Tag Archives: Graham Fuller

by Graham E. Fuller – If the rise of strong new powers like China poses a challenge to the older US-dominated geopolitical order, what about about the converse? The challenge to the international order created by a declining and erratic great power ever more at odds with an emerging new …

by Graham E. Fuller 8 August 2018   A bold new political face has come to power in the recent Pakistani elections, possibly offering the US a new opportunity in that country. Sadly the opportunity will likely be squandered—again. There’s something about Pakistani and US interests that seem doomed to …

by Graham E. Fuller   The fascinating, elaborately choreographed diplomatic pas de deux in Singapore between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un mesmerized the world over two days. Most pundits look at the (perhaps more than) half empty glass of water on the table. Indeed, most Democrats and all Trump-haters …

by Graham E. Fuller (grahamefuller.com), 2 April 2018   I am happy to announce to interested readers the publication of my new novel, BEAR. Some may recall from my blog a few years back the publication of my first novel: “Breaking Faith: a novel of espionage and an American’s crisis …

By Graham Fuller * — The fall of the primary ISIS stronghold in Mosul in Iraq represents a turning point strategically, politically, ideologically and even religiously in the Muslim world. Mosul has been the largest symbolic center of the ISIS “Caliphate” over which the ISIS “Caliph” ‘Abd-al-Rahman al-Baghdadi presided. The …

by Graham E. Fuller * — President Trump’s ignorant, oafish and crude foreign policy style rivets our attention, arouses our indignation. But the drama of the diplomatic mayhem he wreaks while traveling abroad also distracts from recognizing more serious underlying problems of US policy— deep negative trends that predate Trump. Focusing on …

by Graham E. Fuller — Nearly all the indicators coming out of Turkey continue to be bad—for Turkey and for nearly everybody else. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seems to be the only one profiting from the ongoing dark course of events. Taking advantage of an unexplored and murky coup attempt …

by Graham E. Fuller — It’s hard these days to avoid glimmers of an apocalyptic future, domestic and international, breaking into our daily consciousness. President Trump represents its most obvious face today, but its roots go back at least to a blinkered American triumphalism emerging from the fall of the …

SANA SANA / REUTERSAssad during an interview with a Croatian newspaper. Damascus, Syria. April 6. by Graham E. Fuller — How should we understand U.S. President Donald Trump’s cruise missile barrage last week against a Syrian airbase? In one sense, it might be a tactical triumph for his administration: cruise missile attacks …

Graham E. Fuller — What is it about the US that makes it virtually the only country in the world where a political Left scarcely exists? We have a center Right—the Democratic Party. And we have a far Right—the Republican Party. In fact, just invoking the L-word “Liberal” can inflict …

by Graham E. Fuller — With the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States, it’s hard to know where first to focus attention. Rage and righteous indignation on all sides are mounting. There is more than enough blame to go around for how the US …

by Graham E. Fuller* — I cannot recall a period in which the US public debate across the media has reached such implacably partisan and toxic proportions. The issues are indeed important—particularly the specific case of Russian involvement in helping make public the activities of the Democratic National Committee—information that …

by Graham E. Fuller*– It had been an exhausting, interminable 18-20 months of presidential campaigning during which much of the business of thoughtful American governance had to yield space to the riveting follies of politics. Yet most other countries in the world, not locked into dictators or kings for life, …

by Graham E. Fuller* — The very words hit the ear as a shock; the mind is not ready for it. And that is exactly the problem. We could not see it coming. Among other things this tawdry and interminable election represents a massive American intelligence failure. Not failure of …

by Graham E. Fuller* — A deep contradiction lies at the heart of US policy towards the present horrifying conflict in Syria. Which is better? To now reluctantly accept continuation of Bashar al-Asad in power in Damascus for the foreseeable future, thereby hastening the end of the war and the …

by Graham E. Fuller — The “Great Debates” between candidates Clinton and Trump encapsulate what is wrong with the US political process. There’s been little substance; it’s all about personalities and sound-bytes and gotcha. Never mind the grand issues of our time and how they should be handled—income inequality, corporate …

The Levant News — by Graham E. Fuller — You might recall the term “Eurasia” from high school geography classes. The term isn’t used much any more in political discussions in the West, but it should be. That is where the most serious geopolitical action is going to be taking …

by Graham E. Fuller — Symbolism matters. Especially when it comes to other people’s cultures. Most recently we see the old/new issue about Muslim women’s dress, especially now grabbing headlines in France where “Islamic beachwear” or the “burkini” (burka-bikini), has been banned in several Riviera beach towns. France of course …

The Levant News — by Graham E. Fuller — Last week witnessed what may be the last act of an unfolding struggle between two major Islamic movements in Turkey. Turkish president and leader of the AKP party Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused exiled Islamic leader Fethullah Gülen of plotting the failed …

by Graham E. Fuller*– Iraqi politics are in turmoil—nothing new here. Not surprisingly, the post-invasion order is taking a long time to shake down, given the destruction of the old. Entirely new relationships had to be forged under the new, radically changed environment. What Iraq requires above all is the …

The Levant News — by Graham E. Fuller– The scariest thing about Donald Trump’s candidacy is not that a guy like him is running for top office, but rather the disastrous impact he is going to have on a Hillary administration. Now, in this crazy year—actually non-stop circus for 18 …

THE LEVANT NEWS — by Graham E. Fuller — Apologies to readers for some recent silences, but I’ve been away in Holland as a guest lecturer for three weeks at Leiden University in Holland, a charming and historic university town. During this period I worked to gain a few impressions …

The Levant News — by Graham E. Fuller — Pope Francis is on a roll. He has already roiled the waters of western thinking on economics and society by touching on the dangers of western capitalism drifting into socially destructive greed. He has now turned his focus to an even …

THE LEVANT NEWS – By Graham E. Fuller* — Rajan Menon’s new book, “The Conceit of Humanitarian Intervention,” (Oxford) launches a timely argument against a dominant argument lying behind so much of modern American foreign policy—“humanitarian intervention” or “liberal interventionism.” We are, of course, well familiar with Republican and neocon …

THE LEVANT NEWS – By Graham E. Fuller* — The FBI and Apple are wrestling over the rights of police access to private phones. Well and good. But there is a much more urgent issue: why are our intelligence and security organizations being hindered from taking national security to a …

THE LEVANT NEWS — By Graham E. Fuller — What does Turkey need to do to overcome its present foreign policy fiasco, one of the worst in modern Turkish history? The irony of all this is that those directly responsible for this mess—the team of Recep Tayip Erdogan (now president) …

THE LEVANT NEWS — By Graham E. Fuller — On the world scene, America is a declining power. This decline is in part domestic and self-inflicted, reflecting a certain weariness and neglect of our social order. No amount of huffing and puffing from politicians will significantly change this decline.   But …

THE LEVANT NEWS — By Graham E. Fuller — It is hard to find even the smallest silver lining in the ongoing series of jihadist outrages that now proliferate with each daily news report. The immoral and cynical exploitation of religion (a constant of human history) is ultimately about power …

The Levant News — By Graham E. Fuller — A renowned Arab religious scholar in the 14th century, ibn Taymiyya, is sometimes quoted as saying, Al-zulm afdal min al-fawda— “oppression is to be favored over anarchy.” Although ibn Taiymiyya was no establishment figure in his time, this perspective was welcomed …

THE LEVANT NEWS — by Graham E. Fuller –Prediction on Turkey: (I was considerably off base on this one): 2015 Prediction: President Erdoğan in Turkey will find his influence beginning to crumble in 2015. After a brilliant prime-ministership for the first decade of AKP power, he has become mired in …

THE LEVANT NEWS — by Graham E. Fuller — Having rashly ventured last year into making predictions for the coming year of 2015 in the Middle East, how do those assessments bear up today, one year later? This self-graded scorecard comes in two separate articles: due to space limitations I …

THE LEVANT NEWS — by Graham E. Fuller– ISIS, with its horrific attack on purely civilian targets in Paris, has established new realities about its nature, capabilities and intentions. The need for its elimination can now no longer be in doubt. It is not that Parisian lives are more important …

Reviewed by Marvin and Francine Weinbaum — Breaking Faith: A Novel of Espionage and an American’s Crisis of Conscience in Pakistan, by Graham E. Fuller. Bozorg Press, 2015. 484 pages. $18.95 paper. Middle East Journal, Fall 2015 — A successful political novel seamlessly intertwines fiction and nonfiction. Nonfiction provides the …

The Levant News — by Graham E. Fuller — As mayhem and anarchy spread like a contagion across the Middle East, can the Middle East, like Humpty Dumpty, be put back together again? Some pundits say no. Yet, for a variety of admittedly highly debatable reasons, I still believe that …

The Levant News — by Graham E. Fuller — All countries do it—promoting their own societies in ideal terms in order to influence others. The US devotes a huge amount of time and money to selling its self-image and a view of the world as seen through American eyes—and perhaps …

The Levant News — by Graham E. Fuller — Washington has jealously guarded the role of global policeman for over half a century. But is the game still worth the candle? World War II left no power standing other than the US. Washington was in a unique position to lead …

THE LEVANT NEWS – by Graham E. Fuller —  It is risky to try to discern longer range trends in the Middle East based on a few short term developments. Nonetheless, I can’t resist finding some small shards for cautious optimism in the events of the past few weeks. -Syria: …

by Graham E. Fuller — THE LEVANT NEWS — Comments abound on Obama’s achievement in reaching an agreement with Iran on nuclear issues. For a predictable minority it’s not an achievement at all but a terrible setback. Most criticism focuses on the challenge of possible Iranian cheating. That misses the …

THE LEVANT NEWS – by Graham E. Fuller — I can’t believe that I’ve been outflanked on the Progressive Left by Fareed Zakaria! Hints of negotiation with ISIS! http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-talking-to-terrorists-is-the-only-way-to-defeat-them/2015/07/09/c94a83c8-266f-11e5-aae2-6c4f59b050aa_story.html I’ve got a lot of respect for Zakaria—he generally works within the outer limits of the establishment envelope—just enough to nudge along …

THE LEVANT NEWS — By Graham E. Fuller – Source: grahamefuller.com–  Human sexuality has always been a deeply controversial social issue in all societies. So is religion. Put them together and you have a powerful emotional brew. The US Supreme Court ruling this week legalizing gay marriage poses a new challenge …

by Graham E. Fuller – Source: grahamefuller.com — It was welcome news that Turkish President Erdoğan was dramatically foiled in his bid to win a majority in Turkey’s recent parliamentary elections. Those election were in essence a referendum on Erdoğan himself and his ambitions to create a super-presidency in which …

By Graham E. Fuller – Source: grahamefuller.com– Saudi, Israeli and US neoconservative voices warn us tirelessly that Iran’s imperial sway has now come to dominate the governments of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and now Yemen, and still threatens Bahrain. Analytically speaking such views are not just exaggerated, but misleading and dangerous, …

by Graham E. Fuller Source: grahamefuller.com– On 7 June Turkey’s democratic system will be deeply tested in a fateful parliamentary election; at stake is preservation of rule of law and liberal democracy against an increasingly authoritarian-minded President. Bottom line: if President Erdoğan’s AKP party is able to win big, the …

by Graham E. Fuller Source: grahamefuller.com — Who doesn’t want stability? If there is anything feared by virtually all humans, it is living in anarchy, chaos, lawlessness. When you can’t even go out to buy a loaf of bread without risking your life. When times are troubled political leaders naturally …