Andrew Bacevich Commentary

Speechless in Tehran

Hossein Askari | Jul 03, 2009
Obama can talk to Iran all he wants. The mullahs might listen, but they won’t do anything for us. So we shouldn’t concede anything in return.

Red Dawn

Morton Abramowitz | Jul 02, 2009
Like it or not, China is rising. Negotiating with Beijing based on shared interests will work a lot better than scolding it for not being a responsible stakeholder in the international system.

Misreading Tehran

Suzanne Maloney | Jun 26, 2009
America’s Iran watchers blew it. To make sure we aren’t caught by surprise with Tehran’s politics again, we need to understand the deep republican streak of the Iranian people—and the lengths to which their leaders will go to stifle it.

Carrots and Sticks

Ximena Ortiz | Jun 18, 2009
Israel would lose a lot in a peace deal with Palestine. If Obama really wants a new settlement, he needs to reward the Israelis for cooperating—and punish them if they don’t.

Loose BRICs

Daniel W. Drezner | Jun 17, 2009
Americans shouldn’t be alarmed by the BRIC summit. The body is just another toothless international grouping, not an attempt to exert hard power.

Shunning the Mullahs

Hossein Askari | Jun 17, 2009
Iran is seeing its greatest crisis since the 1979 Revolution. If America avoids legitimizing the regime, the government may well fall.

Sanctioning Tehran

Geoffrey Kemp | Jun 16, 2009
Regardless of what happens in Iran, Obama needs to rethink his approach to the country. A joint sanctions regime with the EU would squeeze the mullahs and force them to consider reform.

The End of Multilateralism

Nikolas K. Gvosdev | Jun 12, 2009
The spirit of international cooperation that arose after 9/11 is dead. We’re on our own now—no one is going to help us denuclearize Iran and North Korea.

Obama's Israel Gamble

Dimitri K. Simes | Jun 04, 2009
The president’s Cairo speech made nice soundings on Arab-Israeli peace. But if Obama really wants to accomplish something, he needs to get tough on Israeli settlements.

Obama's Speech

Ximena Ortiz | Jun 04, 2009
The president’s Cairo address confirmed his skill as an orator and encouraged Arabs and Israelis to work toward peace. But the realities of the AfPak conflict will probably ring truer in Muslim ears than Obama’s dulcet tones.

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May 22, 2013