Copyright 2013 Michael Rubin Wed, 22 May 2013 09:40:02 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Michael Rubin :: Writings http://www.michaelrubin.org mrubin@aei.org (Michael Rubin) webmaster@pundicity.com en-us http://www.michaelrubin.org/13313/erdogan-agenda Thu, 16 May 2013 09:00:00 EST Later today, President Barack Obama will sit down with Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Oval Office. It will be a friendly reunion. Obama has said Erdogan is one of the few foreign leaders with whom he has developed "friendships and the... http://www.michaelrubin.org/13267/us-support-kurdish-independence Thu, 9 May 2013 09:00:00 EST Not since the second decade of the twentieth century has the Kurdish dream of independence appeared so attainable. Saddam Hussein is gone, and Kurdish oil has earned billions of dollars. The Syrian civil war has enabled Salih Muslim's Democratic Union... http://www.michaelrubin.org/13266/politicizing-intelligence Thu, 9 May 2013 09:00:00 EST As he contemplated his run for president, Senator Barack Obama repeatedly accused the Bush administration of politicizing intelligence. In 2005, for example, he declared, "At the very least, the administration shaded, exaggerated, and selectively used... http://www.michaelrubin.org/13256/africa-iran Tue, 7 May 2013 09:00:00 EST Western diplomats should not dismiss Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's West African tour last month as the last gasp of Iran's lame duck president. While the west seeks to isolate Iran against the backdrop of nuclear sanctions and concerns regarding Iranian terror... http://www.michaelrubin.org/13230/obama-syria Tue, 30 Apr 2013 09:00:00 EST On August 20, 2012, President Barack Obama made chemical weapons use the trigger for U.S. intervention in Syria. "A red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized," he declared, adding, "That would... http://www.michaelrubin.org/13186/africa-iran Wed, 17 Apr 2013 09:00:00 EST The Islamic Republic of Iran and its nuclear ambitions remain at the center of American diplomatic attention. Outreach to Iran was the focus of President Obama's first television interview as president in 2009.[1] A desire for rapprochement continues... http://www.michaelrubin.org/13127/turkey-pkk-peace-process Tue, 2 Apr 2013 09:00:00 EST The Nowruz announcement of a truce between Turkish forces and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) brought optimism to Turkey. The liberal daily Taraf declared, "This is the Spring of Turkey." Milliyet headlined "Farewell to arms," and Hürriyet bannered,... http://www.michaelrubin.org/13072/remembering-iraq Tue, 19 Mar 2013 09:00:00 EST This week marks the tenth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war. Professors and pundits widely condemn the decision to liberate Iraq. History will show the critics to be wrong. Announcing the start of military operations, George W. Bush declared, "We... http://www.michaelrubin.org/13074/america-sectarian-problem Thu, 7 Mar 2013 09:00:00 EST February was a bloody month for Iraq. A wave of bombings directed at Iraqi Shi'ites killed 200 and wounded more than 550. The attacks come against the backdrop of political stalemate and increasingly violent protests which many journalists and diplomats... http://www.michaelrubin.org/12874/iranian-strategy Mon, 28 Jan 2013 09:00:00 EST The Islamic Republic of Iran is a dictatorship, but not in the mold of Kim Jong-un's North Korea, Bashar al-Assad's Syria, or Alexander Lukashenko's Belarus; rather, it is a dictatorship by veto power. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei maintains an opaque... http://www.michaelrubin.org/12782/us-should-do-in-middle-east Sat, 12 Jan 2013 09:00:00 EST In the first months of his presidency, Barack Obama laid out his vision for the Middle East. "If countries like Iran are willing to unclench their fist, they will find an extended hand from us," he told the Arabic satellite channel Al-Arabiya in his... http://www.michaelrubin.org/12702/syria-mistakes Sun, 23 Dec 2012 09:00:00 EST Almost two years after the Syrian uprising began, President Bashar Assad's reign appears shakier than ever. Rebels are closing in on Damascus. This month, the United States and 100 other countries recognized the opposition as Syria's legitimate... http://www.michaelrubin.org/12690/jalal-talabani-stroke Tue, 18 Dec 2012 09:00:00 EST Early this morning, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani suffered a stroke. While his spokesman is releasing few details other than to acknowledge Talabani is in stable condition, some around described the president as comatose. Should he not recover, his loss... http://www.michaelrubin.org/12681/kurdistan-statistics Mon, 17 Dec 2012 09:00:00 EST Kurdistan's rise from the ashes of the Anfal demonstrates Kurdish resilience. When Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein pulled his administration from Iraq's three northern provinces, he hoped to starve the Kurds into submission; he never believed the Kurds... http://www.michaelrubin.org/12612/syria-kurds-us-policy Tue, 27 Nov 2012 09:00:00 EST Twenty months after the Syrian uprising began, only one thing is certain: However the conflict ends, the face of Syria is forever changed. The terror inflicted on the population by government forces and the shabiha militia has not been random. Rather,...