North Korea July 4th Missiles
As widely expected, the DPRK fired some missiles on the 4th of July. Apparently, however, they were not aimed at Hawaii. North Korea fired seven ballistic missiles off its eastern coast Saturday, South Korea said, a violation of U.N. resolutions and an apparent message of defiance to the United States on its Independence Day. The launches, which came two days after ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 4, 2009 08:19
More on the Honduran Crisis
I was able to find the exact text of the plebiscite that Manuel "Mel" Zelaya wanted to proffer to the citizens of Honduras this past Sunday. The text and a photo of the ballot that was to be used can be found here. The odd thing, and a fact that hasn't made it into a lot of press accounts or ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 30, 2009 12:24
On the Honduran Coup
The events in Honduras today have been some of the more dramatic in recent Latin American (and especially Central American) politics. The events are certainly of relevance to the democratic evolution of Honduras. Dave Schuler asked that I post a few comments given my academic focus on Latin America. If anyone is interested in the topic, I have written ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 28, 2009 23:22
Does America Still Love Germany?
My New Atlanticist essay "German-American Partnership in Peril?" answers a question that likely hasn't occurred to many Americans. Angela Merkel is in town, though, and a spate of pieces in the German press this week have expressed the concern that Asia and "Europe" are getting all the attention while Berlin is becoming an afterthought. There are legitimate and substantial policy differences, ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 26, 2009 12:11
Iran Banned Chanting “Allahu Akbar”
On the Rachel Maddow show last night, NBC Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel reporterd that the government in Iran has actually banned the chanting of the phrase "Allahu Akbar!"The cries that they have been calling out at night, a lot of people have heard them. They have been calling out "Allahu Akbar." Sometimes, they were calling out, "I am Neda," as ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 24, 2009 14:24
Obama Must Take Unspecified Action Now!
In my opinion, Barack Obama has already said too much about the Iranian situation, though at least he had the wisdom to emphasize that the United States "is not interfering in Iran’s affairs." That's to the good. What I do not get, though, is exactly what some of his critics on the right are clamoring for apart from a strongly ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 23, 2009 13:12
Obama Condemns Iran Violence
In a White House press conference still underway, President Obama condemned the actions of Iran's government in his strongest language to date: President Barack Obama on Tuesday declared the United States and the entire world "appalled and outraged" by Iran's violent efforts to crush dissent, a clear toughening of his rhetoric as Republican critics at home pound him for being too ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 23, 2009 13:02
Iranian Regime Forbids Memorials for Victims
I've been reading on several different sites the news that the Iranian regime is actively forbidding memorial services and any signs of mourning for those people who are the victims--to the point where they have actually had victims buried in secret in the hopes that their families won't find out. I think that this, more than anything else, might ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 23, 2009 12:53
Barnett: Iran Mullah Overthrow by 2010
Thomas Barnett predicts that, "Iran will experience an overthrow of the mullahs' rule by 2010." A slightly bold prediction, you say, but not exactly a hard one to make given ongoing events? Does he get extra points for having written the above in the summer of 2003 and publishing it on page 380 of Pentagon's New Map? Considering I'd be leery of ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 23, 2009 11:32
The Lunacy of Iranian Sanctions
Daniel Larison makes an excellent point against those people who are now calling for increased sanctions against Iran:This is madness. Have the current sanctions brought the regime anywhere close to its knees after decades? There is not a single example where economic sanctions actually compelled a non-democratic regime to change course on an internal political matter. We have no reason ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 23, 2009 00:04
‘Watching the Fall of Islamic Theocracy’
The protests in Iran have entered a third week and the state media acknowledges that the death toll has reached 19 and that hundreds have been injured. Fareed Zakaria, a man not noted for idle leaps, proclaims, "we are watching the fall of Islamic theocracy." In an interview with CNN, he explains: No, I don't mean the Iranian regime will fall soon. ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 21, 2009 08:24
Iran Heats Up, Obama Goes for Ice Cream
On his own blog and at Hot Air, Patrick "Patterico" Frey has the surreal juxtaposition of purported Iranians Twittering the horrors of protesting an evil regime intermixed with CBS White House correspondent Mark Knoller's account of President Obama taking his girls out for ice cream. As Josh Trevino tweets, "Obama going for ice cream has all the symbolism of [Cowboys quarterback ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 21, 2009 07:29
Albright: ‘I Don’t Know’
At her lecture to the Atlantic Council last night, Madeleine Albright repeatedly uttered three words seldom heard in Washington: "I don't know." What struck me, though, was her humility on three of the most difficult issues facing the West right now: the ongoing chaos in Iran, the relationship with Russia, and the future role of NATO. For all of those, she ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 19, 2009 10:55
English Iran’s Lingua Franca
Hilzoy and Andrew Sullivan pass along this interesting tidbit from Slate's Christopher Beam: Post-election protests continued in Tehran for the fifth day on Wednesday. In many photos, riot police wear uniforms with the English word police on them. Ambulances, too, bear the word ambulance in English. Why not use Persian words instead of their English equivalents? Because everyone knows English. Like many ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 18, 2009 08:01
No Preconditions
Andrew Sullivan writes that "No Recognition Of Ahmadinejad" must be considered "the first and absolute requirement of all Western governments." In my New Atlanticist post "Negotiating with Iran without Preconditions," I recall this famous exchange from the July 24, 2007 CNN/YouTube debate: More commentary and analysis at the link.Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 17, 2009 12:17
