the bill here. Superb 86-page PDF report, plenty to chew on in the summary and introduction alone
Stephen Walt | Foreign Policy | 22 April 2010
Our allies want a strong America. We need to be there for them, when real security problems emerge. But fighting foolish wars to prove our power is going to lose us friends, not win them
Aram Roston | Nation | 21 April 2010
Follow-the-money investigative journalism. Despite headline, mainly about Kyrgyzstan. Makes persuasive case that rulers in central Asia are bought off with contracts to supply fuel to US bases
Lord Bramall et al | London Times | 21 April 2010
Sign of change. British generals argue against spending $80bn on submarine nuclear missiles. Cold war over. Security lies in reducing nuclear weapons. Spend money on front-line troops, counter-terrorism
Thomas de Waal | National Interest | 20 April 2010
Fine essay on 2008 Georgia-Russia war. Russia wanted a fight, but so did Saakashvili. His recklessness gave Putin "a golden opportunity to take revenge on a leader he loathed"
Nicholas Lemann | New Yorker | 19 April 2010
Essay on origins, strategies, motivations of terrorists. Very dull beginning, but worth hacking through that to get to later discussion of Petraeus and counter-insurgency
Andrew Tabler | Foreign Affairs | 19 April 2010
Syria fights UN investigation of nuclear reactor bombed by Israel in 2007. North Korea, Iran probably helped build it. Stand-off could go to Security Council, trigger sanctions. US should help Syria make a deal
Aaron David Miller | Foreign Policy | 19 April 2010
Cry of despair and disillusionment. America no longer has stature to force peace between Israel and Palestinians. They have to do it for themselves. They won't. And even if they did, it wouldn't stabilise region
Roger Boyes | London Times | 19 April 2010
Shrewd analysis of Russian-Polish rapprochement. Russia recognises Poland as regional power, worthy ally. Russia, Germany already friends. Russian-German-Polish alliance could steer Europe
James Purnell | New Statesman | 19 April 2010
In modern foreign policy, when your interests conflict with your values, choose your values—as Google did when refusing Chinese censorship. World will see, debate and admire you
Andrew Tabler | Foreign Policy | 14 April 2010
Syria sends Scuds to Hezbollah in Lebanon, creating new threat to all Israel's cities. Undermines US efforts to engage with Syria. May provoke Israeli attack on Syria as well as Iran. What's the calculation?
Leon Wieseltier | New Republic | 14 April 2010
Whatever rights and wrongs of settlement policy, far more important is a diplomatic strategy for retaining American support, deflecting world condemnation, after strike on Iran (Free extract, paid content)
Walter Russell Mead | American Interest | 14 April 2010
Nuclear summit worth doing. Good for Obama, good for America's image, yielded some useful real-world results. But don't think the world is getting safer. Technology is on the side of terrorists
Johannes Linn | Brookings | 14 April 2010
Clear, crisp, concise paper on cause and effects of Kyrgyz uprising. Competition for use of Manas airbase led America to support corrupt Kyrgyz dictator, while embittered Russia backed opposition
Anne Applebaum | Washington Post | 13 April 2010
Crash of Polish president's plane in Russia was national catastrophe. But speed and sincerity of Russian response a cause for hope. Bilateral relations have changed for better. Maybe Russia changing too
David Trilling | Foreign Affairs | 11 April 2010
Essential political background to Kyrgyz rebellion. Bakiyev double-crossed Russia over Manas airbase, further outraged Putin by stealing Russian aid, so Russia destabilised Bakiyev with propaganda, tariffs
Robert Paul Wolff | Philosopher's Stone | 11 April 2010
Brief, partial, subjective and eminently readable recollection of the introduction of nuclear weapons. In starring roles: "a brilliant economist, Thomas Schelling, and a flabby gasbag of a pseudo-physicist named Herman Kahn"
Tom Malinowski | Foreign Policy | 9 April 2010
America accepts corrupt dictatorships in Central Asia because it needs access for supplying troops in Afghanistan. But as Kyrgyz revolt has shown, too much bad government may lead to anarchy
Graeme Wood | National | 8 April 2010
Report from Uganda-Sudan border, on practical difficulties of eradicating brutal, marauding rebel militia. "Even when the population is on your side, and your enemy reduced to Neolithic weaponry, the fight continues"
International Crisis Group | 7 April 2010
Think-tank sees Turkey coming of age as independent player in Middle East. No longer Nato "gendarme". Admired for near-European standards of governance, popular for new toughness towards Israel
Quentin Peel | FT | 7 April 2010
Merkel's Germany is more open about national interests, less idealistic about Europe, less worried by Russia, less deferential to America, more ambivalent about Nato. Time of pragmatism, reassessment
Wikileaks | 5 April 2010
US military video, posted to YouTube, apparently depicts indiscriminate shooting and killing by an army helicopter crew in Baghdad. Victims included two Reuters news staff
Thomas Hegghammer | Foreign Policy | 31 March 2010
Israel-Palestine conflict not the only driver of violent anti-American Islamic extremism, but certainly a big one, far more significant than any general revulsion in Islamic world towards Western culture
James Mann | New Republic | 17 March 2010
American experts have predicted for decades that China would liberalise as it prospered. It hasn't and it won't. Nor does it want to join a US-led world system. So live with it. We can still do business
Mark Mazower | LRB | 31 March 2010
Reflection on place of Armenian genocide issue in American and Turkish politics. Congress and Erdogan on collision course. One hopeful sign: decrease in nationalism among Turkish historians
Thomas Friedman | NYT | 30 March 2010
One of those times when Friedman nails it, in his folksy style. Karzai is taking America for a ride. So are Netanyahu and Abbas. They'll sell you the same carpet as often as you want to buy it
Edward Luce & Daniel Dombey | FT | 30 March 2010
Obama runs his own ambitious foreign policy. No Kissinger-type strategist to help him. He's intelligent, obviously, but also inexperienced and overloaded