Mark Fitzpatrick
@marktfitz.bsky.social
Grandpa. Ex-expat in UK. Former State Dept.
J.D. Vance should ask Netanyahu if he ever once has said thank you. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
U.S. general warns Pentagon he lacks sufficient forces to protect Israel
A shortage of Navy destroyers, used to defend against Iranian ballistic missile attacks, will force the head of U.S. European Command to prioritize the U.S. homeland instead, officials said.
washingtonpost.com
It begs the question, what more damage would they do if they were halfway competent? www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/u...
U.S. Government Mislabels Map of African Countries at AIDS Conference
Nigeria, a coastal country in western Africa, was landlocked in the Sahara, among other errors. The department said it had been “hastily altered.”
nytimes.com
It is outrageous that Saudi Arabia is now allowed to pursue uranium enrichment, giving it a future option to produce nuclear weapons. In addition, the UAE now has the right to also enrichment. Besides commercial benefits to Trump's cronies, what did the US get? www.jpost.com/internationa...
US-Saudi nuclear deal makes no mention of normalization with Israel | The Jerusalem Post
The Trump administration plans to submit a Saudi nuclear pact to Congress within days, despite concerns over missing safeguards, Reuters reported.
jpost.com
Brilliant take-down of Hegseth's focus on hormone therapy and clean-shaven chins. breefram.substack.com/p/parade-str...
Parade Strength
Pete Hegseth’s testosterone initiative exposes a Pentagon more interested in performing strength than building it.
breefram.substack.com
No surprise that Trump's teleprompter guy modeled the corruption that flows from the top.
I don’t know if the source is trustworthy, but the allegation rings a bell: Witkoff and Kushner were trying to profit off the talks in financial markets. newrepublic.com/post/213131/...
Iran Says It Tried to Warn JD Vance About Kushner and Witkoff
An Iranian official says they privately warned Vance about how Trump’s son-in-law and his special envoy to the Middle East were destroying peace talks.
newrepublic.com
An own goal. "The war has produced the opposite of what Israel and the US likely intended," said Sina Toossi.... "Instead of triggering collapse or mass defection, it has strengthened a more nationalist framing of the system and temporarily broadened its social base." www.wsj.com/world/middle...
A Wave of Iranian Nationalism Is Drowning Out Its Diplomats
Fervor whipped up during the conflict is making it hard to compromise and easy for hard-liners to stymie progress.
wsj.com
Good that some Russians understand the irresponsibility of nuclear trash talk. h/t BBC Monitoring
I was taught that if you can’t say something nice about the departed, don’t say anything. No further comment.
Bushehr needs to be absolutely off limits. Are we no better than Russia, shelling the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant? www.jpost.com/middle-east/...
jpost.com
The only ones who will attend will be those trying to curry favor. Pity the career officers who have to staff unserious events like this. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Rubio tries to enlist other nations in antifa fight, but some allies recoil
The secretary of state plans to convene foreign ministers in Washington next week. The event has unsettled some U.S. and European officials.
washingtonpost.com
Everything the man touches he fouls: the East Wing, the Kennedy Center, the Reflecting Pool, and (more importantly), the Middle East and the US Constitution. Now FIFA. His interference distracted the US Men’s Team and made the entire world of football angry at us.
Oh, oh. This could be dangerous for Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll. Laura Rosen compared him favorably to Pete Hegseth. substack.com/app-link/pos...
250
Living in Washington, D.C., one could be inclined to let Donald Trump spoil the official 250th anniversary of the United States celebrations and 4th of July holidays, as he spoils much of what he seiz...
substack.com
Strong rebuttle to Matthew Kroenig’s claim that “The U.S. Won the War With Iran.” tinyurl.com/yza5ztmk
Did the U.S. Actually Win the Iran War?
Assessing some counterintuitive takes on Operation Epic Fury.
tinyurl.com
While it goes against the political grain, this report underscores what I have long believed. tinyurl.com/4phcjs3a
Wealthy nations reap huge benefits from immigration, study finds
Wealthy nations with the highest rate of immigration over the past 35 years reaped a large economic benefit and many could still absorb more workers, according to research to be presented at a top Eu...
tinyurl.com
After taking a bike ride this morning to check up on national monuments, I am pleased to report that the Reflecting Pool looks fine and the ducks seem to be happy. Note the duck stairs.
It gave me no pleasure to say that the war served no US goals. substack.com/home/post/p-...
Mark Fitzpatrick | Iran, the Versailles Memorandum, and How the US Lost Its Leverage
After 26 years in US diplomacy, Mark Fitzpatrick argues that the real victor of the Iran war was determined not by battlefield tactics, but by the hard realities of diplomacy.
substack.com
If there was any doubt that Trump would go down in history as the worst US president, his stunning capitulation after an uncessary war against Iran confirms it.
Among the weaknesses in Trump's US-Iran MOU, the sanctions-lifting benefits provided to Iran may be the worst. 1/6
Frankfurt Airport is the worst. Waiting for an hour in the border control line which isn’t moving at all.
A “deal” without publicly released details, without resolving any of the issues for which Trump went to war, and signed via autopen, which he had many times said was illegal when Biden used it. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/15/w...
In the Dark on U.S.-Iran Deal, Senators Refrain From Praising It
nytimes.com
Powerful inductment of Musk -- and why we should boycott his companies. dcjett.substack.com/p/how-to-hel...
How to Help Kill Millions of Poor People
Have you ever wanted to help kill millions of poor people, incite anti-immigrant violence, and destroy America’s image around the world?
dcjett.substack.com
Ric Grenell strikes again. www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/0...
Washington National Opera sues to force Kennedy Center to turn over $17M in gifts
The opera filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging the Kennedy Center illegally took years' worth of donor gifts, bequests and endowment funds. The two parties cut ties in January.
washingtonpost.com
I told BBC Persian that Trump is being advised to attack Iran again by the same people who unwisely encouraged him to start this war. x.com/bbcpersian/s...
BBC NEWS فارسی (@bbcpersian) on X
ترامپ: امشب حمله سختی به ایران میکنیم آیا هنوز فرصتی برای دستیابی تهران و واشنگتن به یک تفاهم سیاسی یا توافق وجود دارد؟ مارک فیتزپاتریک، پژوهشگر ارشد موسسه بینالمللی مطالعات استراتژیک https://t.co/...
x.com
