David Ignatius's Blog, page 122

A better-than-expected nuclear deal with Iran

The most compelling argument President Obama made Thursday for the nuclear framework deal with Iran was also the simplest one: The pact, once concluded, would be preferable to any realistic alternative. Read full article >>

Deal or no deal, the Iran talks have borne fruit

The British diplomat Harold Nicolson observed in 1960 that “a good negotiation takes about as long as it takes an elephant to have a baby.” That has been true in the protracted Iran nuclear talks, although in this case, the baby may turn out to be stillborn. Read full article >>

Shinzo Abe’s optimistic vision

TOKYOPrime Minister Shinzo Abe says he wants to restore “animal spirits” in the long-moribund Japanese economy. That kind of muscular talk makes some critics anxious, but Abe gave a compelling explanation Thursday of how he’s trying to push Japan out of its 15-year “doldrums.” Read full article >>

David Ignatius’s full interview with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

Editor’s note: In his Friday column, David Ignatius writes about his interview with Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe. Below is the complete transcript of their interview.DAVID IGNATIUS: I want to start with economics and the economic policies that we call “Abenomics.”  Explain to me the way that your economic policies are different from previous efforts to stimulate the Japanese economy and get out of deflation and, beyond that, what you’ve learned from your first several years about what works and what doesn’t. And a final question: We’ve seen the first three “arrows” of Abenomics. The third arrow of structural reforms is just beginning, but people wonder if perhaps there’s a fourth arrow coming, and what that might be.Read full article >>

Stalled Tikrit offensive hurts Iran, helps U.S.

The battle for Tikrit has produced an important turnabout in the Iraqi campaign against extremists: Iranian-backed Shiite militias appear to have stalled there after three weeks of intense fighting, leading Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to request U.S. airstrikes to complete the mission.Read full article >>

NATO’s new perils

BRUSSELSThe NATO alliance seems stuck at a crossroads on Ukraine, unsure whether to move toward greater confrontation with Russia or accept the deadlocked “frozen conflict” that has emerged there. It’s a unified morass, at least, with President Obama sharing the reluctance of European leaders to escalate the crisis by providing defensive weapons to Ukraine or tightening sanctions against Russia. The United States tacitly backs the decision made by European leaders here last week to maintain the status quo — and link any easing of sanctions to implementation of the Minsk agreement that has brought a shaky truce in Ukraine. Read full article >>

Lee Kuan Yew, the fearful visionary

BRUSSELS—Lee Kuan Yew, the man who created the modern miracle of Singapore, was one of the visionary leaders of the 20th century. But as I discovered in several conversations with him, he was also a paradoxical figure who never lost his sense of vulnerability and combativeness toward those he feared might undermine his authority.Read full article >>

White House considers opening breach in U.S.-Israel relationship

It’s March Madness in the Middle East: The United States and Israel are trading private barbs and public reassurances after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s defiant reelection victory, just as the United States is nearing a nuclear deal with Israel’s chief adversary, Iran. Read full article >>

Back to the future in Putin’s Europe

The language of the Cold War has returned with a vengeance, with renewed talk of nuclear alerts, alleged testing of medium-range nuclear missiles and worries about NATO’s defense umbrella. President Vladimir Putin’s seizure of Crimea just over a year ago has now broadened into what some U.S. officials see as a wider Russian challenge to the post-Cold War order. Reading recent news reports, it’s almost as if U.S.-Russian relations have fallen through a black hole back toward the deadly confrontations of the 1980s. Read full article >>

The federal government could use more agencies like DARPA

The federal government should take a lesson from DARPA, the Pentagon’s high-tech incubator. The agency behaves more like a Silicon Valley start-up than a bureaucracy. It takes risks that might fail, explores dark and potentially dangerous technologies and encourages a contrarian debate about science and the future. I wish more government agencies were as creative. Read full article >>