Category Archives: International Relations

Maybe there’s more to this 2012 thing…

Economist Andy Xie is now writing at Caing.com, the successor to Caijing On-Line, and his first two columns are, as always, well worth reading in full. They explicate the bear case on China accessibly, in concrete terms and with careful logic. If the author betrays a rooting interest, it’s not for or against [...]

Amateurs

Russians whiff in an attempt at political snark.

Gay Marriage in China

The United States is a free country.  China is not.  Yet once in a while, we find a bit of evidence that suggests the opposite.  The official English-language newspaper, China Daily, had this article.
When I first taught at Hebei University in Baoding, China, in 1984, I never saw a single boy and a single girl walking together on campus, although I often saw [...]

Where I refrain from waving the bloody shirt over the Qazali release…

In a popular post at the HotAir Green Room, John Hayward – writing as Doctor Zero – refers to the freeing of Iran-backed Iraqi Shia insurgent Qais Qazali and numerous associates, apparently in exchange for British journalist Peter Moore and the remains of his murdered bodyguards, as an “outrage,” and demands an explanation (emphases in [...]

Ockham’s Razor

The simplest explanation for a phenomenon, ceteris paribus, is to be preferred. Here is my candidate for understanding current American policy regarding Iran:  Barack Obama wants Iran to acquire a a nuclear weapon, indeed several or even many nuclear weapons.  Why?  To teach Israel a lesson and put the fear of God into Israelis.  The President [...]

CONTENTION OF THE DAY – chaotic and in constant flux

[12:53AM Tehran Time]
Confirmed: Multiple reports of protesters clashing with special security forces in front of IRIB, one of the regime’s state broadcasting channels.
Unconfirmed: Special regime forces trying to disperse the crowd in front of the IRIB building, but so far they have been unsuccessful.
More reports of casualties coming in from various areas of Tehran and [...]

Stopping Iran’s nuclear program, more on the current thinking…

“How to Stop Iran” is the title of a column by Olivier Debouzy that appeared in the WSJ 10 day ago.  Debouzy is apparently a very well-connected French defense intellectual. It’s worth reading his entire article to absorb his reasoning, but I’ll cut to the chase for our purposes. 
The basis of his proposal is for [...]

Iran and Genocide

There was some discussion a while ago on this blog about whether the actions and rhetoric of the Iranian regime really represent a genocidal threat to Israel. This article by Kenneth L. Marcus makes a compelling case that they do.

Alternative CONTENTION OF THE DAY – gifts by air mail

Incentives and sanctions will not work, but air strikes could degrade and deter Iran’s bomb program at relatively little cost or risk, and therefore are worth a try. They should be precision attacks, aimed only at nuclear facilities, to remind Iran of the many other valuable sites that could be bombed if it were foolish [...]

CONTENTION OF THE DAY – what the Obami believe

Advocates of a containment policy suggest that in the absence of effective diplomacy or sanctions that deliver results, the stark U.S. options are acquiescence or military action. Privately, Obama administration officials confess that they believe Israeli action will preempt our policy debate, as Israel’s tolerance for an Iranian nuke is significantly lower than our own. [...]

Iran debate…

(moved from the Wall)

CONTENTION OF THE DAY – What’s gonna happen

Eventually, when the deficit and the dollar sink even deeper while unemployment and interest rates rise that much higher, Americans will understand that action must be painful, swift and immediate. That is when, with or without Obama, they will set the world aside and focus on nothing but economic rehabilitation. The US will cut defense [...]

In other noise…

1.  More on Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere II – with a climate change connection:
Last seen being driven into the loving arms of Japan amidst mutual overriding needs, China is also exploring cooperation and/or collusion, rather than competition, with another (former?) major rival.  Here it seems partly a consequence of Global Warming summitry, partly a [...]

Barack Obama Isn’t the President, but He Plays One on TV

I frankly can’t remember at this point whether this ever happened to me personally, but one of the supposed quintessential moments of an American childhood education is having a report due at school and creating a terrific cover to compensate for the absence of serious content. I know Barack Obama was reputedly a whiz in [...]

Chavez Loves Carlos the Jackal

Chavez seems to be saying he is not only a leftist but a devoted supporter of terrorism.
President Hugo Chávez is heaping praise on Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, the Venezuelan better known as Carlos the Jackal and implicated in hijackings and terror attacks across Europe in the 1970s and ’80s, describing him in a speech here Friday [...]

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