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In the run-up to this year’s general election, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged that he would annex large areas of the West Bank if he secured victory. The fulfillment of his promise — assuming Netanyahu wins the re-run scheduled for September after failing to form a...
After last week’s tanker attacks in the Gulf of Oman, Tehran will need to undertake a sober assessment of its options, which are few, and its prospects, which only get worse. Last week’s attacks on two oil tankers outside the Strait of Hormuz show that for now Tehran is choosing from a very...
As Joe Biden takes over the role played by Hillary Clinton four years ago, the Democrats and the media, encouraged by polls that show him handily beating Trump, join the remake. But Trump hasn’t lost yet. The US presidential election is nearly a year and a half away, which of course means the...
Accusing Jeremy Corbyn of betraying the wise policies of Trump’s US and Mohammed bin Salman’s Saudi Arabia, Tory headliners redefine the UK’s sense of moral purpose. As the Iran crisis begins resembling Iraq in 2003 — which not surprisingly resembled Vietnam in 1965 — the UK is...
Democracy faces a global crisis. And this crisis couldn’t be coming at a worse time. If you’re a supporter of Donald Trump — or Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil or Matteo Salvini in Italy — you probably think that democracy has never been in better health. Recent elections in these countries...
When push comes to shove, allies of the US may see their own democratic processes pushed over the side of the cliff. Before being appointed US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo occupied the position of director of the CIA. Such public figures tend to be doubly guarded and prudent, even in their...
Even though most Americans might find it hard to believe, the US was not the first country to have an election meddled with by an intrusive foreign power. In the US, reactions to the Mueller report have been all-American beyond belief. Let's face it, when it comes to election meddling, it’s...
For Donald Trump, tariffs are a substitute for diplomacy, just as harassment in his personal life is a substitute for normal human interaction. Donald Trump has two tools at his disposal as president. The first is his mouth: the insults and threats that he issues verbally or by Twitter. The...
As Theresa May’s resignation becomes official, Donald Trump encourages her to “stick around” for a “great” trade deal. US President Donald Trump, like the pussycat in the nursery rhyme, has “been to London to visit the queen.” He even visited another female leader who, under normal...
The overall picture of Britain's so-called special relationship with the US since the D-Day landings 75 years ago is not one of mutual respect and cooperation between equals, but rather one of dominance. As the 75th anniversary of the incredible feat of cooperation that began the liberation of...
The portrayal of the United States as a hostile adversary has helped hard-line conservatives to maintain their position within Iran's political system over the past 40 years. In the first week of May, the Trump administration accelerated the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group to the...
