I’ve never been sold on the idea that theology is a sound basis for foreign policy. In my experience, the Almighty has never been that easy to push around. Your milage may vary.

Iran finally closed the Strait of Hormuz to watch global oil prices climb, but not enough to destroy demand. Now that the spigot has been closed, Iran can’t close it more.

Iran's talk of a Hormuz deal is a loud declaration that it is going to the mattresses.

This isn’t a peace, but setting a pot on simmer. It’s also better than the alternative.

America can keep this asymmetrical wheel spinning much longer than Tehran can. Practically, maybe not.

From the Department of Unintended Consequences The possible endgames in Iran are starting to look like a Waffle House menu at 3am: Everything will probably give you heartburn, but booze and hunger make people optimistic. The administration is now using phrases like “degrade capability,” “strategic reset,” and “regional stabilization” for the same reason that CEOs do – use enough syllables and it’s less obvious that you’re pin-wheeling. The assumption is that if sufficient pre

Lose the Shock-Absorbers at Your Own Peril A few weeks after the attack on the US mission compound that killed US Ambassador Christopher Stevens, I was on a Turkish Air flight into Benghazi. “Qaddafi was a good ruler at first…” the doctor – a Libyan practicing in Ireland – told me, “…and the monarchy was corrupt and inefficient.” He was coming home for his brother’s funeral and thought the situation stable enough to bring his son, a restless lad of six or seven. The trouble,

If you want to look smart, be a pessimist; if you want to be rich, be an optimist.

What was supposed to be a “night in Caracas” operation to decapitate a regime has become a Mexican stand-off.