At the fourth annual conference of the Project on Middle East Political Science here at GW, I was discussant for an outstanding paper which in part explored how and why protestors "broke the barrier of fear" in hyper-repressive states such as Syria and...
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Ahead of what many expect to be a contentious confirmation hearing for the next assistant secretary of state for Europe, Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) gave a major boost to Obama appointee Victoria Nuland on Friday. "Ambassador Victoria...
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By Rebecca Frankel Best Defense Chief Canine Correspondent Call of Duty -- the popular video game series featuring many, many different warzone scenarios -- has a new game on the horizon: Call of Duty: Ghosts. In the official recently released trailer,...
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What do Texas and Turkey have in common? Aside from sharing the same first letter, probably not too much. But starting today, they will be able to add something else to the list: similar alcohol policies. On Friday, after a marathon debate lasting well...
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Pakistan-China Relations Despite the sweeping changes occurring across Asia, visits to Pakistan by the Chinese leadership remain remarkably routine affairs. Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Islamabad this week, his first since becoming premier in March,...
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Afghanistan 2014 Last week, ten Afghans and six Americans were killed in one of this year's worst insurgent attacks. While the bombing in Kabul raised eyebrows around the world, it was not mainly because of its deadliness, but because of the group behind...
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By Emile Simpson Best Defense White House correspondent I thought President Obama's speech at NDU on Thursday was conceptual car crash -- a collision between two incompatible desires to aggregate, or disaggregate, threats. He spent half the speech saying...
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Apparently it did. That's one of the many interesting conclusions Army Lt. Col. David Fivecoat offers in a terrific essay in the new issue of Parameters. I don't agree with everything he writes, but nonetheless am really pleased to see Fivecoat's article,...
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Obama promises limits on war on terror Top news: In a speech at the National Defense University, U.S. President Barack Obama attempted to address criticism of his administration's antiterrorist efforts, announcing that he would cut back on the use of...
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Event Notice: "Online Radicalization: Myths and Realities" TUESDAY, MAY 28, 2013; 12:15-1:45PM (NAF). Site Launch: See the New America Foundation's updated drone site here. "At a crossroads" In a much-anticipated counterterrorism speech at Washington's...
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Will the Syrian opposition come to the big dance? That's the question facing Washington as pressure mounts to bring both sides of Syria's two-year civil war to the negotiating table for next month's U.S.-Russian peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland. Today,...
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Barack Obama's counterterrorism speech on Thursday has drawn mixed reviews here in the United States (here at FP, Rosa Brooks gave the address an A-, while Emile Simpson found it to be a "conceptual car crash") -- and reactions have been similar in the...
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Access to Russia's leading social network -- VKontakte -- was briefly blocked on Friday, after the website appeared on a list of sites banned from distributing content inside the country. Apparently, Vkontakte (Russia's version of Facebook) ended up...
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Last week, I interviewed Alex Gibney, director of the new documentary We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks. Gibney told me he found it ironic that Julian Assange and supporters like Oliver Stone were attacking his film without having seen it. "The...
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In academic research, "rigor" is an especially cherished quality. If you want to praise a scholar's work, you talk about how "rigorous" it is. If you want to dis someone's scholarship politely, you might sniff and say, "Well, it's interesting, but it's...
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Now, I'm no Medea Benjamin, but I had several strong reactions to President Obama's speech at the National Defense University Thursday. First, as expected, Obama used the platform to criticize the Bush administration. Quite frankly, however, I've gotten...
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Yesterday's speech is one that President Obama has evidently wanted to give for some time. For several years now, there appears to have been an internal debate over whether and how to reframe the war on terror. One camp, call them the optimists, have...
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On Thursday, Gawker's John Cook announced that the news site's Indiegogo campaign to buy a video allegedly showing Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack could be in trouble. Raising the necessary $200,000 isn't the problem -- with four days to go, Gawker...
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The White House on Thursday nominated Victoria Nuland to be the next assistant secretary for European and Eurasian affairs, to replace Philip Gordon, who was appointed as Middle East coordinator for the National Security Council. The promotion of Nuland,...
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John Kerry may have met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the peace process on Thursday, but what's really gotten commentators worked up is the contents of the shwarma he consumed during an impromptu snack in Ramallah. Reputable sources...
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After two years of crowing that the end of Bashar al-Assad was nigh, the official and popular perceptions in the United States and Europe of the Syrian president's staying power have shifted dramatically. There's a new narrative taking hold, fueled by...
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On Tuesday, Iran's Guardian Council confirmed the list of approved candidates for Iran's June 14 presidential elections -- and with it the suspicions of many that this will be a less-than-exciting election season. In whittling down 686 presidential hopefuls...
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After two men brutally killed a British soldier using knives and a meat cleaver in London on Wednesday, one woman bravely stepped forward and tried to reason with the attackers. Ingrid Loyau-Kennett saw the scene in Woolwich -- two men standing over...
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The White House is set to announce the nomination of Danny Sepulveda for U.S. coordinator for international communications and information policy, The Cable has learned, a title that will bring the rank of ambassador. Sepulveda, a cancer survivor and...
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China's Global Times - that reliable purveyor of the sublimely ridiculous, the terrifyingly nationalistic, and the just generally offensive -- struck again on Wednesday, with a quick nine-paragrapher that may just manage to combine all three offerings...
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In advance of Barack Obama's counterterrorism speech at the National Defense University in Washington Thursday, senior White House officials briefed reporters on the meat and potatoes of the president's address. If you don't have the time to watch the...
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When it comes to U.S. foreign policy in the Arab world, Democrats and Republicans don't agree on much -- be it arming the Syrian rebels or brokering Israeli-Palestinian peace. But the shwarma -- shaved, spit-roasted meat wrapped in doughy pita and smothered...
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According to the New York Times, President Barack Obama will use his big counterterrorism speech on Thursday to sharply curtail the administration's targeted killings. Going forward, the strict criteria used for approving strikes on American citizens...
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After more than 80,000 dead and millions driven from their homes, can Syria's opposition and President Bashar al-Assad's regime really negotiate a political settlement? At least one opposition leader is willing to give it a try. Former Syrian National...
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Todd Greentree, who served as director of the RC-South initiatives group in Kandahar during 2010-2011, offers these recommendations in an article in the Journal of Strategic Studies: (1) Prepare above all to assist a government through political action...
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The hits just keep on coming. Yesterday brought news that a sergeant first class at West Point has been charged with videotaping at least a dozen female cadets, some of them while they were in the shower or in other states of undress. Bonus fact from...
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By "A. Naval Officer" Best Defense guest columnist I'd like to offer you my thoughts on this based on my experience in command. Not many folks know this, but as LT, I lost my deployment roommate to suicide about two weeks after we came home from our...
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FP may have published its list of Ramzan Kadyrov's weirdest Instagrams a bit too soon. Instead of shutting down his account, as he threatened last week, the Chechen strongman appears to be doubling down on the photo-sharing site this week. Take, for...
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President Obama is giving a much-hyped counterterrorism address this afternoon at the National Defense University in which he'll announce new restrictions on drone strikes and targeted killings, and renew his push to shutter the Guantánamo Bay detention...
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I've spent a rather alarming portion of this week wading into intellectual pissing matches, so I'm loathe to respond to Michael Kinsley's response to last week's brouhaha over austerity policies. But one paragraph does merit a response. After noting...
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Event Notice: What's next for Pakistan's new government? TODAY, May 23, 2013; 12:15-1:45 PM (NAF). Site Launch: See the New America Foundation's updated drone site here. Policy changes In his speech on counterterrorism at the National Defense University...
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Obama to address drone strikes, Guantanamo in foreign policy speech Top news: In a speech today at the National Defense University, President Barack Obama is expected to discuss the legal and policy rational for drone strikes, and to renew his push to...
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On Tuesday, a landmark immigration bill that would put 11 million undocumented immigrants on the path to U.S. citizenship cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee, but not before Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) added an amendment requiring additional screening...
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Ahead of President Obama's big counterterrorism speech tomorrow, Attorney General Eric Holder has written a letter, obtained by the New York Times, to the Senate Judiciary Committee disclosing the four American citizens killed by targeted strikes during...
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Two assailants reportedly killed a man near a military barracks in south London on Wednesday, in a shocking attack that is dominating British press coverage right now. The exact details of the what transpired in the Woolwich district are hazy, but here's...
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You've read the stories about Sweden's excellent health care system, innovative gender-neutral day care centers, and generous parental leave policies. But here's a story that those who would like to portray Sweden as a socialist paradise are less eager...
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