Epstein Secrets

ntervention in Syria and rejecting his own national security team's proposal for U.S. action. They have scratched their heads as Secretary of State John F. Kerry, with Obama's blessing, has made the renewal of moribund Israeli-Palestinian talks his central focus while keeping a safe distance from Egypt. Inc

re still frying, especially as Secretary of State John Kerry tries to broker a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. This may explain why Kerry has continued to absurdly insist that a path to a political solution in Egypt "is still open" -- even as Islamists are being hunted down in the st

use Rouhani is telling Iranians he will ensure the sanctions are lifted without making concessions on the nuclear issue. Rouhani faces a diplomatic Gordian knot. On the one hand, he must prove that Iran is not trying to build a EFTA_R1_00440996 EFTA01964320 nuclear arsenal. But how does one prove a

policy circles, Obama is often regarded with mistrust. His Syria policy—with its dubious "red line" and threats to get rid of Bashar al- Assad; with John Kerry's improvised press-conference gambit on chemical weapons—has inspired little confidence. Neither did the decision to accelerate troop levels in Afgha

a clerk in a windsurfing- equipment shop, where he met John Kerry. He moved to Nantucket and worked as a caddie. He carried the Senator's clubs and Kerry invited him to come to D.C. Since taking the job with Obama, in 2009, Nicholson has played golf with the President well over a hundred times. The S

could invite every Republican in Congress to play golf until the end of time, could deliver punishments with ruthless regularity—and never cut the Gordian knot of contemporary Washington. They have a point. An Alaska Democrat like Begich would never last in office had he voted with Obama. L.B.J., elec

bama, with some back and forth, delivered. But the price was high and opportunities lost. "The Dispensable Nation" constitutes important reading as John Kerry moves into his new job as secretary of state. It nails the drift away from the art of diplomacy — with its painful give-and- take — toward a U.S. fo

s by President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry to the Middle East, there are renewed hopes for

to deploy its full arsenal of means and measures before we consider other options? This is good advice. War must always be the last resort. If the Gordian knot could be untied with fingers, why use the sword? However, diplomacy cannot become a fig leaf to hide inaction. Over the past two years, numero

when leading officials remark that their main concern is a rising China or revanchist Russia or that we live in a world where, as Secretary of State John Kerry said, “terrorism is the principal challenge,” they are missing the point. The fundamental threat to American interests isn’t China or Al Qaeda or Ira

live in a world where, as Secretary of State John Kerry said, “terrorism is the principal challenge,” the

and more dangerous than ever. 3. Networked systems of our age are confronted, constantly, with diverse, dangerous challenges, each informed by that Gordian paradox so familiar to us by now: The more connected we are, the greater the risks. And as bank balances, secret jet engine designs, and other pricel