Free Republic

Sometimes you have to fight battles you cannot win because fighting — regardless of the outcome — advances a larger cause. Israel's fight against the nuclear deal the major powers, led by US President Barack Obama concluded with Iran was such a battle. -snip- By fighting Obama's nuclear deal, Israel seeks to advance two larger efforts. First, it uses the battle to expand its capacity to act without the US to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Second, it is shaping its relations with the US both for the duration of Obama's presidency and for the day after he leaves...

For a brief moment, it appeared that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu escaped from the recent mini-crisis with the United States while protecting two core interests. First, Netanyahu’s government coalition emerged intact, despite the fact that the controversy was precipitated by an announcement made by the Shas party-controlled Ministry of Interior. It was a timing mistake, claimed Interior Minister Eli Yishai; no one was fired, no one was disciplined and Shas suffered no consequences for the embarrassment it caused to Israel. Netanyahu also did not compromise on his ideological claim to Jerusalem as Israel’s “undivided and eternal capital.” Both in...

Yerevan. (Interfax) - U.S. ambassador to Armenia John Ordway has expressed optimism over the future of his country's cooperation with Armenia. The quick pace at which relations are developing is the result of the situation in Armenia and the region as a whole, as well as international processes, Ordway told a news conference in Yerevan on Thursday. The United States plans to continue working with the Armenian authorities to help them carry out democratic reforms and strengthen the country's economy, he said. The construction in Armenia of the largest U.S. embassy in the world has proved that Washington views its...

The Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs has been conducting a "dialogue" with Canadians about our place in the world. It's a foreign policy review, of sorts, following the review of 1995 and 1970. But it doesn't require a review to recognize the paramountcy of Canada-U.S. relations in our foreign policy. Nor to recognize that the goals of our foreign policy are to enhance the security and prosperity of Canadians and help us contribute to a more peaceful and equitable world. In achieving these goals, paramountcy of the Canada-U.S. relationship derives from two inarguable facts: 1. Canadians will not be able...

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl accused his successor, Gerhard Schroeder, of "miserable politics" that have jeopardized Germany's position in the world. He said Schroeder especially damaged relations with Washington by campaigning on promises that German soldiers would not participate in a U.S.-led attack on Iraq. "In a short time this government has jeopardized an enormous amount of regard and respect in the world," said Kohl, whom Schroeder ousted in 1998 after 16 years as chancellor. Kohl made the comments in an interview published Friday in the right-leaning mass circulation Bild. He said he did not think Schroeder's...