Jim Lobe

The Pentagon’s announcement Tuesday that it is dispatching some 3,200 Marines to Afghanistan underlines both Washington’s mounting concern about the strength of the Taliban insurgency and the growing sense here that the central front in its nearly six-and-a-half-year-old "war on terror" has moved back to its South Asian roots. The deployment, which will take place … Continue reading “War on Terror Moves East”

Exactly one year after US President George W. Bush announced that he would significantly increase the number of troops deployed to Iraq, the wisdom of his so-called "surge" strategy remains very much in dispute here. While even many Democrats, who have sought in vain to reverse the strategy since it was first announced, now concede … Continue reading “On Anniversary, Views of Surge Diverge”

The ongoing turmoil in Kenya, set off by last week’s disputed election results, is prompting considerable concern here about the future of the East African nation that has served as Washington’s longest-standing and most reliable ally in a deeply troubled region. The administration of President George W. Bush dispatched its top Africa aide, Assistant Secretary … Continue reading “Kenya Seen as Anchor to US Position in East Africa”

If the last days of 2007 are any indication, U.S. President George W. Bush’s last year in office is shaping up as grim and lonely. Grim, because Bush’s signature “war on terror” is nowhere near the kind of “victory” on which he had placed so much hope. Hundreds of billions of dollars from the U.S. … Continue reading “Bush’s Twilight Year Looks Grim”

2007 will likely go down in US history as the year in which the balance of power in the long-running struggle between hawks and realists in the administration of President George W. Bush shifted decisively in favor of the latter. That shift, which could still be reversed by events or actors not subject to Washington’s … Continue reading “Gates Led Realist Resurgence in 2007”

Although the image of the United States appears to have improved in Saudi Arabia over the past year, the Saudi public’s view of Washington remains largely negative, according to major new poll released here this week by Terror Free Tomorrow (TFT), a Washington, D.C.-based bipartisan group. Indeed, less than 40 percent of some 1,000 Saudi … Continue reading “Iran Polls Better Than US in Saudi Arabia”

Demands by US politicians and policymakers that Pakistan cooperate more closely with Washington in its "war on terror" fail to take account of both the Pakistani military’s strategic priorities and its incompetence, particularly in conducting counter-insurgency operations, according to a new study by an influential regional specialist. The study, "Pakistan – Conflicted Ally in the … Continue reading “US Stuck With Reluctant, Inept Partner in Terror War”

US Jews appear to have become more opposed both to Israel’s making key concessions in renewed peace talks with Palestinians and to the US carrying out a military attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities, according to the latest in an annual series of surveys of Jewish opinion released here this week by the American Jewish Committee … Continue reading “US Jews Tilt Rightwards on Israel”

While the Chinese and U.S. publics and elites hold generally favorable views of each other, distrust between them also persists, according to a new "mirror" survey of both countries released Monday. The survey [.pdf], entitled "Hope & Fear: American and Chinese Attitudes Toward Each Other," found that a majority of U.S. citizens consider China’s growing … Continue reading “Chinese, US Attitudes Reflect ‘Hope and Fear’”

Despite near-universal skepticism about the prospects for launching a serious, new Middle East peace process at next week’s Israeli-Palestinian summit in Annapolis, a familiar clutch of neoconservative hawks close to the Likud Party leader, former Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, isn’t taking any chances. Hard-liners associated with the American Enterprise Institute and Freedom’s Watch, a … Continue reading “Likudnik Hawks Work to Undermine Annapolis”