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During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama was praised for his calm, detached manner. As opposed to George Bush’s impulses and Bill Clinton’s emotions, Obama was seen as properly distant and disciplined. “This is a man who will remain in control when a crisis arrives,” was the positive comment on his demeanor.
Now, after seventeen […]

When Barack Obama was elected President of the United States, many people rejoiced for many reasons. There was the obvious end of the Bush era, the election of the first African-American leader as well as a hopeful shift in America’s foreign policies. The United States, it was thought, was re-engaging with the world from its […]

International lawyers speak of the international community as a society of states that follows accepted norms. When they refer to the international community, they are also referring to those institutions, including civil society, which accept certain procedures. All of this implies mutual cooperation and understanding of the rules of the game.
What to do with a […]

Last week saw a flurry of activity in trying to halt Iran’s nuclear program. First, Brazil and Turkey tried to broker a deal with Iran, similar to one that had been previously proposed by other countries, that it ship uranium out of the country in return for receiving enriched uranium that could be used for […]

In “The End of History,” Francis Fukuyama said that liberal democracy and free market capitalism have become the universally preferred political and economic systems for all societies. With the current debt crisis in Europe, the financial crash on Wall Street and the U.S. deficit continuing to mount, it would be easy to question his analysis […]

When I attended university for four years in the United States, I listened to innumerable lectures, participated in endless seminars, and read until my eyes watered from fatigue. Most of what I listened to and read has long been forgotten.
However, there is one lesson that I learned outside the classroom that remains vividly […]

The recent Senate hearings in the United States with Goldman Sachs’ executives are not only riveting theatre allowing the venting of public anger at skewed wealth distribution. They are also reminders of profound philosophical differences about the relationship between the private and public sectors.
Senators are angry because they sense that the Goldman people […]

Risk analysts and military experts are always supposed to work outside the box. “Think the unpredictable and prepare for the impossible,” goes the motto. And yet, during the recent airline stoppage due to volcanic ash we discovered that no one was properly prepared for dealing with the crisis.
Airline planners, transport executives in both the public […]

Before earthquakes, we are told, animals move away from the region because they sense rumblings that even sophisticated machinery cannot register. Animals, it appears, are extremely sensitive to shifts in tectonic plates beneath the earth’s surface.
Are we now witnessing tectonic shifts in the relations between the United States and Israel that may turn into a […]

The signing of the START Treaty in Prague by Presidents Obama and Medvedev is an important step in restarting the button of U.S.-Russian relations. Just before a major international conference in Washington on nuclear security, a positive Russian-U.S. cooperation also sets a good example of best practices in reducing the dangers of nuclear proliferation.
Enough of […]