For a nation that receives $3.1 billion in U.S. military aid per annum, Israel seldom answers to our national interest. In the most poignant, contemporary example, the American foreign policy establishment has concluded that an Israeli decision to attack Iran will be fully autonomous, made with or without our preapproval. Furthermore, Pentagon analysts predict that … Read more
My morning routine usually takes me to Foreign Policy, whose online magazine’s phenomenal sampling of analysis and expert opinion keeps my World editor gears moving. Like any student of international affairs, I have taught myself to read these selections dispassionately—reserving special caution for the issues I expect to set me off. But on rare occasion, … Read more
The strategy of imposing increasingly punitive economic sanctions has long been the cornerstone of U.S. policy towards Iran and other rogue nations, ranging from Iraq and Libya to North Korea. However, the fundamental question of whether this policy will tend towards a favorable outcome remains too often unexamined. Beyond the inherent challenges of collective action … Read more
Despite a formal alliance between Pakistan and the United States, the interests of the two governments are often in perfect contradiction. Pakistan’s spy agency, the ISI, has been accused by Mike Mullen of supporting the jihadist terror cell Haqqani in its October attack on the American embassy in Kabul. Furthermore, Osama bin Laden managed to … Read more
Marina opens a very compelling feminist take on civil unrest in a religious Israeli town by writing, “As a Jew, a liberal, and a lover of the State of Israel, it is with great sadness that I reflect on what has transpired over the last few days in Beit Shemesh, Israel.” As a friend, I … Read more
As a Jew, a liberal, and a lover of the State of Israel, it is with great sadness that I reflect on what has transpired over the last few days in Beit Shemesh, Israel. On Monday, Haaretz reported an escalation of gender-based violence in the city of Beit Shemesh. Beit Shemesh is home to a … Read more
In the midst of regional turmoil and overwhelming pressure for change, Morocco’s monarchy has seemed to be a model for the Arab world of preemptive and proactive government action to preserve stability. In the face of popular protests driven by the February 20th youth movement, King Mohammed VI was able to defuse tensions rapidly and effectively. In his historic … Read more
On Tuesday, June 14, Zion Oil & Gas, Inc. announced it had requested a petroleum exploration permit to develop large shale oil deposits in the Shfela Basin, 30 miles west of Jerusalem. Zion Oil & Gas is one of many companies beginning to develop Israel’s large shale oil deposits. Though the reserves were discovered years … Read more
I have nothing new to contribute on Anthony Weiner’s Twitter debacle. And, whether or not I consider it important enough to cover (read: not), we can count on Sarah Palin to ‘refudiate’ herself at least every few months. But thanks to the pervasive, horizontal nature of social media, you no longer need to be a politician to have … Read more
Dani Rodrik is the Rafiq Hariri professor of International Political Economy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. His father-in-law, Cetin Dogan, is a lead defendant in Turkey’s Sledgehammer trial. Harvard Political Review: How has Turkey responded to the recent events and uprisings in the Middle East? Dani Rodrik: Turkey was caught unaware by … Read more