Brian M Downing and the world at war. Timely, thoughtful, and nonpartisan analysis of military matters. @BrianMDowning1.
Brian M Downing The Trump administration talks of a new era of cooperation with Russia. The historical rivals, it believes, can work together in fighting ISIL and developing oil and gas fields, especially in the forbidding trans-Ural and Arctic regions. The partnership may be facilitated by the affinities between two Read More …
President Trump takes on the Middle East – Iran Brian M Downing No newly-elected president has caused more anxiety and speculation than Donald Trump. His hastily proposed polices and mercurial temperament worry foreign leaders and fellow Republicans alike. Many US foreign policy experts have publicly declared him unfit for the presidency. Read More …
The Iranian nuclear agreement, American elections, and Israeli generals Brian M Downing Last year’s nuclear deal with Iran occasionally appears in the rintresidential campaign. The GOP candidate decries it as one of many mistakes made by his Democratic opponent, who was Secretary of State in the lead-up to the agreement. Read More …
Netanyahu builds up his majority – and the “iron wall”? Brian M Downing Last week Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu replaced his defense minister with Avigdor Lieberman – a conservative who has found a niche to the right of the PM. Lieberman’s public support is in the Russian immigrant community and Read More …
Israel mobilized its considerable resources in an effort to block the nuclear deal with Iran in congress. Think tanks, lobbies, and the Religious Right denounced the agreement, repeatedly and vociferously, on television and talk shows and most importantly in the senate. Saudi Arabia made the same effort. Nonetheless, the Obama administration thwarted Read More …
Brian M Downing The Iranian nuclear talks ended without agreement, except to extend the deadline on negotiations until next July. Over the next few months, world events may change the positions of the powers involved. The pause also offers time to better understand each power’s viewpoint. Each country, including Iran, Read More …
Brian M Downing United States Secretary of Defense Gates recently complained there was no plan to halt Iran’s nuclear research, which is thought to be aimed at building atomic weapons. It is more accurate to say that plans to halt the program – both diplomatic and military – are impractical Read More …