Epstein Secrets

er of freedom, but nor did the Iraqi example prove the subversive beacon of hope its proponents had expected. It was said by Arabs themselves that George W. Bush had unleashed a tsunami on the region. True, but the Arabs were good at waiting out storms, and before long, the Americans EFTA_R1_00234068 EFTA0

he quest. An election in 2006 in the Palestinian territories went the way of Hamas, and a new disillusionment with democracy's verdict overtook the Bush administration. The "surge" in Iraq rescued the American war there just in time, but the more ambitious vision of reforming the Arab world was giv

ted. It was said by Arabs themselves that George W. Bush had unleashed a tsunami on the region. True

led its affairs with relative ease. It elected a constituent assembly in which al Nanda, an Islamist party, secured a plurality. Al Nanda's leader, Rachid al-Ghannouchi, was a shrewd man; years in exile had taught him caution, and his party formed a coalition government with two secular partners. In Libya, foreign

tes employing economic and military power to accelerate the inevitable expansion of democracy. President Bill Clinton's globalization and President George W. Bush's doctrine of preemption are two sides of the same coin. This latter school of thought gave Americans Somalia, Bosnia, and Kosovo during the 1990s a

the president's interminable "seminar" on Afghanistan policy.) This problem extended beyond the White House. After the imperial presidency of the Bush era, there was something more like parliamentary government in the first two years of Obama's administration. The president proposed; Congress disp

ill Clinton's globalization and President George W. Bush's doctrine of preemption are two sides of t

all want to many you." Marriage may have been a euphemism. Other more modern Islamists fear the Salafi factor. "The Salafis try to push us," said Rachid al-Ghannouchi, founder of Ennanda, the ruling Islamist party in Tunisia. The two Islamist groups there are now rivals. "Salafis are against drafting a constituti

Air Power Michael Beschloss THE AGE OF AIRPOWER By Martin van Creveld Illustrated. 498 pp. PublicAffairs. $35. April 22, 2011 -- When President George W. Bush launched his war against Saddam Hussein's Iraq with an incandescent burst of "shock and awe," political commentators marveled at the seemingly magi

$35. April 22, 2011 -- When President George W. Bush launched his war against Saddam Hussein's Iraq w

e Egyptian case was the fate of South Africa's P.W. Botha, a former prime minister who was president

hoose the same system for which the ten post-communist countries that have been admitted to the European Union opted, parliamentarianism. Finally, Rachid al-Ghannouchi, who leads the largest Muslim- inspired political party, Al Nanda, went out of his way to tell me that he has signed an agreement with some secular

al leaders to choose the same system as the ten post- communist countries that have been admitted to the European Union: parliamentarianism. Finally, Rachid al-Ghannouchi, who leads the largest Islamic- inspired political party, Al Nahda, went out of his way to tell me that he has signed an agreement with some secular

bia, are also not at all sure that Syria without Assad would be better than with him. Second, for most U.S. presidents -- Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush being the exceptions -- Syria has served as a kind of unholy diplomatic grail. Since Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger, U.S. policymakers had viewed