Opinion | Columnists

Gordon Robison

Gordon Robison teaches political science at the University of Vermont. He has served as Baghdad Bureau Chief for the Fox News Channel, worked as a correspondent and field producer reporting from Kuwait, Jordan and Iraq for CNN.

Recent Articles

Tuesday Jun 11

Less change than what meets the eye

Having top aides who tend to come down on opposite sides of momentous foreign policy issues fits Obama’s style and from that perspective, US stance on Middle East and Syria is likely to remain the same
Tuesday May 28

How much trouble is Obama really in?

The US president is on a sticky wicket right now, but it is a long way from the observation that his presidency is in danger or his influence is irreparably damaged
Tuesday May 14

Lingering doubts over Benghazi

There are questions, like the ones asked by the Senate Watergate Committee, that need to be asked about the botch-up
Tuesday Apr 30

Don’t link Syrian crisis to Iran

There are good reasons for intervention in Damascus, but proving that Washington is ‘tough’ to Tehran is not one of them
Tuesday Apr 16

Barack Obama is certainly not itching to start a war with Iran

There are some in Washington and elsewhere who believe a conflict with Tehran is inevitable, but the US president does not seem to be spoiling for a fight the way Bush did
Tuesday Apr 2

Can America confront its gun culture?

If voters punish candidates for doing the gun lobby’s bidding, then, and only then, is the US likely to see a dramatic change in the strange and unique relationship between politicians and guns
Tuesday Mar 19

Has the US learned the lessons from Iraq war?

With Afghanistan still unresolved, spectre of an Iran conflict looming and Arab Spring nations in a nascent state, US policy on Iraq raises questions galore
Tuesday Mar 5

No point in raising false hopes in Syria

America had better head back to the drawing board if any well-intentioned move does not lead to an expected, logical conclusion that helps end the suffering
Tuesday Feb 19

To engage, or not to engage: that is the question

Americans and Arabs need to find some common ground but that can only be possible if extremists on both sides are challenged by more moderate voices
Wednesday Feb 6

America’s new Vietnam syndrome

The kind of questioning that Hagel had to face at his confirmation hearing only goes to show that the ideological divisions of the 1970s have survived into the 21st century, reborn now as arguments over whether Iraq was ‘worth it’