Maritime clashes between the Philippines and China had been mostly over the Philippines' military outpost, BRP (BRP – Barko ng Republika ng Pilipinas, which translates to “Ship of the Republic of the Philippines” – the ship prefix for the Philippines) Sierra Madre, in...
The Man Who Can Help Trump Bring Peace to Korea
Columbia Professor of Genetics Joseph D. Terwilliger has an exceptional resume. Along with his post at an elite institution, he is an accomplished tuba player, speaks a multitude of languages, has traveled to nearly every country on Washington’s official enemies list,...
Iraq Weekly Roundup: Nine Killed
A Veterans Day Tribute
This originally appeared on November 11, 2008. Every Veterans Day, I try to do something special to remember or honor a veteran. I don’t like the standard flag-waving event that this day has become for many people. In many Veterans Day speeches, the speakers talk...
Multipolarity and Its Potentials for Peace
For the past several decades, as the leader of a unipolar world, all diplomatic pathways to peace went through Washington. Any negotiated settlement had to be an American led negotiated settlement. But enforcing hegemony means not being impartial. It means rewarding...
November 11 Was Originally Armistice Day, a Peace Holiday
November 11, declared Armistice Day at the end of World War I, is celebrated in the U.S. as Veterans Day. Understanding why requires us to recall World War I and its aftermath. World War I was an international conflict, 1914-18, that embroiled most of the nations of...
Criminalizing UNRWA: How Israel Is Delegitimizing the United Nations
On October 28, the Israeli Knesset passed a second reading of two bills that effectively ban the United Nations agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) from carrying out “any activity” in Israel and occupied Palestine. Simply put, the decision is catastrophic, because...
Why Trump’s Election Could be the Best Thing for Zelensky
Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, needs a way to lose the war with Russia. American voters may have just given it to him. In his victory speech early in the morning of November 6, President-Elect Donald Trump said, “I will govern by a simple motto: Promises...
Some of Our Leaders Are Putting Other Countries First
Some of our leaders seem to care more about other countries, e.g., Ukraine and Israel, than they do about our own. Once again, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has come to Washington, begging for even more money, this time some $8 billion dollars. The U.S....
How Joe Biden Could Save Lives And Change American Politics on His Way Out the Door
Wait, what? We’re talking about Joe Biden? Why? He’s a “lame duck.” No matter who wins the US presidential election on November 5, he’s going home to Delaware on January 20. His chances of asking for, and getting, much from Congress during that two-and-a-half month...


