Washington Watch Articles From 2025


Democrats Need a Unifying Theme to Inspire Voters
Washington Watch AAI Washington Watch AAI

Democrats Need a Unifying Theme to Inspire Voters

For too many years now Democrats have focused on winning elections by appealing to what they have termed their “base” (young voters, Black, Latino, and Asian voters, and educated women). At the same time, they have largely abandoned white working class voters to Republicans—one reason why Democrats have lost too many recent federal and local elections across the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states.

Read More
Nations Must Take Direct Action to End Israel’s Assault on Palestinians 
Washington Watch AAI Washington Watch AAI

Nations Must Take Direct Action to End Israel’s Assault on Palestinians 

We’ve reached a sort of tipping point in the way political leaders in the West are reacting to Israel’s genocidal assault on Palestinians in Gaza. It’s maddening for two reasons: that it took this long to get an official response from Western capitals; and that, once the magnitude of the tragedy became clear, the responses have been so decidedly ineffectual. 

Read More
American Politics Are in Trouble 
Washington Watch AAI Washington Watch AAI

American Politics Are in Trouble 

American political parties are in disarray. Instead of being the engines that organize and drive our politics, their roles have been supplanted by partisan social media influencers, non-profit political groups, super PACs, and the billionaires who fund them and consultant groups they hire. 

Read More
The Need For a Vision to Inspire Arabs of the Mashreq    
Washington Watch AAI Washington Watch AAI

The Need For a Vision to Inspire Arabs of the Mashreq    

Any way you look at it, the northern rim of the Arab World is a mess. US politicians, echoing Israel’s position, speak glibly (and dishonestly) of a transformed or new regional order. In reality, the situation has worsened. Israel has accelerated its genocidal war on Gaza, land-grabbing ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, and occupations and deadly bombings of Lebanon and Syria.  

Read More
Why Mamdani Won 
Washington Watch AAI Washington Watch AAI

Why Mamdani Won 

It was 2006 and Tim Kaine had recently won the Virginia gubernatorial election. I was at a meeting at Democratic Party headquarters with a group of party officials. One opined, “I believe that one of the lessons we should learn from Tim Kaine’s victory was that we need to talk more about our religion. Kaine did and he won. We should do it too.” 

Read More
What Democrats Must Do 
Washington Watch AAI Washington Watch AAI

What Democrats Must Do 

A few months after the Democrats’ bitter defeat in the 2024 elections, the party convened an Executive Committee meeting. Instead of taking a long hard look at the reasons for their poor performance, the meeting devolved into an orgy of self-congratulations.

Read More
The Importance of Connecting Means and Ends 
Washington Watch AAI Washington Watch AAI

The Importance of Connecting Means and Ends 

Followers of policy and political developments in Israel/Palestine must be struck by the degree to which the tactics employed are disconnected from desired ends and by how some leaders’ and movements’ obsession with their mistaken path distracts them while they dangerously march themselves and their followers off a cliff.  

Read More