Tehran’s brutal crackdown on democracy-hungry protestors may have defeated the most serious threat to the Iranian regime since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, but the Obama Administration will continue to face the questions of how to respond to such uprisings and when to promote democracy around the world. These questions offer no easy answers. Cultures …
Continue reading “America’s Human Rights Challenges Extend Beyond Iran”
At first blush, the gripping images of popular uprising and deadly crackdown in Iran have severely complicated President Obama’s approach to that nation, jeopardizing his plans for deliberative “engagement” with Iran’s leaders to convince them to abandon their quest for nuclear weaponry. How, after all, can the United States seek dialogue with a regime that …
Continue reading “Iran’s Turmoil May Prove Convenient for Obama”
The recent rise in interest rates may mark the first sign that the chickens of Washington’s fiscal recklessness are coming home to roost, as investors worry that huge budget deficits in the coming years will threaten not just recovery from today’s recession but longer-term economic growth as well Top federal policymakers are responding. Federal Reserve …
Continue reading “Needed: A New Imperative to Cut the Deficit”
President Obama’s decision to speak in Cairo this week is symbolically appropriate because, for better and for worse, that city highlights the multiple conflicts across the Middle East on which he must take sides. What he says publicly and how he maneuvers privately in Cairo, and during his earlier stop in Riyadh, will either cement …
Continue reading “Three Ways Obama Must Choose Wisely in Cairo”
The American people are about to confront their contradictions – their demand for more specific services but less “government” in general, for lower deficits but not for higher taxes or less of the spending that dominates government. Also heading for a confrontation are Americans and their leaders in Washington, the latter of whom are preparing …
Continue reading “On Taxes and Spending, Democrats Must Not Ignore Public Skepticism”
She sits mostly alone, a woman of fragile health but breathtaking courage – a solitary figure who represents the aspirations of 47 million fellow citizens of Burma and of millions living in oppression elsewhere. She is Aung San Suu Kyi, who is to Burma what Nelson Mandela was to South Africa and Natan Sharansky was …
Continue reading “Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi: Diplomacy, Human Rights – And a Brave Woman”
As President Obama prepares to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington next week, the United States and its allies are crafting an approach toward the Middle East that carries high risk to Western interests and leaves Israel increasingly alone in an ever-more turbulent region. The Obama Administration plans to travel the well-worn path …
Continue reading “U.S. Takes Risky Approach to Iran and the Middle East”