Misunderstanding July 2011?

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Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) is speaking at Brookings today on the Obama administration’s course in Afghanistan. His speech, while largely supportive of the frame that Obama has brought to the challenge — a narrowed mission, discussion of an offramp, and more — also includes lingering doubts.

Barack Obama: Last Transatlantic President?

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This is a guest note by Nicholas Kitchen, Editor of IDEAS Reports and a Fellow of the LSE IDEAS — or for acronym-challenged, Diplomacy & Strategy at the London School of Economics Barack Obama: Last Transatlantic President? When Barack Obama took office in January, expectations of what the new President could bring to international affairs…

Are Sanctions on Iran More about Satisfying American Emotional Needs Or Designed to Really Fix the Iran Problem?

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The Carnegie Endowment’s Karim Sadjadpour is one of the best commentators explicating the Iranian Government’s behavior in the business. He recently did and interview with Middle East Progress on the state of play in Iran that I found insightful.

Sorting Through Erdogan’s Visit

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Some quick thoughts on Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan’s visit to Washington this week. -It is clear that Turkey and the United States have different approaches to Iran’s nuclear program. The United States is still calling for “zero enrichment” and is threatening additional sanctions if Iran does not cede to the P5+1 demands.

Hillary Clinton Does 185,731 Miles and Asks If I was a Party-Crasher. . .

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Hillary Clinton would have probably flown more miles this year had she not badly injured her wrist in a nasty State Department parking lot fall, but she still logged a very impressive 185,731 in flight miles so far this year.

Joe Biden Swears in David Huebner for New Zealand Ambassadorship — Kiwi Ambassador to US Says on Prospect of Uptick in Gay Tourism “Bring It On!”

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I just had the privilege of attending the swearing-in ceremony for my old friend David Huebner as the next US Ambassador to New Zealand. Demonstrating the importance of this appointment to the White House, Vice President Joe Biden gave the oath to the openly gay lawyer turned diplomat.

Guest Post by Peter Bergen and Katherine Tiedemann: About Those Civilian Fatalities

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Peter Bergen is a senior fellow at the New America Foundation as well as the co-director of New America’s Counterterrorism Strategy Initiative, where Katherine Tiedemann is a policy analyst. This post was originally published at the AfPakChannel.

Al Majalla’s Special Report on Turkey

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Al Majalla, the Arab magazine, recently published a special report on Turkey called “7 years of AKP Rule.” The report provides a variety of perspectives on Turkey’s political situation and the impact of the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) seven years in power.