NEW YORK: We know quite a bit about Iran's nuclear program, and what we know is not encouraging. Iran is reported to be enriching uranium at two sites — some of it to levels of 20%, far beyond what is required for civilian purposes. The (...)
NEW YORK: It was a decade ago that 19 terrorists took control of four planes, flew two into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, hit the Pentagon with a third, and crashed the fourth in a field in Pennsylvania after passengers resisted and (...)
NEW YORK: The killing of Osama bin Laden by United States special forces constitutes a significant victory over global terrorism. But it is a milestone, not a turning point, in what remains an ongoing struggle with no foreseeable end.
The (...)
NEW YORK: Revolutions happen for a reason. In the case of Egypt, there are several reasons: more than 30 years of one-man rule; Hosni Mubarak's plans to pass the presidency on to his son; widespread corruption, patronage, and nepotism; and economic (...)
NEW YORK: Few Americans cast their ballot in the recent mid-term elections on the basis of foreign policy. While it may be difficult for people around the world to comprehend this, given the global reach of the United States, it is an undeniable (...)
NEW YORK: It was 20 years ago this month that Saddam Hussein, then the unchallenged ruler of Iraq, invaded Kuwait. What ensued was the first great international crisis of the post-Cold War era, one that, in less than a year, led to the liberation of (...)
NEW YORK: We are in a protracted period of international transition, one that began more than two decades ago with the Cold War's end. That era of strategic rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union gave way to one in which the US (...)
NEW YORK: History rarely unfolds smoothly or evenly. Instead, it tends to be punctuated by major developments - battles, assassinations, breakthroughs - that have consequences that are felt for years.
Thirty-one years after the revolution that (...)
NEW YORK: Every war is fought three times. First comes the political discussion over whether to start or enter it. Then comes the question of how to fight it. And, finally, there is consideration of what lessons should be learned from it.
The (...)
NEW YORK: "Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen, a popular song from the 1952 film musical "Hans Christian Andersen, will probably be played many times this fall, as world leaders will be gathering in the Danish capital in December (and in New York in (...)
NEW YORK: There are many recurring debates in American foreign policy - for example, isolationism versus internationalism, and unilateralism versus multilateralism. But no debate is more persistent than that between those who believe that American (...)
NEW YORK: The high hopes surrounding Barack Obama's presidency are mostly a good thing, as they remind us that much of the anti-American sentiment that is so apparent around the world is not and need not be permanent.
But this anticipation is (...)
NEW YORK: Campaigns, be they political or military, are waged to be won, and the current American presidential campaign is no exception. The Democratic and Republican candidates are doing all they can to distinguish themselves from an unpopular (...)
China lobbied long and hard to host this summer's Olympics, and thousands of Chinese literally danced in the streets when the decision was made to award Beijing the games. This was to be a chance for the Chinese to show the world just how far they (...)
Today's world is dominated not by one or two or even several powers, but rather is influenced by dozens of state and non-state actors exercising various kinds of power. A twentieth century dominated first by a few states, then, during the Cold War, (...)
As America's primaries move beyond Iowa and New Hampshire, it is simply impossible to predict who will be the Democratic and Republican nominees, much less who will become the 44th president of the United States. But it is not too soon to address (...)
"Ripeness is all, concludes Edgar in King Lear. I will leave it to Shakespeare scholars to decipher what he had in mind. But for diplomats and historians, understanding the concept of ripeness is central to their jobs: it refers to how ready a (...)
Many people around the world are indulging in what the Germans call "schadenfreude : pleasure at the suffering of others. The pleasure appears to be derived from the suffering the United States is enduring after four years of efforts to stabilize (...)
Today, we all can feel good about Northern Ireland. Protestants and Catholics--Unionists and Republicans in local parlance--are about to jointly run their government. Belfast, for decades the scene of urban terrorism and the deaths of so many (...)
Mention Asia, and most people think of the region's fascinating, rising giants, China or India - or both. Or people think about North Korea's nuclear program, some terrorist incident, or the humanitarian consequences of the latest earthquake or (...)
The good news for Ban Ki-Moon is that he has become secretary general of the United Nations at a time when the prospects for conflict between or among the world's great powers - the United States, China, Japan, Russia, Europe, and India - are (...)