New York Times (June 26)
“Mr. Trump’s demonizing of Iran, and his unwillingness to engage its government, could result in a broadening of the American military mission from defeating ISIS to preventing Iranian influence from expanding. This would be dangerous. Iran is a vexing state to be smartly managed, not assumed to be an implacable enemy.”
Tags: Broadening, Dangerous, Demonizing, Enemy, Influence, Iran, ISIS, Military, Mission, Trump, U.S., Vexing
LA Times (May 21)
Although Mike Pence “would be the most conservative president of modern times,” he would clearly be better than Trump. “Pence would be an improvement on grounds of simple competence. He would make the country safer. Under a President Pence, Americans would have less cause to fear that a blundering president might lead us into war with North Korea or Iran.”
Tags: Blundering, Competence, Conservative, Iran, North Korea, Pence, President, Trump, War
New York Times (February 3)
“It didn’t take long for tensions to flare between Iran and President Trump, and both sides have to share the blame.”
Reuters (December 20)
“As soon as he’s inaugurated on Jan. 20, Trump will face a crucial decision: Will he continue the Pentagon’s support and training for the coalition of Syrian rebel groups which is leading a ground offensive to oust Islamic State?” While “the fledgling Trump administration wants to avoid becoming mired in Syria’s complicated war, and has signaled that it wants Russia to continue taking the lead… other powers might try to drag Washington deeper into the conflict, or use it to project strength, or to distract Trump from other goals, such as his insistence on dismantling the Iran nuclear deal.”
Tags: Coalition, Conflict, Decision, Iran, Islamic State, Nuclear deal, Pentagon, Rebel, Russia, Syria, Trump, War
Wall Street Journal (September 15)
“Put yourself in Kim Jong Un’s Gucci loafers. Your economy is in worse shape than usual, you’re unsure of your grip on power, and you’ve recently executed your fourth defense minister in three years. What’s a young dictator to do?” With the restart of his nuclear reactor, Kim Jong Un may be “angling for his own version of Iran’s nuclear deal,” especially since he knows that once an agreement is reached, “he can then violate it at will without paying too steep a price.”
Tags: Agreement, Dictator, Economy, Iran, Kim Jong Un, North Korea, Nuclear reactor, Violate
New York Times (September 3)
“A disaster has been averted. The nuclear deal concluded by six major powers with Iran is now unstoppable in Congress.” Had the deal “unraveled in Congress, so would America’s standing as a global power. Russia, China and the European Union would have concluded that the United States is unserious.”
Washington Post (July 3)
“As the Islamic State, Iran and Greece occupy the attention of the Western world, China marches forward, except now it is not just building its economy but also a new geopolitics in Asia.”
Tags: Asia, China, Economy, Geopolitics, Greece, Iran, Islamic State, West
Washington Post (June 25)
“Compromises are part of any negotiation. Any agreement can really be judged only when the text is signed and details are made public. The April framework accord was a solid basis on which to build a credible final deal. Ayatollah Khamenei must decide whether he and his government can live with the economic and political consequences if he sabotages this deal.”
Tags: Agreement, Ayatollah Khamenei, Compromises, Consequences, Deal, Iran, Negotiation
Washington Post (April 1)
“Deal or no deal, the Iran talks have borne fruit” by engaging Iran with the outside world. “Iran is now a diplomatic and political factor in regional and world politics, for better or worse. The right U.S. strategy was to prevent this rising Iran from getting nuclear weapons, not to pretend that it didn’t exist.”
Tags: Deal, Diplomatic, Engaging, Iran, Nuclear weapons, Political, Pretend, Strategy, U.S.
Washington Post (January 19)
The drop in oil prices is hitting Venezuela, Russia and Iran hard. These “three troublesome nations” rely on energy exports for 68-95% of their external revenue. Venezuela now “appears on the edge of a political chasm. Putin will try to fend off domestic upheaval with more foreign aggression. And Iran will make a fateful choice between forging a lifeline to the United States and Europe and consciously embracing isolation and harsh austerity.”
Tags: Aggression, Austerity, Chasm, Energy, Europe, Exports, Iran, Isolation, Oil prices, Putin, Russia, U.S., Venezuela
