Epstein Secrets

view, this is a crisis. From a national-interest point of view, it is an opportunity to undermine enemies of the United States in both Damascus and Tehran. But President Obama has treated the bloody turmoil, first and foremost, as an opportunity to strengthen the idea that America should subject itsel

goes back to early twentieth-century Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's forceful campaign to westernize the country after the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire. But the campaign was less successful than it seemed. Though the cosmopolitan elites who ran Turkey after Ataturk were largely secular, out in the

an opening to expand its sphere of influence. For years, Iran's leadership has aimed to foment discord while furthering its geopolitical ambitions. Tehran has long funded Hamas and Hezbollah; recently, its scope of attempted interference has broadened to include the affairs of Arab states from Yemen t

rael Let us then turn to the contemporary manifestation of Israel. Israel was recreated because of the interaction between a regional great power, the Ottoman Empire, and a global power, Great Britain. During its expansionary phase, the Ottoman Empire sought to dominate the eastern Mediterranean as well as both

would make its peace with the status quo, renewing its partnership with friendly autocrats even as it engaged the hostile regimes in Damascus and Tehran. The United States was to remain on the Kabul hook for a while longer, but the greater Middle East would be left to its Furies. When a revolt erup

ns and Christian intellectuals, it sought to reform political life, separate religion from politics, emancipate women, and move past the debris of the Ottoman Empire. Fittingly enough, that great movement, with Beirut and Cairo at the head of the pack, found its chronicler in George Antonius, a Christian writer

A01737588 Nations. This week's issue of The New Yorker includes a Profile based on twenty-five years of conversations with him, including four in Tehran and New York since last September. Zarif is now the pivotal broker in nuclear talks between his government and six world powers-Britain, China, Fra

TATURK To understand the need for institutional rebalancing, one needs to first understand how the roots of Turkey's present institutions began in the Ottoman Empire. The reach of the Ottoman state was limited in many ways, but the effective political power that did exist -- organized mainly around military con

-interest point of view, it is an opportunity to undermine enemies of the United States in both Damascus and E FTA_R 1 _02207 1 4 3 EFTA02722354 Tehran. But President Obama has treated the bloody turmoil, first and foremost, as an opportunity to strengthen the idea that America should subject itsel

oes back to early twentieth-century Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's forceful campaign to westernize the country after the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire. But the campaign was less successful than it seemed. Though the cosmopolitan elites who ran Turkey after Ataturk were largely secular, out in the

would be an illusory victory. It can only end in defeat — and the strengthening of the insurgents' sworn Shiite enemies in Baghdad and, especially, Tehran. First, consider the brute demographic reality. Unlike in Syria, Sunnis are a relatively small part of the Iraqi population, about 25 percent — tho

go affair, things are different. Even the worst mess has its winners. The Kurds, almost a century after missing out on statehood at the break-up of the Ottoman Empire, are the beneficiaries of Iraq's mayhem. Even their relations with their Turkish nemesis have been commerce- smoothed into something approaching war

the Middle East today is not the risk of a six-day Israeli war against Iran. It is the risk that Western wishful nonthinking allows the mullahs of Tehran to get their hands on nuclear weapons. Because I am in no doubt that they would take full advantage of such a lethal lever. We would have acquiesce

menians, for example, had lived side by side with Ottoman Muslims for some six centuries until the rise of modern nationalism. Similarly, no one in the Ottoman Empire ever suggested that Kurds were actually "mountain Turks" whose true identity should be restored via cultural assimilation. The Ottoman state had i

eclaration. 4 days of violent rioting against Jews in Jerusalem. Opening of the San Remo Conference. Treaty of Sévres, or the Peace Treaty between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies. Major riots in Jaffa between Jews and Arabs. Great Britain issues the Unilateral Declaration of Independence of Egypt. Churchill

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een seen since the end of WWI and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. • In the Middle East - within three years, the "

ll "alive and kicking" and growing even stronger. But there is good news too. Israel is the strongest country in the region, from Tripoli in Libya to Tehran. It's the strongest militarily, strategically, and economically, and if we know act wisely-diplomatically too. Equally important: Israel will continu

ourselves at the height of a historic earthquake, in multiple dimensions, the like of which hasn't been seen since the end of WWI and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. • In the Middle East - within three years, the "Arab spring" turned into the "Islamic winter" - borders have vanished and centuries of conflicts bet

ll "alive and kicking" and growing even stronger. But there is good news too. Israel is the strongest country in the region, from Tripoli in Libya to Tehran. It's the strongest militarily, strategically, and economically, and if we know act wisely-diplomatically too. Equally important: Israel will continu