I wonder at how Leslie Gelb manages to maintain his breezy casual tone when discussing such potentially destructive concurrences as an Israeli attack upon Iran, support for Syrian rebels and a escalation of conflict with North Korea. He argues in his latest essay at The Daily Beast, War Looms for Obama in Iran, Syria, and North Korea, that these are the three crises waiting to confront President Obama. Yet Mr. Gelb manages to maintain a tone of un-seriousness, as if it were written from within the confines of his book lined study, to be shared with a few of his intimates as table talk, or even as a diary entry rather than an essay for publication. In fact, this essay reminds me so much of the casual and self-congratulatory style of the late Arthur Schlesinger’s published diaries.

Political Cynic