Category: Blogs

NATO Expects Turkey to Exercise Greater Restraint on Syria

By Lale Kemal, Today's Zaman

Some NATO officials talking to Today’s Zaman recalled that it was not first time that Syrian helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles have violated Turkish air space during their missions to attack the opposition targets.

Syria Shows Why Europe Needs to Flex More Muscle

By Gérard Errera, Financial Times

Europe has soft power through its ability to define rules and standards and to extend humanitarian and financial aid. It thinks the US can take the role of policeman of the world.

Syria: The President Speaks

By Frederic Hof

Using the forum of the United Nations General Assembly, President Barack Obama tried to present a coherent picture of the US approach to a region whose challenges will dominate the balance of his presidency whether he likes it or not.

NATO Chief Backs US Threat of Force Against Syria

By Scott Stearns, Voice of America

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says the United States should keep up its threat of military action against Syria so as to push forward a deal to end Syria’s chemical weapons program.

Rouhani Charts Cautious Course in UN Debut

By Barbara Slavin

Midway through Hassan Rouhani’s debut on the international stage, his American reviews are mixed. The Iranian president bypassed a chance to shake hands and chat with President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly despite anticipation in both Iran and the United States that such an encounter would happen. “Too complicated” for the […]

The Rule of Ten, US Military Power, and 2020 Hindsight

By Harlan Ullman

Legitimate yelps of pain along with klaxons sounding alarms are reverberating throughout the Pentagon. The cause is sequestration and annual cuts of $50 billion for ten years to defense spending mandated by last year’s Budget Control Act. While $50 billion a year against an annual budget of $500-600 billion may not seem draconic, the simple […]

Strategic Vision, Not Pessimism, Needed to Support the Arab Transitions

By Danya Greenfield

President Obama’s speech at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday was perhaps his most honest—though somewhat disappointing to those wanting the United States to play a vigorous democracy promotion role—account of US policy priorities in the Middle East.

What Obama Said About Egypt in his UNGA Speech

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly on September 24, President Barack Obama touched upon several key issues relating to the Middle East: Syria, Iran, the Israel-Palestine peace process, as well as dedicating several minutes to speaking about Egypt.