Jim Mattis slept in his gym clothes when he was President Trump’s secretary of defense so that he could more quickly join a top-secret conference call whenever he received an alert that a North Korean …
Reality Check on Human Rights in Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan is nothing if not ambitious. In a move that would have been unthinkable only a few years ago, the government is lobbying to be elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council, the top U.
Uzbekistan’s new religion law promises limited change
Lawmakers in Uzbekistan have backed a preliminary version of a draft bill to loosen restrictions on religious freedoms, but activists say they don’t go far enough …
Swiss-Uzbek Agreement a Step Toward Returning Many Millions to Uzbekistan
Can the Uzbek government ensure that those who participated in Gulnara Karimova’s corruption do not benefit from it once more?
After UAE and Bahrain Deals, Eyes Turn Toward Saudi Arabia
Israel’s agreements with the UAE and Bahrain provide Riyadh a beta test on normalizing relations with the Jewish state.
Afghanistan Peace Talks With Taliban Meant Lots of Last-Minute Deals
Months of delays over issues as big as prisoner swaps and as small as haircuts, with extra coronavirus complications, made the Afghan flight to meet the Taliban no sure bet.
Donald Trump Should Withdraw All U.S. Troops from Afghanistan Now
We have tried stealth and surge, over 100,000 boots on the ground and fewer than 10,000. None of it has “fixed” Afghanistan, nor will it. Afghanistan’s conflict is ultimately a political (and …
Afghanistan has a chance at peace. It rests on the U.S. standing firm.
The differences over how Afghanistan should be governed remain stark. But, since it long ago became evident that there was no military solution to the conflict, the beginning of negotiations at least …
How the US is doing more with less in Iraq
A smaller footprint and the use of drones exposes fewer US troops to Iran’s threats while supporting anti-ISIS operations.
Trump: Iraq War Was “The Worst Mistake, The Mostly Costly Mistake In The History Of Our Country”
During a town hall last night with George Stephanopoulos on ABC, President Trump denounced generals who have opposed his plan for peace in the Mideast. “Tom Friedman of The New York Times wrote …