As Islamic State loses ground in Iraq and Syria, earlier demands from Official Washington’s neocons for a major reintroduction of U.S. troops appear to be just the latest misjudgment of these war hawks, as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar explains.…Read more →
Official Washington’s new “group think” is that the next president must pursue a “Goldilocks” foreign policy not as aggressive as George W. Bush but more warlike than Barack Obama, but ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar says that’s nonsense. By Paul…Read more →
Despite 15 years of war, foreign policy has rated only brief flurries of debate in Election 2016 with Hillary Clinton pushing a hawkish agenda and Donald Trump often incoherent, notes ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar. By Paul R. Pillar The…Read more →
The U.S. government has won more friends in Latin America by opening diplomatic ties to Cuba than by demonstrating endless belligerence, a lesson little understood in Washington, observes ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar. By Paul R. Pillar Much gets said…Read more →
U.S. military support for Saudi Arabia’s bloody air war against impoverished Yemen has escalated into a direct U.S. attack on Yemeni targets as retaliation for alleged missiles falling near a U.S. warship, notes ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar. By Paul…Read more →
Though global warming represents a grave danger, it received only passing notice in the first presidential debate, in part, because the politics of climate change are challenging, as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar explains. By Paul R. Pillar Going into…Read more →
The neocon Washington Post wants an even bigger U.S. military intervention in Syria, ignoring the tenets of international law and assuming that more bombing will somehow make things better, observes ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar. By Paul R. Pillar Among the…Read more →
U.S. neocons keep pounding the propaganda drum about Iran in line with Israel’s regional desires but not helpful to American interests or even to the cause of moderating Iran’s behavior, says ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar. By Paul R. Pillar…Read more →
President Obama’s record $38 billion in U.S. military aid to Israel shows neither U.S. major party wants to be “out-Israeled.” The Trump campaign endorses an Israeli claim that Palestinians want to ethnically cleanse Jews, ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar notes.…Read more →
The damage done to U.S. foreign policy in the wake of the 9/11 attacks was largely self-inflicted, a case of wildly overreacting to Al Qaeda’s bloody provocation, writes ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar. By Paul R. Pillar In thinking about…Read more →
