There is very little hope that the United States or anyone else can do much to stabilize Iraq, Libya, Syria or Egypt. Stabilizing Iran, and bringing it back into the family of nations, is much more possible. That would be a ‘win’ for both sides.
Without Ataturk’s vision, without his ambition and energy, without his astonishing boldness in sweeping away traditions accumulated over centuries, today’s Turkey would not exist, and the world would be much poorer.
The difficulty that many foreign authors face in having their works translated into English has effects far beyond the United States.
Many troubled Midwestern towns are grasping for ways to fend off decline and, in some cases, extinction.
New media and mobile entertainment are revolutionizing the way people learn about the world.
Countries that control water are likely to be the big winners of the future.
Eagles rarely fail to catch their prey. They usually kill it quickly by breaking its neck with their powerful claws.
Iran’s most formidable modern leader, Reza Shah Pahlavi, was obsessed with the idea of building a steel mill, but in 1941, soon after he assembled all the components, Allied armies invaded Iran, and the project had to be abandoned.
My general view is the delivery of news is changing in dramatic ways, and will continue to change into ways we can’t even predict.
Any country that grants asylum to Snowden risks retaliation from the United States, including diplomatic isolation and costly trade sanctions. Several don’t seem to care.
Human Rights Watch wants Rwandans to be able to speak freely about their ethnic hatreds, and to allow political parties connected with the defeated genocide army to campaign freely for power.
In the 1980s, the U.S. Army invaded two Caribbean countries, Grenada and Panama, to depose leaders who had defied Washington.
‘Operation Ajax’ presents history in an entirely new way. It takes a true story and uses cutting-edge technology, never before used in this way, to bring it to spectacular life.
As British and French imperialism ebbed following the end of the Second World War, America became the main outside player in Arab affairs.
As long as Iran believes that its security will be increased by having a nuclear program, it’s going to pursue its program.
Was Castro sincere when, during his guerrilla war, he swore that he was not a Communist? If so, when did he change, and why? Looking back, does he believe he might have chosen a better course?
The long-term strategic goals of Iran and the long-term strategic goals of Turkey are close to the long-term strategic goals of the United States.
King Frederick I of Prussia conceived the Amber Chamber in 1701 as a magnificent gift to the Russian royal family that would seal the alliance between the two powers.
Chechens are not ethnically or culturally Russian, and have now been fighting for generations to free themselves from Russian rule.
The dramatic rise of Turkey in the councils of world power was one of the main geopolitical developments of 2010.
Rwanda has emerged from the devastation of genocide and become more secure and prosperous than anyone had a right to expect.
In 1983, most Nicaraguans had still not fallen to the depths of deprivation and despair which they would reach in later years, but many were already unhappy and restive.
Accepting that Arabs have the right to elect their own leaders means accepting the rise of governments that do not share America’s pro-Israel militancy.
Iranians launched their constitutional revolution in 1906 and established their parliament soon afterward.
For decades, Turkey was widely viewed as a reliable NATO ally: prickly at times, but safely in America’s corner.
Since German reunification in 1990, historians and researchers have been free to work in the East, where the lost Nazi art collection disappeared.
One October day in 1976, a Cuban airliner exploded over the Caribbean and crashed, killing all 73 people aboard. There should have been 74. I had a ticket on that flight, but changed my reservation at the last moment and flew to Havana on an earlier plane.
The key to Turkey’s success has been its ability to reinvent itself as times change.
Relationships based on deals between leaders or ruling elites tend to collapse amid popular anger.
The idea that Arabia is best run by Arabs is no more palatable to Western leaders today than it was to Napoleon or Churchill.
The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers created the ‘Fertile Crescent’ where some of the first civilizations emerged. Today they are immensely important resources, politically as well as geographically.
As the United States shapes and carries out its policies toward Muslim countries, it should do so with Turkey at its side.
A few of the world’s most famous non-American novelists have large followings in the United States, among them Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Guenter Grass, who were both popular even before winning the Nobel.
It is never wise to discourage youthful idealism.
Other places are also generators of far-flung violence beyond their own borders – Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are obvious examples – but none has as long a history of war, resistance, and terror as Chechnya.
No authoritarian leader cedes power easily or turns it over to bodies he cannot control.
Pakistan is not about to crack down on terror groups or cut its military budget in order to build roads, schools and hospitals.
No one will ever be able to say what the comandantes would have done with their historic opportunity in Nicaragua if they had not been confronted with civil war.
Turkey can be a bridge to regimes and actions the United States can’t reach. Turkey can talk to people the United States can’t talk to.
During the 19th century, Iranians lost vast territories in disastrous wars, and corrupt monarchs sold everything of value in the country to foreigners.
No step the United States could take anywhere in the world would bring strategic benefits as great as detente with Iran.
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