Derek Davison is a writer and analyst specializing in the Middle East and American foreign policy.
The rapid collapse of Afghanistan to Taliban rule has created a chaotic, complicated situation. But here’s the fundamental point: the US has nothing to show for two decades of bloodshed and occupation.
No one expected Joe Biden to rein in US empire. But after 100 days, he’s been terrible even on his own terms — failing to reenter the Iran nuclear deal, coddling authoritarian leaders like Mohammed bin Salman, and looking on as countries like India are pummeled by the COVID-19 crisis.
Joe Biden harshly criticized Donald Trump for pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal during the presidential campaign. But two months into his administration, Biden has done absolutely nothing to revive the landmark deal — and his inaction might have already killed it.
Yesterday, the Biden administration took two long-overdue steps toward potentially ending the Saudi war on Yemen. But the president has to provide more clarity on what exactly his administration is willing to do to halt Saudi Arabia’s brutality and remove the boot from the neck of Yemenis.
Joe Biden says he opposes the war in Yemen. He will soon have the power to end it. Will he?
Lebanon has been subject to an unending series of disasters, of which last week’s ammonium nitrate explosion is only the most recent. But neither its own corrupt elites or European neoliberals like Emmanuel Macron can be trusted to actually end them.
The liberal establishment is desperate to return a centrist to the White House in November and reestablish the country’s more stable military dominance of the world order, disrupted only briefly by Donald Trump. Joe Biden’s terrible track record on foreign policy — including his championing of war in Iraq — suggests a return to Obama-style strong military interventions abroad.
The US has long been a lawless aggressor and a threat to peace, but in the past it at least tried to prettify its policies. By openly refusing to leave Iraq at the request of its government, Donald Trump has let the mask slip.
Everything Donald Trump has done since taking office has brought the United States closer to war with Iran. The assassination of Qassem Soleimani pushes the United States even further down that catastrophic path.
Trump says he wants to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, yet he wrecked an international agreement that was doing just that. Now we’re edging closer to a war that the US says it doesn’t want but is doing everything to cause.
The hawks in the Trump administration are raring to go to war with Iran. That would be so catastrophic it would make Iraq look quaint by comparison.
By pulling out of the Iran deal and reimposing sanctions, Trump has invented a crisis that could push the United States toward war.
The high-level purge in Saudi Arabia has more to do with consolidating power than fighting corruption.
Saudi Arabia has finally lifted its ban on women driving. But the repression at the core of the monarchy remains.