What to do about Libya? First of all, we need to be clear about our national interests. Since we have lived with the Muammar Qadhafi regime for years—and particularly because Libya gave up its weapons of mass destruction program—there is no immediate vital national interest requiring the use of force. That could change. Qadhafi could […]
The United Nations has responded in several ways to the Libyan regime’s terrible acts over the past few weeks. None of those actions, including the premature referral of Libyan to the International Criminal Court, have seemingly given Muammar Qadhafi much concern. Attacks continue, people are dying, and Qadhafi remains intent to stay in power. The […]
In the midst of Congress’s roaring debate over budget cuts, Assistant Secretary of State Eric Schwartz weighed in last week to decry any talk of cutting foreign aid in a letter he titled “Human Security Is National Security.” Civilian and humanitarian foreign aid, he argued, supports our national security interests and “reinforces our nation’s role […]
The fairy tale stopped in Tripoli. At first it appeared that Libya’s Moammar Qaddafi would succumb in short order as did the regimes in Tunisia and Egypt. His support appeared to be unraveling as diplomats and high-ranking officers and even Cabinet members scurried to disassociate themselves from the regime that they had long served. It […]
The United States is moving warships, planes and troops close to Libya and two assault ships passed through the Suez Canal Wednesday morning. The USS Ponce and the USS Kearge, carrying approximately 400 marines passed through the waterway on the way to eastern Libya, where rebels are in control as Muammar Qaddafi continues to rule […]
On March 18, the United Nations Human Rights Council is scheduled to consider its final report of Libya’s human rights record that was conducted under the body’s Universal Periodic Review. The first part of the human rights review of the “Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya”, conducted on November 9, 2010, was an all too […]
Diplomats from the international Quartet – the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations – announced this week that they plan a new effort to push negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The PA walked away from talks with Israel in late 2010, demanding that Israel freeze all Jewish construction east […]
Now that the two German journalists from the popular daily Bild are back in Germany, it is clear that the victor in the exchange between Iran and Germany was the former. To secure the release of the journalists, Germany had to dispatch its Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle to Iran to collect them personally and in […]
The people of Iran and Lebanon will overthrow Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hassan Nasrallah, President Shimon Peres told Spanish Jews during a visit marking 25 years of Spanish-Israeli ties. He also called on world leaders to denounce Ahmadinejad “on the red carpet of the United Nations.” Speaking at the headquarters of the Jewish community in Spain, […]
PA and Arab leaders submitted a request to the United Nations Security Council to vote Friday to condemn Israel for allowing Jews to build homes within Jewish cities in Judea and Samaria, but the US vetoed the resolution. All the other 14 members voted for the resolution, leading the PA to claim a diplomatic victory. […]
