"Dennis Ross, a former aide to president Barack Obama, said the Trump administration 'seems to have few answers for the Iranian asymmetric responses to our pressure campaign.' "Writing in The Washington Post last week, Mr. Ross said the U.S. pursuit of deterrence against Tehran was compromised by the reluctance of European countries to blame Iran for the tanker attacks. "He said this was because they did not trust that Mr. Trump would not use their endorsement to launch a war. "Mr. [...]

“What will happen with U.S. President Donald Trump’s ‘deal of the century’? It’s a question everyone in Israel is asking these days: Some want to know what’s in the Trump peace plan, others want to know if it will ever be unveiled, and still others are interested in whether it has any chance of success. “I make no claims to know what is in Trump advisors Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt’s plan, and given that Israelis are going back to the [...]

"President Trump is a belligerent isolationist. In keeping with what was historically a real, if fringe, strain of thinking about America’s approach to the world, Trump favors unilateralism over alliances that carry obligations and responsibilities. The paradox, of course, is that anyone who disclaims any interest in being the world’s policeman needs allies. "Nowhere is that more evident than in the escalating tensions with Iran. The Islamic republic is practicing its own version of “maximum pressure” on the United States and [...]

"'It’s not surprising that you have a kind of revisitation of the AUMF because here you have what looks like the potential for a kind of real escalation,' said Dennis Ross, the veteran Middle East negotiator, referring to the 2001 bill that authorized military action against any national or individual involved in the 9/11 attacks. “'In the 2001 AUMF, there’s actually no real relationship to this,' Ross added. 'It certainly didn’t name Iran and there comes a point where many in [...]

"Another significant development is the announcement by Egypt and Jordan that they would send a delegation to Bahrain. Ross says that we should wait and see who is representing each country. “'You may have these countries simply send their local ambassadors. You need to wait to see what the level is going to be. If the level is low, that also is a political signal. They don’t want to do something that the administration would view as being hostile, but they [...]