Foreign Policy

Who's Afraid Of Barack Obama?

Oliver Wiseman — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 11:19:15 +0100

Author:Daniel Johnson

Admit It, Mr Kerry: You Blundered

Oliver Wiseman — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 11:43:46 +0100

Author:Daniel Johnson

Foot in mouth: John Kerry makes a gaffe about the Syrian crisis at the Foreign Office (Credit: AFP/Getty images)

The press briefing at the Foreign Office was a routine affair, a photo-opportunity for the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, to show that the Anglo-American special relationship was not in tatters after all by standing alongside the visiting US Secretary of State, John Kerry. The question to Kerry, from Margaret Brennan of CBS, was one of those journalistic afterthoughts, tacked on to the end of a long-winded demand for a response to yet another Syrian denial of culpability: "And secondly, is there anything at this point that [Assad's] government could do or offer that would stop an attack?"

Bismarck Versus Blair — A Foreign Policy Crossroads

Oliver Wiseman — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 11:37:24 +0100

Author:Tony Brenton

Is the interventionist moment over? Bismarck would not have approved of Blair's intervention in conflicts like the Yugoslav wars (Credit: Getty images)

The crisis in Syria has placed the issue of humanitarian intervention squarely back on the world's agenda. A brutal government mercilessly repressing what started as peaceful protest by its people. Perhaps 100,000 dead and 2 million refugees. A savage civil war, with sectarian and Islamist dimensions. The clear danger of the rest of the region being dragged in. And while there is now apparent agreement on chemical weapons, the UN Security Council remains deadlocked on the more central issue of what to do about the Assad regime.