Statements made by US President Obama and Vice President Biden in the first week of July regarding the US position on Iran elevated in particular the issue of whether a green light had been provided to Israel for an attack on Iran. The immediate question of a possible green light was raised by Biden when he said in an interview from Iraq that the US cannot dictate to another country what they can and cannot do when they determine that they are existentially threatened. The issue was then put to rest when Obama absolutely denied that...
President Obama’s June 4 speech in Cairo continued to illustrate his basic approach towards the international arena. In previous speeches, particularly those in Europe, Latin America, and Ankara, the president explicitly or implicitly apologized for past American mistakes, promised to listen and consult rather than issue edicts, and suggested exchanging disagreements and conflicts with cooperation to promote common goals, all of this on the basis of “mutual respect and interest.” Obama also is wont to list popular...
The May 25, 2009 North Korean explosion sent shockwaves around the world, much stronger and more diverse than the seismological data recorded. These were the mainly political but also military implications of the apparently successful nuclear test. “Apparently,” because no outside, objective evidence was presented to confirm the characteristics and the magnitude of the explosion. If the underground test was fully contained and no radioactive particles were or will be vented to the atmosphere, no data will be available for...
After a long meeting that exceeded its scheduled time, President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke with the press together yet addressed completely different audiences. President Obama spoke to the international community and the Arab states. With the exception of some small audiences in the United States, it is hard to imagine that the American public was waiting for the outcome of the meeting with bated breath. By contrast, Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke to approximately fifty – or fewer – Members of Knesset who are in his...
A few months after coming into office, the strategic political approach of the new Obama administration towards Israel and the Palestinian issue is becoming clearer. Although it has not yet been fully solidified, this approach does not augur well for the Netanyahu government and the political positions it represents. While thus far the administration has not yet announced an official new peace plan, several recent utterances create a picture that might appear unfriendly, perhaps even threatening, from the perspective of the current...
In her opening statement at the third session of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the 2010 NPT Review Conference, Assistant Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller discussed the three pillars of the NPT: disarmament, nonproliferation, and peaceful uses of nuclear energy. In the context of her comments on nonproliferation, she noted that “universal adherence to the NPT itself – including by India, Israel, Pakistan, and North Korea – also remains a fundamental objective of the United States.”
In February 2009, the American intelligence community published the unclassified portion of the intelligence assessment regarding threats directed against the United States. The intelligence report, signed by Admiral Dennis Blair, the new Director of National Intelligence, includes a section on the Iranian nuclear issue. The new intelligence assessment does not differ in essence from the December 2007 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on the Iranian issue, which sparked much criticism in Israel and the United States for...
Last week’s intensive Middle East tour by US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton has sent a very strong message: President Barack Obama intends to be active in pursuing a regional peace process. Observers and pundits who may have surmised that the global economic crisis would absorb all the new administration’s energies, leaving limited resources for other issues, should reexamine their analysis.
After three years of repeated delays, Syria is scheduled this week to launch trading on the Damascus stock exchange. Had the authorities advanced the gala opening slightly and had investors been able to raise capital from foreign investors starting a few weeks ago, presumably their shares would have registered nice gains in light of Senator John Kerry’s visit to Damascus. Even though the Syrian regime has argued stubbornly for the last four years that the economic war waged by the Bush administration against Syria is not...
During his presidential campaign, Barack Obama indicated his willingness to engage with Iran over the nuclear issue without preconditions; in other statements he maintained that he would not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons. The urgency of the Iranian nuclear challenge – emphasized by Iran’s steady progress not only on uranium enrichment but on missile development as well – means that the Obama administration will have to move beyond general guidelines and make a concentrated effort to consolidate its policy on Iran as...
President Barack Obama holds a balanced stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and his appointment of former senator George Mitchell as special envoy for peace in the Middle East reflects this. Still, the stance and the envoy are expected to challenge Israel in a way that might cast a pall on the relationship between the two nations.
Regardless of the perpetual question whether it is good or bad for the Jews, many Israelis are undoubtedly glad that Barack Obama was elected president of the United States. They regard his election as an American and universal affirmation of equality and overcoming of prejudice. Nor should any Israeli alarm aroused by an African-American candidate once labeled – incorrectly – as Muslim who is tainted by his connections with anti-Semitic individuals and by his distance from the hawkish faction of American Jews be heeded. Obama is...
