There is no better summary of how U.S.-Egyptian relations have changed than news stories reporting that “a number of Americans whom Egyptian authorities have been barred from leaving the country have sought refuge at the American Embassy in Cairo.”  They need refuge because they may well be arrested without this protection. Read more »

Is Turkey purchasing Hamas from Iran?

One recent report says “a high-ranking Hamas official told the Al-Sharq newspaper on Thursday” that “Turkey has agreed to carry out a project to support Hamas and rebuild Gaza. According to the official, Hamas will open an official office in Turkey in the coming weeks.”  I have seen other reports suggesting that Turkey has replaced Iran as the largest donor to Hamas, pledging $300 million over the coming year. Read more »

Is the “Arab Spring” turning away from democracy, and leading instead to religious extremism? Was the enthusiasm for the revolts in Tunisia, Egypt, and elsewhere shown by many cheerleaders for democracy just a burst of naivete?

Those are the subjects I discussed in an article in Foreign Policy.  My own take in “A Forward Strategy of Freedom“ is that the governments in question had rightly lost all legitimacy and were doomed. Now, the battle for democracy commences–and though we cannot determine the outcome, there is much the United States and other friends of freedom can do to help. Read more »

The Obama Administration has decided to admit Yemen’s President Saleh to the United States for medical care. It is a controversial decision both in Yemen and here in the United States. As the Washington Post reported, “a decision to allow him into the United States could be politically risky for President Obama, given Saleh’s repressive 33-year reign and the sustained unrest in Yemen.” Read more »

Some recent claims that we should all relax about the Iranian nuclear program because Iran has not made a decision to build a weapon are themselves blown up in a short, devastating comment from ISIS, the Institute for Science and International Security. Read more »

If there is any chance of avoiding a military confrontation with Iran or the Iranian acquisition of nuclear weapons, that chance will be the product of very resolute American policy toward Iran. In the last few days we have seen more evidence that such a policy is lacking. Read more »

In October, I wrote here about “Progress in Burma.”

This week, happily, there is more. The regime has released over six hundred prisoners, many of them key political prisoners. The United States will respond by sending an ambassador to Burma for the first time in twenty years. Moreover, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. John McCain will visit Burma this weekend. Read more »

In today’s Wall Street Journal, I write about what 2012 will bring in the Israeli-Palestinian “peace process.”  I argue that the parties are focused not on peace talks, but “on three elections: America’s, the definite one; the Palestinian Authority’s, scheduled for May 4; and Israel’s, which Mr. Netanyahu may call later this year.” Read more »