Published on by Gary Grappo
Published first at Fair Observer on May 23, 2017
Without the compass of values to guide foreign policy, we descend to profit and power and sacrifice principle and people. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson addressed his State Department employees in Washington earlier this month. It was his first significant encounter with his charges since assuming his position shortly after President Trump’s inauguration. Tillerson touched on […]
Published on by Gary Grappo
Published first at The Orlando Sentinel on May 11, 2017
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s remarks to State Department employees last week on values and interests in U.S. foreign policy were shocking. For them and billions of people around the world, they were discouraging and demoralizing. They betray a lack of understanding of the meaning of public service — especially of the Foreign Service — […]
Published on by Gary Grappo
Published first at Fair Observer on May 7, 2017
If President Trump pulls this off, he will have elevated himself from mortal deal maker to American statesman. Only one person benefited from the White House meeting on May 3 between US President Donald Trump and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Merely by having been invited and coming, Abbas may have shored up flagging confidence […]
Published on by Gary Grappo
Published first at Fair Observer on April 17, 2017
Recent US actions in Syria and criticism of Russia prove that the reality of governing is a perspective like no other, which President Trump may be slowly coming around to appreciating. There was something for everyone in America’s punitive cruise missile strike on the Syrian airbase earlier this month. For President Donald Trump, it may […]
Published on by Gary Grappo
Published first at The Cipher Brief on April 16, 2017
Given Iraq’s sectarian and ethnic divisions, hoping for some miracle to repair them imperils the Iraqi people and prevents a land rich in natural and agricultural resources from progress and prosperity. It is time for the U.S. and its many European and Arab allies to begin encouraging Baghdad and the various sides towards the establishment […]