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Wednesday, June 19, 2013 11:46 GMT

Stories by Jim Lobe

A proud native of Seattle, Washington, Jim Lobe received a university degree with highest honours in history at Williams College and a law degree from the University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall School of Law). He joined IPS in 1979 and opened its Washington, D.C. bureau in 1980, and won the IPS Award for Excellence in Independent Journalism in 2003 and 2004. Lobe has worked for IPS from Washington for most of the past 23 years.

U.S.-Taliban Talks Set to Begin
by Jim Lobe
Nearly 12 years after the United States ousted the Taliban from power, the White House announced Tuesday that the United States will begin formal talks with the militant Islamist group in Qatar later this week as part of Afghanistan's national reconciliation process.

Despite Arms Announcement, U.S. Syria Strategy Remains Unclear
by Jim Lobe
Despite Thursday's announcement that President Barack Obama has decided to provide direct military assistance to Syrian rebels, what precisely the administration has in mind remains unclear.

Obama to Increase "Scope and Scale" of Aid to Syrian Rebels
by Jim Lobe
Declaring that U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons against rebel forces, the White House announced Thursday that it will increase "the scope and scale" of assistance it has been providing to the opposition, including direct support to its military arm.

Intra-Asian Security Ties Good for U.S. – Report
by Jim Lobe
Deepening security ties between East Asian nations offer substantial benefits to the United States as it "rebalances" its military forces towards the Asia-Pacific region, so long as the move is not perceived as a U.S.-led effort to contain China, according to a new report by a think tank close to the administration of President Barack Obama.

U.S. Syria Hawks Can’t Get No Traction
by Jim Lobe
With Syrian government forces and their allies scoring a major victory over Western- and Gulf Arab-backed rebel forces this week, neo-conservatives and other anti-Damascus hawks are trying hard to turn up the pressure on President Barack Obama to sharply escalate U.S. support for the opposition.

Rice Replaces Donilon as Obama’s Top Foreign Policy Adviser
by Jim Lobe, Thalif Deen
In a reshuffle of top foreign policy posts in his second term, U.S. President Barack Obama Wednesday announced that his controversial and blunt-spoken U.N. ambassador, Susan Rice, will replace Tom Donilon as his national security adviser.

Overcoming “Strategic Suspicion” - Goal of Obama-Xi Summit
by Jim Lobe
This week’s relatively informal and unscripted summit between the presidents of the United States and China on a private estate in southern California is being welcomed by most analysts here as a virtually unprecedented opportunity for each side to gain a better understanding of the strategic aims of the other.

Syrian Rebel Setbacks Spur Renewed Talk of No-Fly Zones
by Jim Lobe, Joe Hitchon
A series of reversals for Syria’s rebels this month has prompted its supporters here to call for much greater U.S. military intervention in the civil war in order to give them a stronger bargaining position in advance of any peace negotiations.

Obama Narrows Scope of Terror War
by Jim Lobe
Responding to growing criticism by human rights groups and foreign governments, U.S. President Barack Obama Thursday announced potentially significant shifts in what his predecessor called the “global war on terror”.

U.S. Congress Moves Toward Full Trade Embargo on Iran
by Jim Lobe
The U.S. Congress moved closer here Wednesday to imposing a full trade embargo against Iran and pledged its support to Israel if it felt compelled to attack Tehran’s nuclear programme in self-defence.

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