The United States needs a new perspective toward the Middle East. President Rohani gave a powerful sign that currents in Iranian politics could enable some degree of mutually agreeable negotiations with the United States. It is now time for the United States to break itself free from the mindset that has limited American foreign policy for the better part of the past two decades.
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Fossil fuels are therefore necessary to our continued growth. They provide stability and performance where they are needed. We cannot live in a world where the well- being of humanity must be sacrificed.
Read MoreAppointed in 2009 by the European Union’s then-26 heads of state (there will soon be 28), Van Rompuy is bound to their decisions – a degree of separation between his office and European public opinion that he insisted is good and necessary. But he also spoke of wrestling the Council, which must act unanimously, into consensus. “I’ve stayed in good shape for a man of 66,” he joked.
Read MoreIn the end, Syria will only be able to move on once Assad is gone. Most opposition fighters, extremist or moderate, refuse to consider a future in which Assad rules any part of Syria. Simply put: as long as Assad survives, war will persist. And as long as war persists, extremism will spread.
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Rouhani’s positive language should be scrutinized and taken seriously if the United States wants to establish greater legitimacy when dealing with the Middle Eastern issues. This may be a fruitful time when the U.S. could achieve its national objectives by carefully inviting Iran through diplomatic means instead of using the power of coercion, which it already has but with no apparent success.
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Despite the challenges posed by turbulence since 2011, the monarchy has stood its ground against democratic change, bided its time, and absorbed the punches delivered by regional tumult. Now, the torrent of the Arab Spring has blossomed into a “Saudi Summer” for the al-Saud.
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Inherent to our national and cultural commitment to trial by jury is a commitment to the principle that personal liberty is such a valuable right that it is better to acquit someone who is in truth guilty than to wrongfully sentence an innocent.
Read MoreWhether news related, literary, scientific, or otherwise, any category of speech has the potential to endanger someone. However, just because such ideas are potentially dangerous does not mean they should be censored.
Read MoreWatching these events unfold, I was pleased to see the protests come out in force (easily the largest in the country’s history), and launch historic change in Egyptian politics. But as footage surfaced of tanks rolling down the streets, I couldn’t help but ask myself: was it the right kind of change?
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Those sweeping speeches, those resolute condemnations of secrecy and surveillance; it was all just pandering to popular anti-Bush opinion.
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The opposition, seeing that the government will fall if they don’t enter into dialogue with it, has steadfastly refused to settle for anything except its total overthrow, which, through their reticence, it would presumably precipitate.
Read MoreCan we really place our faith in empirical data to help combat the rampant environmental injustices that plague our city? Some say no because environmental injustices between neighborhoods are social and economic problems in which science plays no role. But other, emerging voices in the environmental justice conversation have a different perspective.
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The federal government should naturally not have favorite states, but in the same vein it should also not brand certain states as adversaries.
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It is readily evident that an honest and sound debate cannot occur in Congress when (ultimately, at least) one of the primary effects of a bill is to inject millions of new voters into the electorate.
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Gitmo has damaged the international perception of the US, and not only because it has questioned our commitment to the rule of law – it has also questioned our courage.
Read MoreIt is irrefutable that the destruction of the minaret carries great symbolic meaning, but the longer-term ramifications are less clear.
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The Atlantic yards district today is not what it was twenty years ago, one hundred years ago, one thousand years ago. The question begs itself to be asked: why should it remain the same twenty years from now, one hundred years from now, one thousand years from now?
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Castle Bravo was just one nuclear test out of the 68 that the United States conducted over a 12-year span (1946-1958) in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Measured by their power, these nuclear tests amounted to 1.6 Hiroshimas per day over that period – a fact little known to the world community.
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