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House of Representatives presents a bill that would allow families of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia. If this bill was passed (likely that Obama will veto the bill), it would really sever diplomatic ties between the US and Saudi Arabia (who is a key US ally in the Middle East). The motivation behind this bill is that 15 out of the 19 hijackers in the 9/11 attacks were form Saudi Arabia.

Russian government says Vladimir Putin requested to meet with President Obama next week during their travels to the United Nations. The meetings comes as Obama and Putin have been at odds over Russian military activity in Ukraine and Syria.

A letter from the vice president of the NRA to president Obama, he focuses on individual rights to bear arms and advocates for Obama to solve the problem of gun violence without stripping people of what he thinks is the right to bear arms.

The Iranian national currency, the rial has been in steady decline for months, and the only method that the government has used to combat the issue is to print more money-- not the best plan of action.

I agree with what Alexander said. I think it would be interesting to investigate whether or not the Obama administration has considered applying economic pressure to Iran in order to achieve diplomatic means. With Iran in such an unstable economic state (which I am surprised isn't covered more by American news media), why would the US government even consider using military force against Iran if the Ahmadinejad regime could be destabilized in another way. We'll see how Obama and Romney treat this issue in the foreign policy debate, as Obama could use an argument based on Iran's economic instability in going against Romney's position on using military force against Iran.

yes!

I was surprised by how measured this article was and how much I agreed with the analysis expressed in it, given that it was written by Pat Buchanan, whose views I find reprehensible. He offers a smart and historically conscious analysis of the political moves Obama is making right now, moves he believes might allow the president to create a Democratic coalition that will outlast his tenure. Buchanan says that Obama presented the Fiscal Cliff negotiations in such a way as to divide the Republicans and make them look bad whatever they did, and that he has engineered similarly divisive and damaging strategies for the upcoming fights over the Chuck Hagel nomination, gun control, and the debt ceiling.

I thought this was an interesting article because it called into question the authority Obama really has on the decision to use armed forces in Syria. Since the United States is not directly in danger, the article points out how Obama legally needs to put the decision before the UN security council to make a decision.

I also think it's fascinating that there are parallels drawn between Obama's justification that not intervening in Syria would give the message that Syria's violation of the ban on chemical weapons is okay and Obama's willingness to violate the rule that prohibits use of military force without Security Council authorization. The question raised about which rule is more important is very thought-provoking.

The GOP is willing to negotiate, but the Democrats are unwilling to negotiate. This inability to communicate could cause this standoff to go on and on.

I began my study of the ISIS conflict by reading an article about the Mosul Dam and how it was a crucial breaking point in the ISIS-Iraq conflict. The forces of ISIS previously spoke of blowing up the Mosul Dam when obtaining control, thus affecting Iraq from Mosul all the way down to Baghdad. Militant forces had been engaging in firefights with armed vehicles in villages surrounding the Mosul Dam and managed to gain control. The Kurdish military and Iraqi Forces, were not doing an adequate job fighting back from the eyes of the US, placing American representatives in the area in jeopardy. Obama ordered airstrikes and within two days of continuous air raids, the Sunni' fighters were subdued enough for the Kurdish and Iraqi forces to move in and retake the Mosul Dam. While Obama says this is not a sign that America is completely joining in so Iraqi and Syrian governments can return to a lack-luster, chaotic governing system, the heavy military presence on foreign soil does seem a bit concerning. Yet, what are the other options in defending fellow Americans? Perhaps the British don't have a large number of representatives in the area, the Prime Minister, David Cameron, made sure he informed his country that they would not be joining in the conflict to any extent. With ISIS militant forces inhabiting various other areas, danger seems to be looming in Iraq and Syria. I'm curious to see if any other foreign nations join into the conflict or let the forces stay enmeshed in conflict.

I liked this article a lot because it paints the slippery slope that the United States will face if they become even more involved with the ISIS situation. Currently, the only USA involvement has been airstrikes/ airs raids as the article states. Will Obama continue to approve of the air strikes or will the situation escalate to a point where boots on the ground are required?

"Mr. Trump's Lost Cause takes its fuel from conspiratorial myths of all kinds, rehearsed for years on Trump media and social media platforms. Its guiding theories include: Christianity under duress and attack; large corrupt cities full of Black and brown people manipulated by liberal elites; Barack Obama as alien; a socialist movement determined to tax you into subservience to "big government"; liberal media out to crush family and conservative values; universities and schools teaching the young a history that hates America; resentment of nonwhite immigrants who threaten a particular national vision; and whatever hideous new version of a civil religion QAnon represents."

Possible non-militant solution to Syria's chemical weapons. Met with skepticism from White House.

I think the divide among Syrian officials and Assad about ceding control of chemical weapons is very interesting. It seems that in addition to gaining Russia's support, Kerry's proposal has also gained the support of many of Syria's top officials including its foreign minister, Wallid al-Moallem. Nevertheless, it appears that Assad is still extremely against giving up Syria's chemical weapons, even if doing so would avert a U.S. strike on Syria.

I find it very interesting that the Damascenes' opinions on U.S. intervention seem to differ based on socio-economic status, but yet the majority of them all agree that Obama should be more decisive about his plans for or against invasion. In general, this article surfaces a lot of interesting points to ponder surrounding the conflict in Syria.

The article makes a very important point. U.S. engagement is not aimed at overthrowing Assad and establishing a new political government or regime, rather American involvement is serving as a deterrent for the prevention of chemical weapon usage by other countries. Such reasoning undercuts the moral virtue of American involvement in Syria and will serve to fuel greater anti-American sentiments in the region.

Although the affordable health care act is providing insurance for those who can't afford, many details were left off when Obama was originally selling the bill in 2008. He never argued that younger, healthier people would have to pay more, or that health care would go up exponentially by those who already had it. Obama is now claiming that it is only "right" for everyone to have healthcare, but he seemed to forgo the idea of the average healthy American paying more when he was running for president 5 years ago.

Having spent last week trying to persuade other countries to support the U.S.-led military assault on the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham, President Obama used an interview with Steve Kroft, of CBS News' "60 Minutes," to give Americans an update. In general, his tone was upbeat. The article discusses the U.S. military action being taken in Iraq, and discusses the question of the how effective the strategy may be. It says that the strategy seems to be more about causing problem for ISIS and seeing the outcome. The complexity of the situation makes the result especially difficult to predict.