The deal reached between Iran and the P5+1 is top news today and probably much of this week. In one of the few instances of a media buzz word accurately describing a major news event, I do think the agreement, although simply an interim deal, is historic. It wasn't...

The P5+1 and Iran are in Geneva negotiating the details of a first-phase deal on Tehran's nuclear program. In the last round of talks, France scuttled the deal all other parties had reportedly agreed upon, citing Iran's Arak heavy water reactor as a proliferation...

Israel's blockade of Gaza has long been known for it's cruel results in strangling the population. But two recent happenings - namely Egypt's destruction of Gaza's smuggling tunnels and Israel's decision ratchet up the blockade by blocking construction materials -...

Here's an uncomfortable reality: the Obama administration's decision to recommit to the war in Afghanistan and surge U.S. military forces in his first term was made largely to allow for continued U.S. drone attacks in neighboring Pakistan. The hundreds of billions of...

Last week I wrote about the potential for the Obama administration's Asia-Pivot strategy to inflame anti-colonialist sentiment. I lamented that Washington tries simply to get around this popular opposition to the military surge in East Asia instead of acknowledging...

For those who have been following U.S.-Israel-Iran relations, the one certainty we've come to expect is that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will say all kinds of things that aren't true in order to shift the balance away from peaceful diplomacy and towards...

The primary disagreement in U.S.-Afghan negotiations for a status of forces agreement is over whether U.S. occupation forces should continue to be exempt from Afghan law. Last week I pointed out the irony in all this, since Washington is essentially acknowledging that...

Obama's strategic pivot to Asia has been hamstrung by hard facts. Sequestration included cuts to the defense budget that officials say handicapped the planned military surge in East Asia. The Syrian civil war, nuclear negotiations with Iran, and efforts to get Israeli...

Those in Congress who oppose U.S.-Iran negotiations to settle the nuclear issue essentially argue that Iran is untrustworthy and is simply trying to buy time in talks to build a nuclear bomb. Anyone paying attention can see this is irrational. First of all, the...