Cafepolitico.us Blog

Some mid-east observers are saying that there are increased tensions between Israel and the US, due in part to uncertainty about a new US administration, appointment of George Mitchell as Mid-East envoy, plan to engage Iran in dialogue and the recent Israeli elections which placed the much more conservative “Bibi” Netanyahu (as compared to Tipi [...]

[Read more →]

Obama’s foreign policy team has been working overtime in an attempt to help stabilize the various crisis currently on their plate.
Secretary Clinton was in the Hague where she signaled a willingness to work with Iran on shared interests in the Afghanistan region and while there was no formal meeting with the representative of Iran, special [...]

[Read more →]

The most enraging thing about the billions of dollars private contractors have been squandering with their profitable contracts in Iraq (and other places), is how there are so many reports piling up that they are not even providing the very services required under the contract, or worse, doing such a piss-poor job that it is [...]

[Read more →]

Over at the Washington Note, Steve Clemons has an interesting post (and video) about an interview he did yesterday with a member of Palestinian Fatah who supports a pro-unity government. It is a very interesting dialogue and worth checking out. The post is here and there is a video link once you get [...]

[Read more →]

So far, things don’t look to good for the two US journalists being held in North Korea. I am sure a lot of behind-the-scenes wrangling is going on at the State Department, but if the US can’t get them back without having to give in to N. Korean concessions, this could get ugly.

[Read more →]

I don’t really understand President Obama’s over-all policy with respect to Gitmo detainess, people already labeled as enemy combatants:

Court documents filed Friday reveal that Obama’s lawyers are arguing that Ex-Guantanamo detainees have no constitutional rights.
The Center for Constitutional Rights(CCR), a non-profit legal advocacy group, is supporting four British citizens – Shafiq Rasul, Asif Iqbal, [...]

[Read more →]

President Obama is not even two full months into his first term and by all accounts, he has hit the ground running and is trying to deal with two wars, an economic disaster he inherited, education, health care and strengthening ties with international allies and rehabilitating our image among friend and foe alike.
Of [...]

[Read more →]

Yesterday, reports of Chinese and US naval maneuvers off the coast of Hainan Island, demonstrate an underlying tension between the two countries. The US Navy was operating in international waters when China began initiating provacative and clearly aggressive actions against the US Ship Impeccable, almost causing a collision between the two vessels:

In a dangerous [...]

[Read more →]

…and the powerful elites still jealously guard and take care of their own. This painfully obvious fact is already rearing it’s ugly head just one month into President Obama’s first term in office and while reasonable people can differ as to how to truly “change Washington”, or whether it’s even possible at all, there [...]

[Read more →]

I find this interesting, particularly given Secretary of State Clinton’s dismissive remarks about human rights while she was in China last week. One really can’t talk about Darfur without also talking about China, particularly given the major oil companies in Sudan are largely Chinese companies. So I am not sure how to reconcile [...]

[Read more →]