Iran nuclear deal could crash in 2020 Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (20 December 2019) — The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) may have to decide in 2020 whether to reinstate sanctions on Iran for that country’s failure to keep its commitments pursuant to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) aka Iran Nuclear Deal. The JCPOA could come crashing down, as the 15 member Security Council considers a series of reports which confirm Iran’s non-compliance with the terms of the...
US weaves economic web to effect regime change in Cuba, Iran, and Venezuela Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (19 October 2019) — Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran share a common space in president Donald Trump’s geopolitical hypothesis. The Trump administration operates on the premise that robust sanctions regimes which isolate the three countries from the international financial system, in particular by denying them access to US banking facilities, by restricting their access to international...
War drums in Washington, echoes of the past Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (27 June 2019) — The louder the war drums in Washington the more I think of what has been and what could be. The grainy video presented to prove Iran’s culpability in the attack on the oil tankers in the Gulf of Hormuz purportedly shows the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) removing unexploded mines from the hull of one of the tankers. The video alone is not conclusive evidence to support the claim of Iran’s...
U.S. Military Deployment in Middle East Creates Targets for Terrorist Attacks Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (26 May 2019) — By increasing its military presence in the Middle East the United States represents a tempting target for terrorists constantly looking for opportunities to attack American citizens and assets around the world. The terrorists’ dream is to do harm to U.S. citizens and especially to U.S. military personnel and assets. Terrorist groups are particularly adverse to...
Crashing JCPOA Trump threatens Iran with military force Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (08 May 2019) –– With key provisions critical to the Iran Nuclear Deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – JCPOA) now under threat following Iran’s response to increased U.S. sanctions and other pressures imposed by the Trump Administration on the Iranian government and entities, the U.S. and Iran edged closer to military confrontation. With the recent decision by President Trump to deploy a...
Sanctions and Regime Change – Iran and Venezuela Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (22 May 2018) –When President Barack Obama first imposed sanctions on Venezuela in 2015, the stated purpose and subsequent actions by the Obama Administration were to effect behavior change in Venezuelan leadership, not to replace the Nicolás Maduro government. There was mounting evidence Maduro was pursuing a non-democratic path; human rights violations were becoming the norm; and rule-of-law and justice in...
Collateral Damage from Trump’s Actions Destabilize Caribbean Countries Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (13 May 2018) –In just under 16 months of President Donald Trump’s administration, actions taken by the American president are sending shock waves across the Caribbean and the world. Unintended consequences – collateral damage – from U.S. actions threaten to destabilize the fragile economies and security of Caribbean countries. The Trump storm is creating new dynamics in geopolitical...
Isolating Trump on Iran Nuclear Deal Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (07 May 2018) –On Tuesday, May 8, 2018, President Donald Trump will tell the world whether the U.S. will abrogate the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA – the Iran nuclear deal). The Ward Post does not report breaking news, nor does it make predictions. The latter is virtually impossible with the Trump presidency. However, it is important to provide the context to Trump’s action on the JCPOA. The U.S. capital...
Setting the Stage for U.S. Geostrategic Agenda Ambassador Curtis A. Ward United States president Donald Trump faces a plethora of geopolitical and geosecurity issues with a new and untested foreign policy team – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser, Ambassador John Bolton. Both share common cause with President Trump on limiting the use of diplomacy in settling world affairs. They project the use of military power as a means to advance U.S. interests abroad. It is...
