Tag: Elliott Abrams

Saudi ‘game of thrones’ consolidates autocracy

     

The appointment of Mohammad bin Salman, 31, as Saudi Arabia’s next king will accelerate his radical reform and further solidify the U.S.-Saudi partnership, says analyst Karen Elliott House, author of… Read more »

Liberal democracy not yet dead but crisis likely to persist

     

In his insightful and harrowing new book, Edward Luce, a columnist for The Financial Times, issues a chilling warning, Michiko Kakutani writes for The New York Times: “Western liberal democracy… Read more »

Pro-democracy foreign policy reconciles interests and values

     

In the current global context of rising authoritarianism (left) and closing civic space, consistent omission of values in foreign policy equals public abandonment of moral purpose, argues Kate Bateman, a… Read more »

Mideast sectarianism a byproduct of geopolitical rivalry

     

During his speech in Saudi Arabia, President Donald Trump spoke of the need to confront and “isolate” Iran.  But the Iran challenge is more intricate and perplexing than the one faced… Read more »

‘Principled realism’ needs better ideas to combat extremist ideology

     

A “coalition of nations” in the Middle East is needed to stamp out “extremism,” U.S. President Donald Trump told the weekend’s Arab-Islamic American Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. “This is… Read more »

Iran election exposes Islamic Republic’s façade and true face

     

The presidential election in Iran this Friday is being billed as yet another contest in which a spirited but ineffectual reformer is fighting it out with a hard-boiled theocrat. Meanwhile,… Read more »

Locate middle ground between autocrats and extremists in Syria

     

Six years after the outbreak of Syria’s civil war, the parties involved, whether aligned with the Assad regime, the Sunni jihadists, or others, have increasingly wielded extreme tactics to pursue… Read more »

Will Syria strikes trigger political transition?

     

The American strike on Shayrat air base in Syria is an appropriate response to mass homicide by the regime of Bashar al-Assad, said Ambassador Frederic Hof, a Senior Fellow with… Read more »

Reality check: life in a Cuban jail

     

Stephen Purvis loved Cuba and his job as development director with one of several small foreign firms that were setting up as the country sought international partners following the collapse… Read more »

How to support Arab democracy

     

U.S. support for democracy and human rights in the Arab world has varied over time, and presidential administrations have too often preferred dealing with autocrats to supporting their critics, notes… Read more »