Israel's extended olive branch to the UAE occurs within a complicated geopolitical context, in which some traditional alliances are strained, several states are exploring new partnerships and various actors are seizing upon newly generated opportunities in the region.
Erdogan's crackdown on political rivals coupled with a disproportionate number of bombings at Kurdish rallies and other parties makes you wonder what's really going on.
The debate on drones may never be resolved, primarily because it is the wrong debate. Rather than focus on the morality of a weapons system, discussion should consider how and why it is being employed.
In 1920, Orot ("Lights"), a collection of works by the first Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, was published, which included an essay c...
President Obama's position on the Saudi-Iranian row is a public announcement that his administration is dissolving its traditional alliance system, along with the regional order it had underwritten for decades, and embracing Iran instead.
The stark reality is that American policies over the past year have substantially strengthened al-Qaeda. Some of the Obama administration's actions in Syria have materially increased its operational capability.
As the 25th anniversary of Desert Storm rolls around, historians are finally beginning to question whether this short-term victory was really a long-term triumph.
While many factors can affect a candidate's polling numbers, one uncomfortable conclusion can't be overlooked when it comes to reactions to Cruz's "carpet-bombing" comments: by and large, Americans don't think or care much about the real-world consequences of the unleashing of American air power.
After claiming a special expertise in foreign policy, GOP presidential wannabe Marco Rubio finds himself under fire because of his no-nothing, neoconservative tendencies. He's responded in the usual way for someone whose policies would keep America perpetually at war: accuse his critics of being "isolationists."
Is there any cause truly worth dying, let alone killing, for? Life, perhaps, but liberty is just one path to lead life.
Let begin by clearing the deck -- Islam is not the problem, but is instead the solution for a better future for Muslim countries. The fact is that Islam has been undermined and hijacked by corrupt hereditary rulers, clerics and strongmen to "legitimize" their illegitimate rule.
Guantanamo is not only a symbol of the U.S. failure to fully change course, it is also an ongoing human rights tragedy where the United States continues to imprison 104 men indefinitely, most without charge or trial. What can U.S. condemnation of other nations' human rights abuses mean in the face of 14 years indefinite detention in an offshore prison of men not convicted of any crime?
Imagine you are invited by a former student to visit his home, Kurdistan, your friend is researching ethnic minorities in the War on Terror and wants ...
This week, the new year kicked off with Donald Trump releasing his first TV ad, cramming in all the xenophobia, "pants on fire" mendacity and ugliness that have marked his campaign so far: calls for a temporary shutdown of Muslims entering the U.S., a wall to keep out Mexicans and a vow to "CUT THE HEAD OFF OF ISIS." While no one would accuse Trump of being a student of history, he's drawing on a deep American tradition of campaign fear mongering. It's the same playbook that gave us "welfare queens," Willie Horton, and, more recently, a decade-long disaster in Iraq. This isn't to say cynically pandering to people's lizard-brain fear center isn't effective -- it got Bush reelected in 2004 -- but it comes with a high cost. When we operate from fear, we push our reason into the background. And if we're going to make progress in this new year in solving our biggest problems, it's going to be by using our wisdom, not our fear.
From Soccer Moms to Joe the Plumber, we embrace a neat moniker for an electoral trend. But the return of the Security Mom is, like much fear over terrorism, a red herring to the most present threat to American mothers' security: gun violence.
Yes, I know that cancer and terrorism are not exactly the same, but as a systems philosopher/scientist, there are direct analogues at every level of complex systems.