Category Archives: Uncategorized

Storm Over, Climate Change Likely to Continue

February 13, 2017 President Trump’s first few weeks at the White House were like a tropical storm. Some of America’s core values were challenged. Washington’s relations even with its long-standing friends and allies were thrown into uncertainty.

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Unpredictability, Confusion and Rule by Tweets

February 5, 2017 President Trump’s election campaign remarks on American foreign and security policy led to serious concern even among Washington’s closest allies. Nonetheless, they refrained from reacting in ways which could be perceived as meddling in the elections and … Continue reading

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Time to Face the Middle East Realities

January 30, 2017 Last Friday President Trump signed his most controversial executive order so far. Its title was “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States”. Soon, it was simply being referred to either as the “refugee … Continue reading

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A Wrong Move at the Worst Time

January 26, 2017 It has been almost twenty-five years since Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Chairman Yasser Arafat shook hands on the White House lawn. President Clinton said at the time that the peace of the brave was within reach. … Continue reading

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A Few Notes on the Inauguration

January 22, 2016 American exceptionalism is an American concept. President Obama has referred to it on more than one occasion. During a news conference in Strasbourg on April 4, 2009, on his first trip abroad as President, in responding to … Continue reading

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Trump Administration and the Middle East: First Impressions

January 16, 2017 For understandable reasons, President-elect Donald Trump’s press conference and the Senate confirmation hearings of his team could not reflect a well-coordinated foreign and security policy approach. A reluctance to go into specifics as well as conflicting views … Continue reading

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Turkey’s Relations with the West

January 9, 2017 In early April 2009 Mr. Obama visited Ankara on his first trip abroad as US President. His address to the Turkish Parliament was full of praise for Turkey’s “strong, vibrant, secular democracy”. In May 2013, Prime Minister … Continue reading

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About Pipe Dreams

January 4, 2017 After a violent year and minutes into 2017 Turkey hit world headlines. Again, the reason was a terrorist attack. And again, it was followed by the customary anti-terrorism ritual. Minister of the Interior visited the crime scene. … Continue reading

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2016: A Year of Turmoil

December 29, 2016 I had started my summing-up for the year 2015 with the following: “Arab Spring turmoil has continued to dominate world’s agenda with the war in Syria, ISIL terrorism and the refugee problem as top items. The confrontation … Continue reading

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The Obama Legacy and the Middle East

December 26, 2016 President Obama assumed office on January 20, 2009. Washington’s relations with Moscow were troubled as a result of the military conflict between Russia and Georgia. The US was moving closer to withdrawal from Iraq but the war … Continue reading

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