“The secret of politics? Make a good treaty with Russia.” Otto von Bismark, first Chancellor of the German Empire (1871 to 1890) I had been planning to do a follow up on the Syrian battle of Idlib, but the siren song of the Munich conference called out to me. Big time geopolitics and standup comedians…
When President Donald Trump traveled to Davos last week, the second foreign head of government he met with was Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu. When the expected groveling before Bibi was concluded the rest of the world learned that Trump is right on board the Netanyahu bandwagon when it comes to making sure that the Palestinians somehow…
As recently as a generation or two ago, the mainstream of American politics observed an important limit whereby domestic politics did not operate beyond the nation’s boundaries. This did not mean there weren’t sharp differences and vigorous debate about foreign policy, often along party lines. There always have been those, going back to differing Federalist…
Jordan’s King Abdullah II wants Washington to “rebuild trust “after US President Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The king believes that East Jerusalem must be the capital of Palestine. According to him, from now on the US has a “major challenge to overcome”. “Friends occasionally have disagreements,” Mike Pence said ruefully in his comments on the outcome of…
US Vice President Mike Pence will soon complete his four-day trip to the Middle East after visiting Egypt, Jordan and Israel. Pence, a devout evangelical Christian, was refused a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and a visit to Jesus’ birthplace in Bethlehem. After US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as the capital of…
On Wednesday, May 17th, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who has built his political career as both a fundamentalist Christian, and a client of the libertarian Koch brothers’ extensive fundraising network, made his unofficial but starting bid to become the U.S. President: he formed an organization to raise funds from billionaires and centi-millionaires, in order…
