Harold Rhode

Before Harold Rhode spent 28 years working in the Pentagon, most of the time advising secretaries of defense on the Muslim world, he had lived and studied in Egypt, Syria, Iran, Turkey, Jordan and elsewhere in the greater Middle East. Rhode had been a university student in Iran during that country’s Islamic revolution of 1978 […]

Periodically, the United States or Israel makes a concession to an adversary, planning – or hoping – for reciprocity. The underlying assumption is that, as the stronger party, they can afford to be generous and even, on occasion, to miscalculate. This is a fundamental misreading, not of the strength of the American or Israeli position, […]

Some years ago, there was a heated discussion between a Turkish diplomat who spoke excellent English and a State Department Foreign Service Official (FSO). The Turkish diplomat was denouncing human rights in America. The FSO responded: “What have we done wrong? What can we do to put it right?” He misunderstood his interlocutor. In the […]