Leon Hadar

In addition to being the capitals of three Middle Eastern countries, Baghdad (Iraq), Beirut (Lebanon), and Doha (Qatar) have something else in common, and it’s President George W. Bush’s global policy. While the violence taking place in Baghdad and Beirut is a direct consequence of the collapse of Bush’s Middle East policy and much of … Continue reading “Baghdad, Beirut, Doha”

It feels like déjà vu all over again. A U.S. official leaves for a conference in East Asia where he or she is supposed to discuss issues that affect the interests of the governments and economies in the region. Instead, the American representative ends up investing most of his or her time and energy in … Continue reading “The US Can’t Run the Show in the Middle East”

If you’ve been watching the television images from Lebanon, Israel, and Palestine and have been getting a little depressed, cheer up! U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has explained to reporters that the scenes of death, destruction, and human misery from Beirut, Haifa, and Gaza are – get this! – “birth pangs of a new … Continue reading “‘Birth Pangs of a
New Middle East’?”

U.S. President George W. Bush and his neoconservative advisers had pledged that after ousting Saddam Hussein they would succeed in transforming "liberated" Iraq into a prosperous democracy that would serve as a model of political and economic freedom for the Middle East. Remember the Domino Effect that Westernized and secular Mesopotamia would have had on … Continue reading “All Hell Breaks Loose in the Middle East”

Please name the U.S. presidential candidate who made the following point during the 2000 race for the White House: "I think that one of the problems that we have faced in the world is that we are so much more powerful than any single nation has been in relationship to the rest of the world … Continue reading “Is Anyone Still Listening to the Flaming Bush?”

Some critics of the security barrier that the Israeli government has been constructing in the West Bank and Gaza have compared it to the infamous Berlin Wall that separated the Soviet-occupied part (East Berlin) of the city from the one controlled by West Germany (West Berlin), and by extension, divided Europe between the Communist bloc … Continue reading “Israel’s Failed Strategy: The Writing Is on the Wall”

It seems like only yesterday American pundits were writing political obituaries for President George W. Bush and his Republican allies on Capitol Hill. With the anti-American violence in Iraq showing no signs of ending any time soon and helping to force Mr. Bush’s approval ratings in the public opinion polls to the low 30s, the … Continue reading “Nationalism: The Last Refuge of the Political Loser”

For a day or two after the killing of terrorist gang leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, I was fantasizing that US President George W. Bush and his aides were finally getting smart when it came to Iraq. A few hours after the Jordanian-born head of al-Qaeda in Iraq was killed in a US air strike, a … Continue reading “The Ever Elusive ‘Tipping Point’ in Iraq”

For several years I have argued that Washington should adopt a Realpolitik-type approach to dealing with Iran, including by opening a direct diplomatic dialogue with Tehran aimed at resolving some of the differences between the two governments. In particular, I’ve been critical of the Bush administration’s neocon-driven policy of promoting “regime change” in Iran and … Continue reading “US Stumbles Onto Road to Diplomacy With Iran”

Compare the two American dramas that the world was watching last Thursday. In Houston, Texas, two former Enron executives, Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, were convicted of fraud and conspiracy for their role in the energy trader’s collapse in 2001 and could end up spending the rest of their lives in prison. The jury concluded … Continue reading “Iraq Like Water Off a Duck’s Back to Bush, Blair”