Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the North Korean leader-du-jour threaten others with nuclear annihilation, implied or otherwise. Who knows what level of self-destruction they would risk for their cause? Our weakness and neglect of the U.S. nu…
Evolution of a Terrorist Group
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton informed Congress on Friday, September 21 that the Iranian opposition group Mujahedin-e-Khalq‘s (MEK) will be removed from the U.S. foreign terrorist organization list. Many worry that this decision, announced just days before her October 1st deadline to make a verdict, will exacerbate already tense relations with the government of Iran.
There’s a Fine Line, Mr. Romney: The Governor’s Iran Problem
There’s been a lot of talk about “red lines” lately. Speaking to CNN about Iran’s nuclear program on September 16, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defined the term as “a stage in the enrichment or other nuclear activities that [the Iranians] cannot cross because they’ll face consequences.” Earlier this month, Netanyahu asserted that “those in the international community who refuse to draw a red line on Iran have no moral right to draw a red line for Israel.”
The Implications of New Leadership in North Korea
North Korea has experienced extreme isolation from the world since Kim Il-Sung proclaimed himself as the Prime Minister in 1948, the same year South Korea declared statehood. Labeled by the international community as a totalitarian regime that oppresses its citizens, North Korea has long flouted international rules and norms, including human rights and nonproliferation under the Kim Jong-Il regime, the son of Kim Il-sung. But when Kim Jong-Il died in December 2011, his twenty-something son, Kim Jong-Un, took the reins. Since then, North Korea watchers have pointed to interesting changes in the country, though the significance and implications of these changes are difficult to discern.
Rand Paul (Still) Pushing for Pakistani Aid Cutoff, and It’s (Still) a Bad Idea
For several months now, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky has been pushing for the United States to cut off foreign aid to Pakistan, which amounted to just over $2 billion in 2012. This week, as conservative Republicans propose a rethinking of aid to Egypt and Libya in the wake of anti-American attacks there, Paul is hoping to finally get a vote on his Pakistan proposal.
