International politics is a strange business, as this Turkish press report reminds us.The core of the story is this: Negar Azizmoradi is an Iranian citizen.  She is also the head of the “Raelian” group in Iran and is currently seeking asylum in Turkey, due to a fear of persecution back home in Iran.Ms. Azizmoradi’s concerns […]

As President Obama basks in the glow of his Nobel Peace Prize, many of the usual suspects are complaining that he hasn’t done enough to earn it.How much has really changed in the world of American foreign policy since President Obama took the oath?One place to start thinking about this question might be something Steve […]

Ninety-two years ago today, British forces entered Jerusalem as the Ottoman Empire retreated from Palestine during World War One.General Edmund Allenby, leader of the British forces, entered the Holy City on foot, issuing a proclamation that promised to respect the rights of all three religions for whom Jerusalem has a special significance.  The entry on foot […]

General Stanley McChrystal let the cat out of the bag during his testimony today before Congress.  We can’t win against al-Qaeda, said America’s top general in Afghanistan, until we capture or kill Osama Bin Laden.I think he’s right and have thought so for many years, but I don’t think it’s something to say much about.“Think […]

The Prime Minister of Turkey is visiting Washington.This is much more important than most of these state visits are.  Building a relationship with the new Turkey is a critical mission for President Obama.  Some American allies became less important with the end of the Cold War; Turkey is one of the ones whose importance in […]

In almost fifty years of following American news organizations, I thought I’d seen everything, but this morning I saw something new: an editorial in the Chicago Tribune fuming about the failure of White House social secretary Desiree Rogers to appear before Congress to answer questions about the party-crashing couple who made it into the state […]

Pacific Islanders have staged a reconciliation ceremony to atone for their ancestors’ behavior in killing and eating a famous British missionary 170 years ago.The Reverend John Williams was a Non-Conformist minister whose labors resulted in the conversion of many Pacific Islanders to Christianity; for many years it was popular to condemn missionaries for destroying the […]

The Episcopal diocese of Los Angeles has elected an openly-gay woman in a committed relationship as one of two new assistant or ‘suffragan’ bishops.  Before the newly elected bishops can be consecrated, the choice will have to be approved by other Episcopal dioceses around the country.  The signs are that this will happen; last summer […]

It’s been a slow weekend for blogging; rather than waiting out the season’s first snowstorm by the blaze of a friendly fire in Mead manor, I spent Saturday up at Yale, helping torture this year’s crop of grand strategy students.The Yale grand strategy seminar was started some years ago by John Gaddis, Paul Kennedy and […]

This is another of those Jacksonian moments in American politics.  The lower middle class and the middle middle class are in full flaming revolt against the cultural, political and economic power of the upper crust.  Whether it is Tea Party politics on the right or the rapidly swelling caucus on the left that thinks President […]