Jim Dean

“If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.” ~ Nelson Mandela. I don’t often get taken totally by surprise in routine geo-political events like the major meetings, but…

Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win. ~ Sun Tzu. The US plan for the Balkanization of Syria is now laid bare for all to see. The events of the past few weeks…

“Instead of the triumph of democracy and progress, we got violence, poverty and social disaster. Nobody cares a bit about human rights, including the right to life.” – Vladimir Putin. The sands are shifting in the Syrian war, from…

The jury is still out on how much damage the surprise firing of FBI Director Comey will have on the battered Trump administration. The last things we need are more major distractions and poor decisions from a White House in…

“It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.” ― Voltaire. The news on the details of the fourth Astana meeting…

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” – Tolstoy. The Astana agreement seems to have come out of nowhere, a big surprise for everyone. As the details begin to emerge, we are seeing a carefully…

“Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.” ― Ernest Hemingway. Trump has learned the hard way that Reality TV Show blustering is not only an unsuitable demeanor for a President, but…

“Generally speaking, America is not keen on independent countries. America is not keen on people’s freedom. America is keen on countries that completely surrender themselves.” – Iran’s Rouhani…

It was a hell of a rollercoaster ride on the Trump train last week, with reverberations still ringing from his Syrian missile attack, while China’s President Xi was with him at Mara Lago resort over the weekend. Many feel the timing…

“I am convinced that we have reached that decisive moment when we must seriously think about the architecture of global security.” – Putin, at Munich Security conference, 2007. The blustering by the US military brass charging…

“Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.” – Ernest Hemingway. Spring offensives are in the air, and so it seems for political assassinations, also. The throwaway assassin who killed…

“Just societies cannot be run by big money or armed forces with their too narrow agendas.” – Plato. Trump had good advice to be out of Washington on the House Intelligence Committee hearing day, as he got so roasted that they…