Global Hotspots

Trump Has Just Raised the Stakes With Moscow and Tehran in Three Risky Moves

By Patrick Smith

President Trump made three big moves on Syria and Iran this week. They crisscross and contradict one another, but the administration’s game plan in the Middle East just got a lot clearer.
Here’s the Enormous Economic Leverage China Has Over North Korea

By Greg Wright, The Conversation

North Korea got the world’s attention – and President Donald Trump’s – when it said on July 4 that it had successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time. The weapon,...
Trump’s Fly-by-Night Mideast ‘Policy’ Embraces the Saudi’s New Crown Prince

By Patrick Smith

It’s not likely that President Trump knew what he was getting into when he embraced the Saudis as the rightful leaders of the Islamic world and the war on terror during his visit to Riyadh last month...
Russia’s Top Troll Strikes Again: Putin Offers Comey Political Asylum

By Rob Garver

While much of the world looks at the turmoil in Washington, DC with apprehension and dread, at least somebody watching the expanding investigation of President Trump and his associates is enjoying...
Here’s How the US Could Cripple North Korea’s Economy

By Rob Garver

Punishing North Korea economically for its misdeeds may be simpler than many believe, according to a new report from a Washington non-profit.

Time for Trump to Face It: From Now on, Every Week Is ‘Russia Week’

By Rob Garver

The Trump administration’s efforts to keep Russian interference in last year’s election out of the headlines are being overwhelmed by events, as another week ostensibly dedicated to a different issue...
Putin’s Just Trolling the World Now on Trump and the US Election

By Rob Garver

Russian President Vladimir Putin conceded for the first time that perhaps computer hackers from his country actually had worked to undermine Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.
Here’s One Credible Reason to Doubt the Russia-Kushner Story

By Rob Garver

Following the Washington Post report on Friday that top White House adviser Jared Kushner had approached the Russian ambassador to the US about opening a secret line of communications between Moscow...
How Trump Really Could Make a Difference in the Middle East

By Liz Peek

Two presidents, two trips to the Middle East in their first year in office. That is where the similarities end. I was in Cairo for President Obama’s much-celebrated speech in 2009 as a guest of...
Trump the Diplomat? Will He Charm or Harm US Relations?

By Patrick Smith

Whoever put together President Trump’s first foreign tour has a good grasp of the grand gesture. When he departs Friday, his main stops are Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the Vatican, making Trump the...

Obama Gave China’s President Xi a Free Pass on Cyber Theft

By Liz Peek

President Obama’s cup runneth over. Not only did Pope Francis give his blessing to the president’s climate crusade, but Chinese President Xi Jinping chimed in, promising to roll out a nationwide cap-...
Even in the U.S., Putin Is Crowned Winner in U.N. Showdown

By Rob Garver

When you run a heavy-handed government that has systematically beaten down most of the independent domestic press and replaced it with servile government-run news outlets, you expect to see positive...
Putin Claims Russia Is Cleaning Up Obama’s Mess in Syria

By Rob Garver

In Vladimir Putin’s version of the Middle East, the current civil war and attendant humanitarian catastrophe in Syria is mess of the United States’ making, and one that the Russian military – out of...
U.S. Program to Train Syrian Rebels Is Nearing Meltdown

By Martin Matishak

The Obama administration’s troubled $500 million program to train Syrian rebels to fight Islamic State militants is veering towards complete meltdown. The thus far useless effort experienced another...
Obama’s UN Speech Masks an Off-Balance Foreign Policy

By Rob Garver

In a forceful speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Monday morning, President Obama pointedly criticized Russia, and by implication Russian President Vladimir Putin, for its support of...

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