Not surprisingly, at the same time that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud declared that Israel was “getting close to achieving the goals it set for itself,” it chose to signal a distinct pause in its Gaza operation. That’s because it also, coincidentally, happened to be getting close to entering Gaza, which would represent a point of no return for both sides in the conflict. Now, you can’t get water from a stone, so if there’s simply no way to get international guarantees for the ceasefire terms that both sides need to silence the guns, this conflict will expand and escalate, with [...]
Israel’s attack on Hamas continued through the weekend, despite Egyptian and French efforts to broker a ceasefire. With Israeli ground forces now poised on the outskirts of Gaza City, and with an expansion of the operation into the urban battlefields that represent Hamas’ greatest tactical opportunity for exacting losses on the IDF still a possibility, it is difficult to speak decisively about the military outcome of the ongoing fighting. But according to several American experts on Arab politics, while Israel might very well succeed — at least temporarily — in depleting Hamas’ military wing, so long as Hamas is still [...]
This post by James Lamond at Democracy Arsenal breaks the mold of EU criticism by foregoing the derision and simply . . . presenting a useful analysis of some of the obstacles the EU faces with regards to formulating a coherent and effective foreign policy. That said, I think Lamond — and EU critics in general — places a bit too much emphasis on the “speaking with two voices” and “divergent interests” problems, and fails to give the “ability to deliver” problem its due. The fifty states, after all, have divergent interests, which explains the wide range of American opinion [...]
