War on the Rocks published an interesting article today by the National Defense University's Denise Natali about all the things that need to be worked out before the Iraqis are going to be ready to attempt to liberate Mosul from ISIS. Truth be told, the actual military campaign is going to be the most straightforward … Continue reading Consolidation first

After I wrote about Bernie Sanders and the Middle East for LobeLog, I decided to write about my irritation with the lack of substantive foreign policy discussion in the Democratic primary in general. I posted the result at Medium yesterday, and I hope you'll give it a read: Another conclusion that we can draw at … Continue reading Foreign policy and the Democratic primary

I need your help to keep this blog going! Please read this and consider contributing something. Also, while you’re out there on the internet tubes, please consider liking this blog’s Facebook page and following me on Twitter! And please share my work with your friends/followers to help me grow the audience around here! Thank you! My … Continue reading Improving US-Iran relations through sports

I need your help to keep this blog going! Please read this and consider contributing something. Also, while you’re out there on the internet tubes, please consider liking this blog’s Facebook page and following me on Twitter! And please share my work with your friends/followers to help me grow the audience around here! Thank you! It's … Continue reading 2016 in the United States of No Muslims Allowed

I need your help to keep this blog going! Please read this and consider contributing something. Also, while you’re out there on the internet tubes, please consider liking this blog’s Facebook page and following me on Twitter! And please share my work with your friends/followers to help me grow the audience around here! Thank you! Whatever … Continue reading Free to keep killing people

I need your help to keep this blog going! Please read this and consider contributing something. Also, while you’re out there on the internet tubes, please consider liking this blog’s Facebook page and following me on Twitter! And please share my work with your friends/followers to help me grow the audience around here! Thank you! Since … Continue reading Hillary Clinton’s dangerous (?) Syria plan

I need your help to keep this blog going! Please read this and consider contributing something. Also, while you’re out there on the internet tubes, please consider liking this blog’s Facebook page and following me on Twitter! And please share my work with your friends/followers to help me grow the audience around here! Thank you! Folks, … Continue reading Good talk

Writing about the Middle East and Africa in the year 2016 unfortunately means writing about violence most of the time. You try to notice patterns in the violence or talk about the groups behind the violence and what their aims are, or how they could be stopped, or what the context of the violence is, … Continue reading Literally unspeakable

I need your help to keep this blog going! Please read this and consider contributing something. Also, while you’re out there on the internet tubes, please consider liking this blog’s Facebook page and following me on Twitter! And please share my work with your friends/followers to help me grow the audience around here! Thank you! The … Continue reading The anti-ISIS free-rider problem