In The News

Imran in Washington: Times of India

Nayan Chanda July 31, 2019
President Donald Trump, long opposed to US involvement in lengthy military campaigns, counts on Pakistan to help “extricate” his country from the war in Afghanistan. Nayan Chanda identifies a pattern in Trump’s approach on foreign challenges like North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. “Following the ‘threaten then flatter’ playbook Trump suspended $1.3 billion of annual aid to Pakistan before...

Air Raids Continue in Syria: Al Jazeera

July 26, 2019
The Syrian government, Russia and Iran continue to conduct air raids against remaining rebel holdouts in northwest Syria. The United Nations reports more than 100 civilians have been killed during the past 10 days with more than 400,000 people displaced during the past three months alone. Syria’s government claims it responds to ceasefire violations, including fighters balking at withdrawing from...

UK to Look After Own Ships in the Gulf: Guardian

Patrick Wintour July 22, 2019
Britain seized an Iranian ship off Gibraltar for transporting oil to Syria before Iran seized a British ship, with a crew of mostly Indian nationals. Speaking on a US television channel, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the US has plans for a military convoy to protect international shipping off the Iranian coast and suggested the UK has a responsibility to protect its own ships....

Iran Crisis – British Oil Tanker Seized: Telegraph

Harriet Alexander and Chris Graham July 21, 2019
Iran seized one British-flagged oil tanker, claiming it had violated international maritime law, and briefly detained another, in what Harriet Alexander and Chris Graham, writing for the Telegraph, called “a major escalation of tensions in the Gulf.” Oil prices are rising. The first vessel had been headed for Saudi Arabia before sailing near an Iranian island and then stopped transmitting...

Saving the Iran Nuclear Deal: Wall Street Journal

Laurence Norman July 15, 2019
Global influence is in the eyes of many beholders. Whether Iran complies with terms of the internationally negotiated nuclear arms deal could determine if Europe is the more influential global power or the United States. The challenge: Iran, anxious about the economic impact of US sanctions, has breached limits on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium since July 1. “European foreign ministers...

British Ambassador Resigns: The Independent

Kim Sengupta and Rob Merrick July 10, 2019
British Ambassador to the US Kim Darroch resigned soon after release of his candid assessments describing the US president and his administration as inept and insecure. The UK is in the midst of a prime minister race after Theresa May failed to secure parliamentary agreement on Brexit plans. The candidates: Jeremy Hunt supported Darroch and Boris Johnson declined to do so: “it is understood [...

Anglo-American Relations: Columbia Journalism Review

John Allsop July 9, 2019
Newspapers printed leaked diplomatic correspondence describing the Trump administration as “dysfunctional” and “diplomatically clumsy and inept.” The initial news report, acknowledging the US president is “notoriously thin-skinned, exposes concerns about the reliability of the United States as an ally, and the Trump administration responded that that it will no longer work with Ambassador Kim...