U.S. politics is usually dominated by debates over domestic policy, so it has almost been forgotten that the downhill slide of the Bush coalition began because of their mismanagement of foreign affairs. The midterm election of 2006 was carried by the Democrats due to anger over the Iraq war. Though the political scene here in […]

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(John Kerry | Source: AFP) Initially it appeared that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s peace initiative was harmless. Although few Israelis, Palestinians or Americans expected it to accomplish anything, it was hard to make the case that it would do any damage. No more. And not just because the Israeli government keeps announcing the […]

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Rick Santorum | Source: NBC News) This week marked the 15th anniversary of the attacks on the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and in a sobering reminder that al Qaeda still poses a serious threat to western interests abroad, the State Department temporarily closed 19 embassies across the Middle East and Africa. Some critics […]

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Since being sworn in as secretary of State, John Kerry has had to grapple with many issues. But none have taken up more of his time than the Israeli-Palestinian issue and new obstacles keep appearing. Kerry has traveled to the region five times and met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud […]

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I wonder what it is that other people see about Secretary of State John Kerry’s Israeli-Palestinian breakthrough that I’m missing. The fundamentals haven’t changed. The Palestinian Authority’s goal is to achieve a peace agreement with Israel in which it (again) recognizes Israel and Israel agrees to the establishment of a Palestinian state in the occupied […]

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