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The Dead Man and His Long Shadow

January 16, 2012  •  The American Spectator

Muammar Gaddafi was certainly more than prophetic during the summit of the Arab League (AL) in 2008 when he inquired about the fate of his Iraqi predecessor for Western military interventions: Saddam Hussein. "The ruler and head of an AL member has been hanged. Why?" he asked. "In the future it's going to be your turn. Even you, the friends of America," he told the Arab leaders present as the audience was rolling on the floor laughing. "Friends of America… No, I say," said Gaddafi, "We are friends of America, but America can approve of our hanging one day."

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Identity Among Middle East Christians

January 5, 2012  •  The American Spectator

In the course of the present unrest across the Middle East and North Africa, it has become clear that questions of identity are going to be extremely important in deciding the future paths of the various countries in turmoil, not only as regards the divide between Islamists and secularists, but also concerning ethnic and sectarian tensions in countries like Syria, Yemen, and Libya.

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Rethinking U.S. Strategy in Afghanistan

Winter 2012  •  Middle East Quarterly

As U.S. military operations in Afghanistan drag on inconclusively, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the Taliban insurgency is gaining ground. In the first six months of 2010, for example, there was a 31 percent rise in civilian casualties while the Shari'a was implemented in areas hitherto inaccessible to the Taliban.[1] Insurgent attacks in the first quarter of 2011 grew by 51 percent compared with the previous year[2] while the Afghan security forces have been increasingly penetrated by the Taliban.[3]

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The Effect of Kim Jong-Il's Death on North Korea

December 29, 2011  •  Hudson New York

At Kim Jong-Il's death in North Korea, some commentators now see an "opportunity to advance freedom and American interests. Writing on the site The Future of Capitalism, Ira Stoll criticized the Obama administration on the grounds that it is "simply calling for a preservation of the status quo" for the sake of "stability and calm."

The reality is that without resorting to military force, actually little will change in North Korea that might allow a significant opening to undermine the government there.

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Iraq in Political Crisis Following U.S. Withdrawal

December 28, 2011  •  PJ Media

Immediately after the full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, Iraq's political crisis has deepened considerably.

The Interior Ministry issued an arrest warrant for Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Arab who previously served as general secretary of the Islamist Iraqi Islamic Party. Hashemi fled to Iraqi Kurdistan. There, Kurdish political parties proposed to mediate tensions between the State of Law bloc led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Dawa party and the opposition Iraqiya bloc headed by Ayad Allawi.

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