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The Wave: Man, God, and the Ballot Box in the Middle East
The promise of democracy for Muslims offers something historically unparalleled. Where Islamist groups once dreamed of revolution, quietly developed paramilitary cells, and assassinated their secular opponents, mainstream Islamist groups today see elections as a means for society to maintain akhlaq; the mores that define good Muslims.
Learn MoreAnalysis & Commentary - Claudia Rosett
The UN and the Terrorism Trade
Compensation of victims of terrorism sounds like a good idea. But is this something the United Nations should be involved with? more...
The Magician Behind Iran’s Vanishing Oil Tankers
With sanctions bearing down on Iran, the Iranian shipping industry has been putting on a carnival of flim-flam to hide its doings. In the latest twist on this sanctions-dodging performance, Iran’s oil tankers have begun vanishing from the public radar. more...
UNESCO Funny Business
Surely Comedy Central’s The Daily Show meant well when it sent comedian John Oliver all the way to Africa to file a report savaging the United States for defunding the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. more...
It’s Time to Add Syria to Kofi Annan’s Long List of Failures
It should have raised red flags when both Syria and Russia approved of Kofi Annan’s February 23 appointment as the United Nations-Arab League Joint Special Envoy (JSE) to Syria. more...
UNESCO Goes to Washington
When the member states of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization voted last October to confer membership on the Palestinian Authority, they knew their decision would trigger the withdrawal of U.S. funding... more...
Russia’s Chariot Calls at Iran
It’s time for the next installment in the adventures of the Chariot, a Russian-operated freighter that made headlines in January for delivering tons of Russian munitions to Syria. more...
Iran Sanctions: A Tale of Two Fleets
As financial sanctions tighten on Iran, a shift has appeared in the shipping patterns of Iran’s main cargo fleet, the state-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, or IRISL. more...
Venezuela and Pakistan, Shoo-Ins For the UN Human Rights Council?
You won’t find this information posted yet on the United Nations web site, because when the UN General Assembly “elects” countries to the 47 member seats on the UN Human Rights Council, the Assembly doesn’t inconvenience itself with such norms as transparency more...
The Mystery of Iran’s Wandering War Ships
Did they dock in Syria, or didn’t they? Last week, two Iranian war ships, a destroyer and a supply ship, passed through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean. According to Iran’s government, they docked in the Syrian port of Tartus. more...
Panetta’s Biggest Worry
So, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta just told told the Washington Post’s David Ignatius that his biggest worry right now is that Israel will attack Iran in the next few months. more...
Before We Thank Iran’s Tanker Fleet…
With sanctions currently the U.S. tool of choice for thwarting Iran’s terror networks and nuclear ambitions, the good news is that U.S. lawmakers are crafting new measures to cast a wider net. more...
The Problem with Iran Is Not Lack of Communication
“Groundhog day, over and over again,” is how Ambassador John Bolton has described U.S. efforts to talk with Iran, saying all such talks achieve is to buy time for Iran to work on its nuclear weapons program. That was in 2009, and right he was. more...
How the UN Achieves Sustainable Peacekeeper Rape
Year after year, since 2005, the United Nations has proclaimed its “zero-tolerance” policy for UN peacekeepers sexually exploiting or even raping the people they’re sent to protect. Year after year, the abuse continues. more...
The Long Rough Awakening of Russia
Twenty years ago this Christmas day, Mikhail Gorbachev gave a speech announcing “I hereby discontinue my activities at the post of President of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.” more...
Memo to World Diplomats: Don’t Cry for Kim
To release news of Kim Jong Il’s death, North Korea’s government stuck a woman newsreader in front of a TV camera, where she sobbed and wept her way through the announcement. more...
Mother of All Grinches, North Korea
The AFP reports that North Korea’s government has warned South Korea it will retaliate with “unexpected consequences,” should the South display Christmas lights near the DMZ that divides the two Koreas. more...
The Big Business Behind Iran’s Proliferation
In preparing to expand sanctions on Iran this week, the governments of the European Union face a critical choice. They can carry on with their current strategy of relying chiefly on pinpoint designations against suspected nuclear proliferators. more...
UNESCO Fiasco
If the U.S. has one big lever right now within the many organizations of the United Nations system, it is the threat to cut the money with which U.S. taxpayers pay the biggest share of the U.N.’s bills. more...
Believe It Or Not: U.S. Officials Are Now Praising UNESCO
American engagement just isn’t going well these days at UNESCO, the Paris-based United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. more...
At the U.N., a French Twist
The Palestinian drive for United Nations membership is backfiring on one of its most vocal early supporters, French President Nicolas Sarkozy. more...