The fake republics are goners; the monarchies have a fighting chance. That’s my conclusion after a short visit to the Middle East and discussions with officials and analysts there. Elliott Abrams Read Quote
The war on drugs is not being won, and it continues to threaten stability and democracy not only in the Andes but throughout the Caribbean as well, where tiny police and military forces are outclassed by the sophisticated equipment in the hands of traffickers passing through the region on the way to their market in this country. Elliott Abrams Read Quote
I don’t see kids with Palm Pilots. They are not common on college campuses, except among professors. Gen Xers don’t need them. They are a phenomenon of the 50-something who can’t remember if his broker’s number ends in 1137 or 3317. Elliott Abrams Read Quote
The notion that public service requires men and women of good character now seems quaint. Elliott Abrams Read Quote
While foreign competitors, French or Japanese or German, merrily bid for contracts abroad, American companies find themselves tangled in a web of legislation designed to express disapproval, block trade in certain commodities, or perhaps deny resources to disfavored or hostile regimes. Elliott Abrams Read Quote
Opponents of U.S. sanctions have made ‘unilateral sanctions’ their special target. They argue that sanctions observed by many nations would be much more effective. True enough. Far better for trade with an outlaw regime to be restricted by many nations than by just one. Elliott Abrams Read Quote
Like all forms of collective security, multilateral sanctions require a unanimity rarely achieved in international politics. Elliott Abrams Read Quote
Mass killing has very clearly not been eliminated, nor has the ‘international community’ developed a response that will avert it or bring it to a quick end. Elliott Abrams Read Quote
The Middle East that Obama inherited in 2009 was largely at peace, for the surge in Iraq had beaten down the al Qaeda-linked groups. U.S. relations with traditional allies in the Gulf, Jordan, Israel and Egypt were very good. Iran was contained, its Revolutionary Guard forces at home. Elliott Abrams Read Quote
The United States and its Gulf allies, some of who are actively funding rebel groups in Syria, should undertake a serious joint review of Jordan’s needs and then act together to meet them. Elliott Abrams Read Quote
