WPR Blog Archive

The fact that the Israeli-Syrian discussions mediated by Turkey, which were confirmed today, are taking place less than a year after Israel’s airstrike on an alleged Syrian nuclear facility is pretty mindboggling. It shows that Israel is neither afraid to address what it considers security threats with force, nor to explore the possibility of negotiated resolutions. For now, the approach is limited to the “symptoms” (Syria, Hamas, if not yet Hizbollah), and not the “disease” (Iran). As Kevin Drum points out, though, any deal that is reached will depend on America buying in. And since Syria recently made it clear […]

The House Committte on Foreign Affairs held a hearing this morning on sovereign wealth funds. For an alarmist view, there’s Gal Luft here, for a benign view there’s Edwin Truman here, and for an informative view there’s Gerard Lyons here. I found it interesting that regardless of whether the goal was to alarm, to reassure or to inform, the testimony of all three witnesses converged on the same general recommendations: more transparency, a code of best practices, and continued vigilance. As an aside, the funds that grouped into the Low Transparency-Highly Strategic Investment Approach quadrant in one of Lyons’ charts […]

If you haven’t already, give David Ucko’s piece on the Sons of Iraq a read. I’m probably guilty of dismissing that particular aspect of the improved security situation too quickly. As Ucko makes clear, it’s risky and far from conclusively resolved. But it can’t be reduced to an effort to buy off guns to get them pointed in another direction, and doing so only ignores the significant opportunities it offers for real progress. The catch, as always when it comes to progress in Iraq, is consolidating it into something that resembles a cohesive national government. Ucko puts his hopes in […]

Via Andy Grotto of Arms Control Wonk, ISIS just leaked the much-talked about but never-before seen Iranian proposal (.pdf) to resolve regional and global conflict (but more importantly the standoff over its nuclear program). It’s a pretty bland document, but with a little reading between the lines, it looks like Tehran is basically offering to fold its nuclear program into an international consorium of uranium enrichment centers, and to expand IAEA oversight of the Iranian-based component of the resulting network. Those offers, though, come hand in hand with a call for nuclear disarmament and “[i]mproved supervision by the IAEA over […]

Steve Clemons from The Washington Note passed on a couple items of interest via a mass mailer. He’s hosting UK Foreign Minister David Milibrand for a presentation at the New America Foundation, and the live stream (10:30-11:30 am EST) can be found here. Then from noon to 1 pm EST, Steve’s live streaming a George Soros presentation to the London School of Economics here. Should be good stuff.

Are some among the leadership of Iran beginning to question that country’s support of Hezbollah and other extremist groups beyond Iran’s borders? Notably, the Committee on the Present Danger, among the most influential organizations pushing the neoconservative foreign policy agenda in recent years, suggests as much in its latest Iran Update: Ever since the 1979 revolution that created the Islamic Republic of Iran, its radical regime has worked hard to “export the revolution” – to promote Iran’s aggressive brand of Shi’a political Islam beyond its borders. . . . But now, a member of the regime’s inner circle apparently has […]

The resumption of India-Pakistan confidence-building talks following six months of tit-for-tat cruise missile launches is good news in and of itself. But this passage from a Hindustan Times article on the latest round of the discussions caught my eye: New Delhi is looking for concrete action by Pakistan for ending cross-border terrorism and infiltration, which have witnessed a spurt recently. India believes terrorism is a “common concern” for both the countries and that it is in the interest of Pakistan itself to clamp down on the scourge as it has lost former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to it. New Delhi, […]

It’s farfetched to imagine that China and Taiwan can magically resolve their differences overnight, but this passage from new Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou’s inauguration speech is food for thought: “I would like to propose with sincerity that the two sides, whether over the (Taiwan) strait or in diplomatic circles, reconcile, cease fire and assist each other with respect in global organisations and activities,” he said. Noting that the people living on both sides of the Taiwan Strait “belong to the Chinese race,” he said Taipei and Beijing should work together for peace “instead of wasting resources in negative competition”. One […]

Spencer Ackerman flags the Pentagon’s latest deployment announcement,noting how next spring’s Iraq rotation is made up entirely of NationalGuard units. I’ve mentioned in the past how the transformation of theReserves from a strategic reserve to an operational reserve is a majorcomponent of the hidden draft made necessary by the Iraq War. But thisis pretty flagrant.

It looks like when it comes to negotiating with Hamas, the American political discourse is the proverbial “last one to know.” In the aftermath of yesterday’s revelation that France has conducted backchannel discussions with the group’s leadership comes word confirming the open secret of Egypt’s mediation of a Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The negotiations have been carefully orchestrated to conform to the applicable policies of non-engagement, down to the fact that the agreement will not even be officially announced. Instead, it will “unfold gradually,” and be evaluated “. . .on the basis of results on the ground.” None […]

The back and forth between Barack Obama and John McCain over what kind of threat Iran represents, and how to respond to it, is instructive for the ways in which it illustrates the degree to which 9/11 sidetracked our national conversation over foreign policy and national security. That’s perfectly understandable given the magnitude of the trauma. But as with all traumatic events, there comes a time when they need to be integrated back into the broader historical context, otherwise we run the risk of responding more to internal stimuli (ie. our perception) rather than to external stimuli (ie. reality). The […]

The House Armed Services Committee is concerned that the Defense Department’s nascent Africa Command plans to address itself to missions better suited to be managed by other U.S. agencies. From the committee’s report (warning: very large pdf file) on the Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2009, which was released Friday: The committee . . . understands that a stable Africa is in the national interests of the United States. Nevertheless, the committee finds that within the command’s mission statement, it has listed a variety of tasks that appear to depart from traditional Department of Defense (DOD) missions, including medical […]

Odd convergence when the news wires carry stories of President Bush and Osama bin Laden both chastising Arab leaders on the same day. Here’s Bush: After basking in a showy celebration of America’s close ties with Israel, President Bush criticized other Middle East leaders on Sunday, prodding them to expand their economies, offer equal opportunity to women and embrace democracy if they want peace to become reality. Here’s bin Laden: Osama bin Laden released a new message on Sunday denouncing Arab leaders for sacrificing the Palestinians and saying the head of the Shiite militant group Hezbollah did not really have […]

This is a little bit of inside baseball, but Marianne is reporting that former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin is likely to be cleared of diffamation charges in what’s known as the Clearstream scandal. The incident dates back to 2004, when a list of offshore accounts mysteriously surfaced, purportedly linking the account holders (including Nicolas Sarkozy) to a 1991 kickback scandal involving the sale of French frigates to Taiwan. Instead of opening an official investigation, Villepin assigned a retired spy to investigate the list, which was later proven to be a fabrication, but not before it was leaked to the […]

Le Figaro revealed today that a retired French diplomat, formerly head of the Middle East bureau at the Quai d’Orsay, met with high-ranking Hamas officials last month. By informing the French government of the talks after the fact, Yves Aubin de La Messuzière allowed Nicolas Sarkozy to maintain his official stance of refusing to personally engage an organization committed in principle to Israel’s destruction. At the same time, the gathering consensus within the French foreign policy community is that isolation has not achieved the desired policy modifications, so a formal engagement with Hamas is at this point inevitable. The backchannel […]

In a speech in Columbus, Ohio, yesterday, John McCain looked into his crystal ball and described how he sees the state of the union in 2013, at the end of his first term as president. Here’s what he said about foreign affairs: By January 2013, America has welcomed home most of the servicemen and women who have sacrificed terribly so that America might be secure in her freedom. The Iraq War has been won. Iraq is a functioning democracy, although still suffering from the lingering effects of decades of tyranny and centuries of sectarian tension. Violence still occurs, but it […]

A Bush administration lobbying effort to stave off congressional opposition to the Merida initiative, counternarcotics aid to Mexico, appears to have been successful, as the money has made it into versions of an Iraq and Afghanistan war supplemental approved this week by the House and Senate approproations committees. As the Politico reported May 8, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made calls to lawmakers last week in an attempt to stave off cuts to the $500 million the Bush administration had requested for this year. Lawmakers objections to the Merida funding ranged from the procedural to the substantive. Some lawmakers […]