The recent Iran nuclear deal represents a thaw in the American cold war against that country. It is a welcome sequel to the Obama administration’s partial normalization with Cuba announced late last year. Hardliners denounce these policies as “going soft” on theocracy...
The Meaning of Hugo Chavez
Editorial note: This essay appears in the current issue of Chronicles magazine, the feisty conservative monthly put out by the Rockford Institute, where my column "Between the Lines" appears regularly. Normally, the content I provide Chronicles is exclusive: that is,...
On Translating Securityspeak Into English
One might wonder, reading the American “national security” community’s pronouncements, if they refer to the same world we live in. Things make a little more sense when you realize that the Security State has its own language: Securityspeak. Like Newspeak, the...
Iran’s Relations with Latin America Less Than Meets the Eye
Its economy hurting from sanctions imposed by the United States and Europe, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been making a show of bolstering its ties to Latin America, with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this past week making his sixth official visit to the region...
US Base Deal for Colombia: Back to the Status Quo
As the dust settles on the August 10 Colombian Constitutional Court ruling declaring invalid the U.S.-Colombia military bases agreement, politicians and analysts are saying that the decision was for the better. Most of those voices come from former supporters of the...


