Iran’s Faulty Toolbox

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This is a guest post written by Matthew M. Reed, a research intern with the New America Foundation/American Strategy Program. Iran’s arsenal is familiar by now. It includes the “oil weapon,” armies, proxies, and ultimately nuclear weapons. Each tool of leverage is seriously flawed but that does not prevent alarmists from overstating their effect.

On the Value of Travel Alerts

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Growing concern about specific terrorist threats targeting Europe in the past few weeks, with the focus on Britain, France, and Germany, led the State Department yesterday to issue a “travel alert” related to Europe. Here is the key portion of the alert: The State Department alerts U.S.

White House TED-Style: Austan Goolsbee on Tax Cuts

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Wow. President Obama’s new Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors Austan Goolsbee has gone “TED-ish” in his economic commentary. Goolsbee’s talk is coherent, straightforward and doesn’t talk down to folks. And the production style is more modern than virtually anything I have seen from the White House. Excellent job Austan.

Jarring Israeli Centrists out of their Indifference

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Bob Wright has a piece on the New York Times‘ Opinionator which should be read in full as he provocatively suggests that we take the earnestness out of the pursuit of a two-state peace deal between the Israelis and Palestinians.

GOP Doing Some Smart Stuff

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I just got this email from Republican House Whip Eric Cantor: Do You Have Time for a 30 Minute Strategy Call? Dear Steven, Will you join me for a 30 minute strategy call on Thursday, September 30th at 4:30 PM? My colleague in the GOP Young Guns program, Representative Kevin McCarthy, and I would like…

LIVE STREAM at 2:00 pm TODAY: Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad at New America

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The violent clashes currently underway in East Jerusalem, sparked by the shooting of a Palestinian man by a private guard protecting Israeli settlers, have once again demonstrated the volatility and hair-trigger tensions in Jerusalem and in the region that can explode at the slightest provocation.