Israel and Hamas have agreed to an additional five-day truce. The agreement was almost scuttled by a last minute exchange of fire, but it is clear that both sides want a reprieve from the violence. We don’t know much about the negotiations, but reports suggest that there are some discussions about easing the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, one of the key demands of the Palestinians. Israel is reluctant to grant any concessions, fearing that they would be interpreted as a reward for violence. But it is obvious that some concessions have to be made, if there is to be any progress in the talks.
The US announcement that it was sending additional troops to Iraq and that there are already special forces troops on Mount Sinjar assessing ways to extract the besieged Yazidis has raised fears of “mission creep.” The term refers to a steadily growing commitment to military action caused by the escalation of military objectives caused by incremental commitments. The problem was first dramatically manifested in Vietnam, but the most recent example was the US commitment to Somali in 1992. Ultimately, mission creep leads to military commitments that were never explicitly decided upon.
Peter Beinart has written a very provocative essay for The Atlantic which makes the argument that American foreign policy debates are best understood as debates between elites and ordinary people rather than as debates between Republicans and Democrats. He argues that American elites are becoming increasingly hawkish while ordinary Americans are becoming more isolationist. Viewed in this light, the argument between Hillary Clinton and President Obama over the rise of Islamic militants is particularly intriguing.
World Politics News 
Leave a comment