Freezing Iran’s nuclear ambitions: faux pas, fiasco or flash of genius?

In an extraordinary time, by any measure last week was extraordinary. On Thursday, the Senate went nuclear. The super-majority requirement of 60 votes that allowed the revered “filibuster” to block confirmation of most presidential appointees was ended. Friday marked the fiftieth anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s death.  And Sunday brought the news of a nuclear agreement between the P-5 Plus One (the permanent member of the UN Security Council---the U.S., UK, France, Russia and China plus Germany and Lady Catherine Ashton, foreign policy head of the European Union) and Iran. The specifics will be closely studied.  The agreement “freezes” Iran for six months from enriching uranium; destroying so-called HEU (highly [...]

By |2017-11-14T21:28:29+02:0028 noiembrie 2013|Blog, Harlan Ullman, Orientul Mijlociu, Regiuni|0 Comentarii
Mai mult

What next for syria–breakthrough, breakdown or botched opportunity?

The Obama administration is on the verge of botching an unprecedented opportunity. Prior to the remarkable joint U.S.-Russian initiative that established a process to dispose of Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal, the outlook for the region was grim.  The only certainty was continuing violence that will kill tens of thousands and displace many more hundreds of thousands of Syrians. President Barak Obama had double checkmated himself by declaring that Syrian President Bashar al Assad must stand down from office and then setting a “redline” around using chemical weapons.  Following the chemical attacks that killed some 1400 people on August 21st, Obama made two highly contradictory decisions.  First, the president vowed to [...]

By |2017-11-14T21:28:30+02:0018 octombrie 2013|Analize si studii, Blog, Harlan Ullman, Orientul Mijlociu, Pace & Securitate, Regiuni, Subiecte|0 Comentarii
Mai mult

The fall of our discontent

On this anniversary of the attacks that leveled the Twin Towers in New York and part of the Pentagon a dozen years ago, a long, hot and wet summer in Washington, D.C. risks metastasizing into a Fall of Discontent.  Syria is the most incandescent and looming issue underscored by President Barack Obama’s speech last night.  But Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq and other ticking time bombs have not been defused.  And world economies remain fragile and emerging markets in flux. Any strike against Syria has the potential to ignite broader regional conflict.  Oil prices would be affected in the extreme with obvious economic consequences that will extend to China and the Pacific.  [...]

By |2017-11-14T21:28:33+02:0012 septembrie 2013|Analize si studii, Blog, Harlan Ullman, Orientul Mijlociu, Pace & Securitate, Regiuni, Studii internaționale, Subiecte|0 Comentarii
Mai mult

Interviu acordat ziaristului Ion Petrescu referitor la situația din Siria

1. Se ştie, la Washington D.C., că preşedintele Barack Obama are o şansă bună să obţină sprijinul Senatului, unde democraţii au cuvântul decisiv, dar Camera Reprezentanţilor, controlată de republicani, teoretic va proceda ca şi până acum, blocând iniţiativa prezidenţială. Cum comentaţi acest tablou al raportului de forţe existent pe Capitol Hill? Situația din Siria este intolerabilă. Dimensiunea umanitară a acesteia este impresionantă cu peste 2 milioane de refugiați cu sute de copii uciși de utilizarea gazului sarin, gaz interzis în 1991 de ONU și catalogat atunci ca armă de ucidere în masă. Ceea ce președintele Obama a anuțat ca iminent, un atac cu rachete Tomahawk, la adresa regimului Assad a [...]

By |2017-11-14T21:28:33+02:0010 septembrie 2013|Alexandru Grumaz, Blog, Interviuri, Orientul Mijlociu, Pace & Securitate, Publicatii, Regiuni, Subiecte|0 Comentarii
Mai mult

A queen of heart’s advice for Syria

Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland offers a relevant insight into how to respond or not   to chemical weapons attacks two weeks ago outside Damascus that claimed nearly 1500 lives.  “Sentence before verdict,” thundered the Queen of Hearts as Alice watched. For much of last week, a punitive military strike seemed imminent before a verdict had been rendered. But the queen also cried “off with their heads!” Evidence mounts that Bashar al Assad’s regime used Sarin filled missiles. Yet, the gross misrepresentations over Saddam Hussein’s non-existent arsenal of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) a dozen years ago are not forgotten and many demand proof beyond a reasonable doubt if force is [...]

By |2017-11-14T21:28:33+02:003 septembrie 2013|Blog, Harlan Ullman, Orientul Mijlociu, Pace & Securitate, Regiuni, Subiecte|0 Comentarii
Mai mult
Copyright 2012 - Centrul de Analiza si Studii de Securitate | All rights reserved.
Go to Top