Gareth Porter

Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist specializing in U.S. national security policy. The paperback edition of his latest book, Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam, was published in 2006.

Political Pressure Stymies US-Iran Ties

A former Obama administration official has asserted that the Iranian nuclear deal marks a radical break with past U.S. policy, contradicting the official White House stance that the agreement is not leading to a new U.S.-Iran relationship. John Limbert, a Farsi-speaking veteran diplomat who was among the hostages from the US Embassy in Tehran in … Continue reading “Political Pressure Stymies US-Iran Ties”

Obama Broke Pledge To Demand Syrian Opposition’s Separation From Nusra Front

The gradual erosion of the cease-fire in Syria over the past month is the result of multiple factors shaping the conflict, but one of the underlying reasons is the Obama administration’s failure to carry out its commitment to Russia to get US-supported opposition groups to separate themselves physically from the Nusra Front – the al-Qaeda … Continue reading “Obama Broke Pledge To Demand Syrian Opposition’s Separation From Nusra Front”

The Classified ’28 Pages’: A Diversion From Real US-Saudi Issues

The controversy surrounding the infamous “28 pages” on the possible Saudi connection with the terrorists that were excised from the joint Congressional report on the 9/11 attacks is at fever pitch. But that controversy is a distraction from the real problems that Saudi Arabia’s policies pose to the United States and the entire Middle East … Continue reading “The Classified ’28 Pages’: A Diversion From Real US-Saudi Issues”

How Putin’s Leverage Shaped the Syrian Ceasefire

When Russian President Vladimir Putin had a substantive meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry last week, it was an extremely rare departure from normal protocol. There was some political logic to the meeting, however, because Putin and Kerry have clearly been the primary drivers of their respective governments’ policies toward Syria, and their … Continue reading “How Putin’s Leverage Shaped the Syrian Ceasefire”

Reporting (or Not) the Ties Between US-Armed Syrian Rebels and al-Qaeda’s Affiliate

A crucial problem in news media coverage of the Syrian civil war has been how to characterize the relationship between the so-called “moderate” opposition forces armed by the CIA, on one hand, and the Al Qaeda franchise Al Nusra Front (and its close ally Ahrar al Sham), on the other. But it is a politically … Continue reading “Reporting (or Not) the Ties Between US-Armed Syrian Rebels and al-Qaeda’s Affiliate”

Obama’s Break with the Establishment

The biggest story in Jeffrey Goldberg’s 20,000-word report on “The Obama Doctrine” is President Barack Obama’s open break with the foreign policy establishment. The critique of orthodox national security policy thinking that Obama outlined in interviews with Goldberg goes farther than anything delivered on the record by a sitting president. It showed that Obama’s view … Continue reading “Obama’s Break with the Establishment”

Kerry Sought Missile Strikes To Force Syria’s Assad To Step Down

Jeffrey Goldberg’s newly published book-length article on Barack Obama and the Middle East includes a major revelation that brings US Secretary of State John Kerry’s Syrian diplomacy into sharper focus: it reports that Kerry has sought on several occasions without success over the past several months to get Obama’s approval for cruise missile strikes against … Continue reading “Kerry Sought Missile Strikes To Force Syria’s Assad To Step Down”

‘Plan B’ and the Bankruptcy of US Syria Policy

US Secretary of State John Kerry provoked widespread speculation when he referred in testimony before the Foreign Relations Committee last week to “significant discussions” within US President Barack Obama’s administration about a “Plan B” in Syria. The speculation was further stoked by a “senior official” who told CBS News that options under consideration included “‘military-like’ measures that … Continue reading “‘Plan B’ and the Bankruptcy of US Syria Policy”

Obama’s ‘Moderate’ Syrian Deception

Secretary of State John Kerry insisted at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday that the agreement with Russia on a temporary halt in the war in Syria can only be carried out if Russia stops its airstrikes against what Kerry is now calling “legitimate opposition groups.” But what Kerry did not say is that the … Continue reading “Obama’s ‘Moderate’ Syrian Deception”

US Policy Adapts to Russian-Backed Syrian Gains

The major developments on the Syrian battlefield in recent months have brought a corresponding shift in the Obama administration’s Syrian policy. Since the Russian military intervention in Syria upended the military balance created by the victories of the al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra Front and its allies last year, the Obama administration has quietly retreated from its … Continue reading “US Policy Adapts to Russian-Backed Syrian Gains”