I kind of let this slip through the cracks (because, hey, it's just me around here), but the Iran deal took another step toward full implementation in the past couple of weeks, when the International Atomic Energy Agency issued its "Final Assessment on Past and Present Outstanding Issues regarding Iran’s Nuclear Programme." As the title … Continue reading Iran nuclear deal takes another step forward

Vladimir Putin used the words "nuclear" and "warhead" in a conversation about Russia's military action in Syria yesterday, and so that created a bit of a stir on the internet tubes. For example, here's Fox News's level-headed take: For balance, here's the equally fair-minded RT: And from The Hill: Also this, from The Independent (in … Continue reading I’m pretty sure Russia is not planning on nuking ISIS

On Tuesday, leaders from most of the Syrian rebel groups--excluding ISIS, which isn't really a "rebel" group per se, and the al-Qaeda affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra--got together in Riyadh for a set of Saudi-led talks aimed at bringing them together in a common bloc ahead of peace talks with Bashar al-Assad's government. This was supposed to … Continue reading Hey, that went well

Over the past couple of days, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has been ratcheting up the war of words between Ankara and Moscow over that Russian aircraft that got shot down by Turkey a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday, in what I can only assume was an appeal to Vladimir Putin's innate sense of fairness, … Continue reading Now this is just getting silly

I know I'm supposed to have a Take on big news, especially when it relates to foreign affairs, terrorism, and politics, but I have to say that I've got nothing when it comes to Donald Trump's latest garbage. It's far too late in the process to say that Trump is a joke candidate, but he … Continue reading All Trumped out

My newest piece for LobeLog (co-authored with Jim Lobe) highlights a recent poll of US opinion on Israel and the Israel-Palestine issue, conducted by University of Maryland and Brookings scholar Shibley Telhami. Telhami's survey used two samples: one to represent the general public, and then an over-sample of self-professed evangelical Christians, in order to gauge … Continue reading Netanyahu and his American evangelical fans

On Friday, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced that searchers had found the wreckage of the Spanish galleon San José, which was sunk in battle off the coast of Cartagena in 1708. This is a really cool find. The San José was one of the flagships of the "Spanish Treasure Fleet," which was responsible for … Continue reading A metaphorical wreck over an actual wreck