Monthly Archives : October 2009

Waging diplomatic war


If, to paraphrase Carl von Clausewitz, diplomacy is war by other means, then just as armies are called upon to concentrate their efforts and resources where they can do the most good for their cause, so governments must utilize their diplomatic resources – whether plentiful or scarce – to advance their most important national interests.     The Palestinians and…

Read More »

Apropos Nobel Peace Prize


The following was just sent to me by a reader and I thought you might get a kick out of it. I certainly did.         John was in the fertilized egg business.       He had several hundred young layers (hens), called ‘pullets,’       and ten roosters to fertilize the eggs.         He kept records,…

Read More »

How Turkey was lost


Once the apotheosis of a pro-Western, dependable Muslim democracy, this week Turkey officially left the Western alliance and became a full member of the Iranian axis.     It isn’t that Ankara’s behavior changed fundamentally in recent days. There is nothing new in its massive hostility toward Israel and its effusive solicitousness toward the likes of Syria and Hamas. Since…

Read More »

The newest round of war


An atmosphere of fantasy pervaded US President Barack Obama’s Middle East peace processor George Mitchell’s meetings with Israeli leaders on Thursday. In separate photo opportunities, Mitchell stood next to President Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Ehud Barak and pledged to surmount all obstacles to achieve peace not only between Israel and the Palestinians but between Israel and Syria and Lebanon…

Read More »