A fresh analysis of the war in Iraq concludes that parts of the conflict can now be described as “civil war.” In its March report to Congress, the Pentagon says that while not all of the violence in Iraq falls into that category, “some” of it does. It is the first time the Pentagon has publicly used such language. Have the military elite finally wiped the tar from their field glasses and glimpsed reality? What makes this interesting is not that the Pentagon finally admitted what many have known for months, but the potential repercussions the admission may bring. For [...]
A scan of the Near East’s political horizon is enough to throw the most earnest of peacemakers into despair. A few days ago, al-Qaida’s chief commentator on world affairs, Ayman al-Zawahri, blasted Hamas for agreeing to a power-sharing deal with Fatah in the Palestinian territories. Not to worry, Hamas promptly reassured Osama Bin Laden’s right-hand man, Hamas remains thoroughly committed to destroying Israel. While the leading party on the Palestinian side reaffirms its unwillingness to accept a two-state solution, the diplomatic world is in a flurry of activity that seems to ignore that reality. Israel has been holding talks with [...]
Corridors of Power is written by veteran foreign affairs correspondent Roland Flamini and appears in World Politics Review every week by Sunday morning. Click here for the Corridors of Power archives. WHO OWES WHOM? — Invasions, as the Bush administration can attest, are costly undertakings. But in the case of Iraq, the United States is unlikely to follow the example of the Russian government, which has sent Afghanistan the bill for the 1979 Soviet invasion and subsequent occupation. Moscow is asking the Afghans to pay $9 billion it says Russia spent on “development” in Afghanistan in the infamous decade that [...]
