Legal Implications on the Palestinian Bid in September and More…
As has been discussed by me in two parts (here and here) the Palestinian move at the UN in September is more a showcase than a real thought out political move. Each side has its reasons discussed in the two articles so I will not reanalyze these, but just add a few points. The first … Read more
More Thoughts on the Palestinian Bid in September
As I was reviewing news this morning, I came across an article that I felt is important to my article yesterday. The point of my article yesterday essentially was that there is an attempt on each side, in the leadership, to achieve a specific goal and control the narrative. The Palestinian leadership wishes to maintain … Read more
Thoughts on the Palestinian Bid in September
There are many potential narratives already being conjured up for the Palestinian bid for recognition in September at the United Nations. The Palestinian leadership is going around the world asking for states to vote in favor of recognition with the rights that come with it. The Israelis are doing whatever they can to stop this … Read more
Competing Precedents Set in Libya
For the last few months, I have been in general agreement with much of what Daniel Larison has said about the intervention in Libya: I don’t see how intervening in Libya was in the American interest (and I do not buy the argument that it acted as a deterrent to other autocratic regimes) and I … Read more
Proof That NATO is Relevant. And Irrelevant, Part II
Apparently George Grant is not the only one who thought that the performance of of a handful of powerful militaries working under the guise of NATO is proof that the transatlantic alliance is still healthy. David Abshire, the U.S. permanent representative to NATO from 1983-1987, writes that the speed with which NATO acted in Libya, as compared to … Read more
Proof That NATO is Still Relevant. And Also Irrelevant.
Clearly NATO played a major role in the ability of the rebel forces to bring down Qaddafi. Though the TNC deserves credit for its efforts on the ground – particularly the apparent coordination between the TNC command in Benghazi and the sleeper rebel cells in Tripoli – the Libyan uprising would have been much shorter and … Read more
Trump: US Should Steal Libyan Oil
Donald Trump apparently thinks that the United States should be taking the oil in Libya as a fee for supporting the rebels. Perhaps, according to Trump, the US should be making deals with rebel organizations promising 50% of their oil revenue in exchange for supporting democracy. You have all these rebels running around… Are … Read more
Was the Libyan Intervention Humanitarian?
Now that Tripoli has fallen to the rebels and Qaddafi is on his way out, many see vindication for the decision to intervene in Libya. Whether the decision intervene in Libya was wise for western governments is up for debate, but it is unquestionably clear that thanks, at least in part, to western aerial power, … Read more
Did the Fall of Tripoli Vindicate the Intervention?
In the lead up to the decision to intervene in Libya, I was pretty skeptical. Without overstepping the UN mandate, it seemed as though there was little that the international community could do in order to protect the rebel movement. The intervention, by the end, was anything but humanitarian. It is true that foreign air … Read more
