Jim Lobe

Whatever hopes the George W. Bush administration may have had for using its post-9/11 "war on terror” to impose a new Pax Americana on Eurasia, and particularly in the unruly areas between the Caucasus and the Khyber Pass, appear to have gone up in flames – in some cases, literally – over the past two … Continue reading “A Really Bad Couple of Weeks for Pax Americana”

A military attack on Iran’s major nuclear facilities by the United States or Israel would likely result only in a delay – and not a particularly significant one at that – in Tehran’s ability to produce the fuel necessary to build a nuclear weapon, according to a report [.pdf] released Friday by an influential think … Continue reading “Success of Attack on Iran’s Nuclear Program Doubtful”

More than five years after invading Iraq as a first step toward "transforming" the Middle East, the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush seems to have lost its footing – let alone its unquestioned domination – throughout the region. The talk of "democratizing" the region has almost entirely disappeared from the administration’s rhetoric as … Continue reading “US Gets No Traction in the Middle East”

US defense strategy should be focused primarily in the short to medium term on unconventional threats, particularly “violent extremist movements such as al Qaeda and its associates,” while it “hedge(s)” against the growing military power of “rogue states such as Iran and North Korea” and potential rivals, notably China and Russia, according to major policy … Continue reading “Gates Strategy Stresses Unconventional Warfare”

Amid rising speculation about the possibility of an Israeli or US bombing attack on Iranian nuclear facilities earlier this month, a major study produced for the US Air Force by a top defense think tank concluded that US military action against Iran was "likely to have negative effects for the United States.” The study, by … Continue reading “Air Force Think Tank Advises Against Iran Attack”

When Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani begins his first official visit here at the White House Monday, the welcome is likely to be a little warmer than he might wish. Pakistan, which is beset by both a thriving Taliban insurgency and its worst inflation in some 30 years, has become a serious source of … Continue reading “Pakistani PM May Be Pincushion for U.S. Frustration”

Two of Washington’s most prominent foreign policy graybeards praised Saturday’s direct participation in multinational talks with Iran by a senior U.S. diplomat but called on the administration of President George W. Bush to drop his demands that Tehran freeze its uranium enrichment program as a precondition for broader negotiations. Retired Gen. Brent Scowcroft, who served … Continue reading “Realists Urge Bush to Drop Iran Precondition”

This weekend’s surprise endorsement by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of Sen. Barack Obama’s call for U.S. combat forces to leave Iraq by mid-2010 marks a serious setback to Sen. John McCain, who has tried hard to depict his Democratic rival as "naïve" on foreign policy, especially with respect to Iraq. That Maliki’s endorsement in an … Continue reading “McCain Knee-Capped by Maliki”

In the seemingly never-ending internal battle between hawks and realists in the administration of US President George W. Bush for control of foreign policy, the realists appear to have chalked up another win over their once-dominant foes. The decision to send the State Department’s third-ranking official to Geneva Saturday to join talks between the other … Continue reading “Realists Rack Up Another Win”

If nothing else, the deaths Sunday of nine U.S. soldiers at a remote outpost in eastern Afghanistan close to the Pakistan border are likely to bring home to the U.S. electorate what top national security officials have been saying for much of the past year – that the central front in Washington’s "global war on … Continue reading “Afghan Assault Could Alter Campaign Dynamics”