November 1, 2012

[additional-authors]

Shmuel Rosner

November 1, 2012

In-depth

A storm is coming in the Middle East, regardless of who sits in the Oval Office, writes Aaron David Miller in Foreign Policy.

The sources of Arab anger toward America run deep. We are perceived among many as modern day colonialists throwing our weight around, not taking Arab and Muslim sensitivities seriously, supporting Israel, invading Iraq and Afghanistan, methodically whacking Muslims with Predator drones, bucking up Arab oil sheikhs, interceding in the Arab world when it suits our interests (see Libya) and allowing the Arabs to fend for themselves when it doesn't (see Syria).

Syria's Digital Proxy War

With Iran on one side and the U.S. on the other, the battle for Syria has extended into a cyber fight, writes Sean Lyngaas for the Atlantic.

But for every dollar the United States has spent on Internet freedom, countries like Iran and China have spent many times more in countermeasures. Iran has spent about $1 billion on an internal version of the Internet that analysts say is nearing completion. The Washington Post reported this week that there is a shortfall in funding for the State Department Internet freedom program. With budget cuts looming over many U.S. foreign aid programs because of the fiscal crisis, the funding gap between Tehran and Washington on the subject seems likely to widen.

The Alan Dershowitz Syndrome

Lee Smith of Tablet Magazine as why prominent American Jews are endorsing Obama when they have spent years rapping him for his policies on Israel.

Obama’s record on Israel, as Koch, Dershowitz, and Saban have all helpfully pointed out, is not good. The president’s strained relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is unlikely to improve in a second term when Israeli-American relations will be more crucial than ever with Iran on the verge of nuclear breakout. Obama says he has Israel’s back and reminds us regularly of the trip he took to Sderot as a candidate. But who can forget that he started his first term telling a group of Jewish leaders he invited to the White House that it was important to put daylight between the United States and Israel?

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