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War With North Korea Not Imminent, Officials Say, but U.S. Would Still Win
A day after President Trump threatened North Korea with “fire and fury,” his top diplomat and defense chief sent a more nuanced message on Wednesday, reinforcing the capacity of the United States to win any war while reassuring Americans that they did not think it would come to that. Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson,…
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Trump on collision course with Germany over US bid to dominate energy market
Experts believe the US president’s new measures – signed last week – are targeted at crippling Russia’s oil and gas sector. The sanctions could affect Nord Stream 2, a pipeline connecting Russia’s gas fields with Germany which is due to be completed in 2019. Under the proposed expansion to the existing pipeline, Nord Stream 1,…
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Facing Palestinian criticism, White House says closeness to Israel is an Asset
In the wake of the Temple Mount crisis, can Washington remain an honest broker to peace? Before a shooting on the Temple Mount last month threw the region into a harrowing, if temporary crisis, talk of a US-led peace process between Israelis and Palestinians was light, vague and full of promise, with neither side willing…
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Could Pushing Iran On Nuke Deal Backfire?
We are now two years into the deeply controversial Iran nuclear agreement that roiled our community. And, like everything connected with the deal and the Mideast, it’s complicated, as even Jared Kushner would attest. During the many months leading up to the historic 2015 agreement between Tehran and the U.S. and its P5+1 partners —…
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North Korea’s nuclear advances raise alarm in Japan
Reports indicating advanced North Korean nuclear capability and a fiery exchange of words between Pyongyang and Washington are causing concern in Japan that US military facilities might be the first targets. Two reports released in the space of a few hours on Tuesday made the alarming claim that North Korea had successfully developed a miniaturized…
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A Strong Egypt, as Trump knows, is a strong Middle East
“Mabruk” is a common word in Arabic used to greet good news, though in the Middle East recently this has been in scarce supply. However, President Donald Trump’s recent visit to the Middle East had many in the region feeling a sense of optimism. Perhaps surprising given the president’s overtly hostile words on the campaign…
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North Korea now making missile-ready nuclear weapons, U.S. analysts say
North Korea has successfully produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead that can fit inside its missiles, crossing a key threshold on the path to becoming a full-fledged nuclear power, U.S. intelligence officials have concluded in a confidential assessment. The new analysis completed last month by the Defense Intelligence Agency comes on the heels of another intelligence…
