James Baker’s Politics of Diplomacy
Quote of the week: “You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.” – Leon Trotsky In the world of high-wire, high stakes diplomacy, you have to be good to succeed. It’s better to be good and…
Tag: George H.W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush
Lyric of the week: “Maybe time running out is a gift I’ll work hard ’til the end of my shift And give you every second I can find And hope it isn’t me who’s left behind It’s knowing that this…
Crippling the Open Skies Treaty Punishes Allies and the US, Not Russia
Quote of the week: “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.” – Albert Einstein Thanks to the reporting of Steve Liewer of the Omaha World-Herald, we have learned about the latest effort by…
John Bolton
Quotes of the week: “We have only two very unpleasant choices: either Iran gets nuclear weapons in the very near future, or pre-emptive military force, fully justified by well-established principles of self-defense, must break Iran’s control over the nuclear fuel…
A Simple, Unthreatening Way to Shore Up NATO
Secretary of Defense James Mattis travelled to Asia to calm nerves in Tokyo and Seoul. America’s Asian allies have been unnerved by President Donald Trump’s dismissive rhetoric about alliances based on cost/benefit grounds, and his decision to dump the Trans-Pacific…
The Demise of the Republican National Security Establishment
The skirmish between Senator Bob Corker and the Obama Administration over the UN Security Council resolution on the CTBT is yet another reflection of the demise of the internationalist wing of the Republican Party. Donald Trump’s nomination and his musings…
In Defense of the Open Skies Treaty
With the Republican Party in tear-down mode, it’s no surprise that demolition efforts on Capitol Hill have extended to the Open Skies Treaty, which has impeccable Republican lineage. Nor is it a surprise that the demolition crew has gotten an…
Second-Term Blues for Arms Control
The “Arms-Control Enterprise” is taking a beating as the “Nuclear Enterprise” is recapitalized. These trend lines have become starker during the Obama administration’s second term, mirroring the declining fortunes for arms control during President Bill Clinton’s last four years in…
Congress and the Iran Deal:
Money for Nothing, Votes for Free
A “free” vote on Capitol Hill is one without negative consequences. Republicans and Democrats can line up with party activists and showboat without risk because they will be unsuccessful. Hard decisions can be sidestepped and political posturing is easy when…
Monitoring Provisions of the Iran Agreement
This assessment of the core monitoring provisions of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is necessarily hurried and preliminary. I invite ACW readers to weigh in with their comments. The text of key provisions follows my first-cut assessment. The agreement’s…