When President-elect Barack Obama assumes office in January, he will face a series of critical, complex and interrelated challenges in the Middle East. Each of these issues demands immediate attention: the ongoing war in Iraq; Iran’s regional and nuclear aspirations; the faltering Israeli-Palestinian peace process; and weak governments in Lebanon and Palestine.Recognizing the critical nature…

This paper appears as chapter 4 of Restoring the Balance: A Middle East Strategy for the Next President. See the book overview and executive summaries for information on other chapters. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CURRENT U.S. EFFORTS to stop Iran’s nuclear program have failed. Fortunately, however, because of technical limits, Iran appears to be two to three years…

Negotiators from the P5 plus 1—Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States plus Germany—will sit down with their Iranian counterparts on April 5-6 for another round of talks regarding Iran’s nuclear program. These talks take place as concern grows in the international community that Tehran is nearing the point where it could acquire nuclear weapons…

A year of negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 partners based on the Joint Plan of Action (JPOA), adopted in Geneva in November 2013, has produced significant progress, but a comprehensive deal has so far proved elusive. With important differences reportedly remaining but with the parties actively engaged in the run-up to the JPOA’s current…

With the Turkish incursion into Kurdish fighter-controlled northeastern Syria, the war has taken a new turn. It was long in the making, yet most stakeholders are reevaluating risks and losses rather than counting benefits. The damage to U.S. positions and influence is heavy, as my Brookings colleagues have carefully assessed. The hastily negotiated ceasefire deal…

This article was written before the coronavirus pandemic, but with the press spending weeks subjecting the Tories to nothing but uncritical “wartime” coverage, and now fawning over the establishment-friendly Labour leader Keir Starmer, the points it makes are more valid than ever.

After several weeks of tug-of-war, a precarious agreement was reached on aid to EU member countries that need extra financing to deal with the economic crisis triggered by the coronavirus epidemic. The states will get up to 540,000 million euros, but under what conditions? What does this have to do with the Marshall Plan for Europe that Pedro Sánchez demands? Is this viable?

Demeter certified Biodynamic balanced tea, in five refreshing, summer fruit flavors, is the latest offering by Zhena's Gypsy Tea, maker of organic, fair trade and now biodynamic teas. Now, you've heard of green, natural, even

C'mon, you know a Trader Joe's addict or two, don't you? It's sometimes impossible to resist the combination of lower prices and lots of organic and even Fair

I am constantly amazed at the level of political discourse in the US. So a debate about health care degenerates into scares about "death panels" and boycotts of Whole Foods because their CEO is against it. It is all a bit much, and a complete mystery

I went to Whole Foods in Oakland on Saturday, like I do most weekends, but I missed the dance/theater/protest against the grocery chain's co-founder and CEO John Mackey, he of the now infamous quote: "A careful reading of both the Declaration of

Treehugger has been closely following the saga of Whole Foods CEO and co-founder John Mackey since he published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal saying, among other things, that "A careful reading of both the Declaration of Independence and the

Over one billion plastic cleaning containers go into landfill each year, according to the Canadian eco-cleaning company Planet People. And did you know that the majority of household cleaners are 95 per cent water and only five per

An initiative to stop selling red-rated seafood by 2013 had been launched a year early and will go into effect on Earth Day 2012.

For the first time ever Greenpeace has given a US seafood retailer (in fact two of them) a green rating. There are some notable laggards though.

Healthy, wholesome baked goods need not taste like cardboard and molasses when these substitutions are made.

Inspired by the way nature "packages" cells, fruits and vegetables, these are gourmet pearls of ice cream, yogurt, cheese and even soups -- enveloped in a edible, nutritious and protective skin.

Have researchers found the secret behind the 'French paradox'?

Engaging in pleasurable, mindless activities is actually beneficial.

Choose your thoughts carefully, as they become more instinctive over time.

"Chocolate milk saved my son's life," Andrew Scheer said. So he has promised to rewrite the dietary guidelines if elected this fall.

Weather forecasters need to stop treating it as such.

The economic crisis and pandemic have made it patently clear that US capitalism is not at all exceptional. Like everything else in the universe, American capital’s political system is subject to sharp and sudden changes. After Bernie Sanders handily won the first few contests of the 2020 race for the Democratic nomination, he was seen as an unstoppable threat—prompting every other candidate to immediately fold up their campaigns and close ranks against him. After months of panicking over Bernie’s momentum, the ruling class finally managed to reverse the course of the electoral race—and they did it with unprecedented speed. Now, after an electrifying rollercoaster ride, Bernie Sanders’s campaign for the American presidency is over, and a balance sheet is needed.

Lahood presided over "the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized."

If you break down these numbers (see below), you find that it's the over 65 that are most opposed, and that the more educated you are, the more in favor of more bike lanes you tend to be.

Study documents 5893 leaks of explosive, global warming gas. It gets worse: testing four months after the leaks were reported indicated that 9 were still emitting dangerous levels of the gas.

After pilot programs in international markets like Japan, Singapore, the United Kingdom and Brazil, FedEx will deploy a fleet of electric delivery vans in Washington DC.

If we can put a center-running bike lane down the center of Pennsylvania avenue, we should be able to do it almost everywhere!

The 25-pound lady bobcat was last seen on Monday morning.

We are still befuddled by technology but bumble along.

And things feel eerily familiar today.

Another look back at some great designs for inexpensive homes.

100 years later, there are still lessons to be learned: Eat less, eat better, don't waste, and share.

This is very good news. So much so that it might soon stop being news.

We're loving the move toward quasi-edible ingredients, plastic-free packaging, and refill pouches, among other things.

The Sierra Club is pointing attention to the once-through cooling systems used by many power plants. Power plants suck up over 200 billion gallons of water a day, and with that water comes millions of fish that don't exactly

In case you're still among the set doubting if the smart grid is really necessary, Earth2Tech has a solid post explaining how record heat (something that is going to happen a lot more often, unfortunately) is a prime example of how the smart grid can

Many clean tech wonks have never heard of them, but Alevo plans to be manufacturing grid-scale energy storage on a huge scale within the next few years.

Efficiency and conservation aren't just about your personal footprint. They're about reaching tipping points.

Valentine's Day is all about romancing your sweetheart. These companies show the planet some love too.

They are all over the internet today; here are some that relate to buildings we have shown on TreeHugger

These cookies make a great edible Valentine.

Get in the Valentine’s Day mood with these fun DIY beauty recipes for masks, moisturizers, and scrubs – all of which are suitably pink or red for the occasion!

Here's why it's great to support responsible flower farm management.

Like your dog is going to reject your home-made dog cookie if it doesn't look like a bone.

You want giant windows but don't like drafts? Plug in your windows and turn them into toasters.

Delos has developed a whole new standard for healthy, happy living, starting at $ 15.5 million.

The sharing economy comes to architecture as the rich and the very rich share views and height.

I can't decide if this is just what I always needed or the worst product ever put on Kickstarter.