Once, as I was speaking to an appreciative audience, a fly turned his undivided attention to me. Round and round he flew, landing on my nose, forehead, even lips. I sputtered and tried to ignore him. I couldn't. I tried to swat him. You know it's futile. The audience grew both embarrassed and amused as my speech was brought to a standstill by the power of the fly.  This tiny creature controlled the auditorium with his power to disrupt. He harmed my presentation, maybe my public image. But I wasn't physically hurt, nor was my audience. The fly's power was disproportionate…

Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are using code words and collaborating with some of the biggest fearmongers and not paying a price. Cultural wedge issues have long been a feature of presidential campaigns, where Republicans in particular capitalize on the fears some have of the Other.  In 2012, the Republicans gravitated toward a new target: Muslims. Theycourted extreme segments of the Evangelical community who worked themselves into a fever pitch about living under sharia law and the dealing with the overthrow of Christianity. With the 2016 presidential race in full swing, this Islamophobia is resurgent. Here are a few examples. Encouraging…

This month, as Newsweek goes to print, an international organisation all but unknown inthe West is set to announce that its membership will soon include countries representing halfthe world's population. If the hopes of its leading backers – particularly Russia – are realised, the 15th annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the Russian city of Ufa will mark the moment when this previously obscure body starts to demand much closer attention from the West. The SCO's plan is to invite India and Pakistan to apply formally to take their place alongside Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan as…

Editor’s note: PULSE is delighted to welcome Grant F. Smith, director of theInstitute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRMEP) and author of many books, including America’s Defense Line, as our new feature contributor. In his first post Grant reveals the emerging details of the secret battles between the Kennedys and the Israel lobby.   The lobby’s accolades for the late Ted Kennedy and his support of Israel mask the generally unknown conflicts fought by the senator’s older brothers.  It is likely that lessons from the fiercest of all battles, fought behind the scenes by President John F. Kennedy alongside his brother and Attorney General Robert—guided…

 On May 11, nine ships from the Russian Navy and China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) kicked off 10 days of combined exercises in the Mediterranean Sea, for their first joint naval war games in European waters. What does this nautical confab, dubbed “Joint Sea 2015,” entail? “Maritime defense, maritime replenishment, escort actions, joint operations to safeguard navigation security as well as real weapon firing drill,” according to Sr. Col. Geng Yansheng, a spokesman for China’s Defense Ministry. The aim of the exercises is to “further deepen friendly and practical interaction between the two countries,” maintained the Russian Defense Ministry. Moscow added that the drills “are…