The current debate over whether the United States should ease sanctions against Iran in light of the latter’s struggles with COVID-19 reflects a broader reality: More than four decades after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, we still lack a consensus about the nature of the regime in Tehran and how to deal with it. For Iran, …
With the coronavirus forcing Iran to dig mass graves for its victims, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei rejected U.S. aid offers of recent days and suggested that America “specifically built” the virus “for Iran using the genetic data of Iranians which they have obtained through different means.” “You cannot be trusted,” Khamenei told the United States …
Continue reading “Iran’s coronavirus response highlights authoritarianism’s dangers”
This week, the city of Prague will commemorate the fifth anniversary of the slaying of Russia’s freedom-promoting opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov, by renaming for him the square where Russia’s embassy is located. It’s a timely gesture, for it comes as freedom and democracy continue their global decline of recent years, as China and Russia promote …
Continue reading “West should echo Prague’s Nemtsov remembrance”
Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro’s quiet move to restore elements of free enterprise to his nation’s economy should serve as a cautionary tale for anyone listening to Sen. Bernie Sanders’ siren song of socialism in the Democratic primaries or who is still tempted by promises of socialist bliss. Maduro’s move represents a desperate attempt to dampen …
Continue reading “Maduro acknowledges his socialist delusions”
Signs are mounting that in Tehran, which faces rising pressures at home and abroad, the country’s powerful hardline conservatives are circling the wagons, raising the odds of still more Iranian global provocations. The question is whether Washington — which continues to tighten the economic screws on Tehran — is ready for what might come next. …
Continue reading “Washington needs to anticipate Iran’s next provocation”
More than half a century ago, President John F. Kennedy re-wrote U.S. policy for the developing world with one goal in mind: to put America on the side of revolutionary forces that were seeking progressive change. His predecessor, Dwight Eisenhower, had subjected U.S. policy in the developing world to the wishes of America’s European allies …
With Pyongyang demanding that Washington reverse its policy toward North Korea before any resumption of nuclear talks, President Donald Trump needs to maintain a hardline U.S. posture toward the North’s growing nuclear weapons program and resist temptations to offer more unilateral concessions. Kim Jong Un’s disparaging response of recent days to Trump’s call for a …