On taking office in 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama put Israeli settlements at the center of U.S. policy in the Middle East.
Iran exports about 2.2 million barrels a day.
At the United Nations, a lynch mob for Israel is always just a moment away.
The way for the Palestinians to get a state is to go ahead and build it.
The anchors of the Arab consensus have long been Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and both are now weakened forces in Arab politics and diplomacy.
There are examples of fraternal dictatorships, or one, anyway: the passing of power from Fidel to Raul Castro.