Iran's turn to the East is accelerating. As long-running talks with the United States over a revival of the 2015 nuclear deal falter, and amid worries in Tehran that an independent Israeli military option might indeed be on the table, the Islamic Republic is stepping up its strategic "Plan B" – and looking further eastward for both security and prosperity. Earlier this month, at the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Iranian officials formally signed a "Memorandum of Obligations," kicking off a year long process for their country to become the strategic bloc's newest member. If all goes well, the Islamic Republic will be inducted into the SCO as a full-fledged member at next year's summit in New Delhi, India. For Iran, the occasion marked the culmination of a long-running lobbying effort.

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Last week, Israelis received a somewhat shocking reminder that in certain circles, the dubious pastime of fanning the flames of ethnic division for political gain remains alive and well.

In a post on its Russian-language website, Prime Minister Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid party attempted to persuade Russian-speaking immigrants not to vote for the Likud. But instead of engaging in appeals to reason by highlighting policy differences and underlining ideological disputes, the ostensibly enlightened representatives of the ruling elite chose instead to resort to a shameless slur.

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The Biden administration announced on Friday a decision to lift the decades-old arms embargo on Cyprus for the coming fiscal year. This laudable step recognizes Nicosia's progress related to financial reforms and denying port calls of the Russian navy.

More importantly, it offers a valuable opportunity, with some delicate diplomatic maneuvering, to reach an agreement with Nicosia to transfer some of its Russian-made arms to Ukraine in return for the provision of modern US equipment and other security assistance.

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Language, culture and politics are the ingredients of society; how they are mixed determines the kind of society we create. In his succinct essay Politics and the English Language George Orwell wrote, "the words democracy, socialism, freedom, patriotic, realistic, justice have each of them several different meanings which cannot be reconciled with one another. In the case of a word like democracy, not only is there is no agreed definition, but the attempt to make one is resisted from all sides. It is almost universally felt that when we call a country democratic we are praising it: consequently the defenders of every kind of regime claim that it is a democracy, and fear that they might have to stop using the word if it were tied down to any one meaning."

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The upcoming Jewish High Holidays might not seem like a fitting time to ponder Twitter, virtue-signaling, and public shaming. Yet the Days of Awe, which begin with Rosh Hashanah on September 25 and culminate ten days later with the fast of Yom Kippur, offer a timely lesson in how our modern methods of communication might define not only the year ahead but our own long-term legacies.

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Fascism seems to be all the rage these days. I'll give you a few examples.

Ben Rhodes, who was President Obama's deputy national security advisor for strategic communications (a title suggesting foreign policy with a spin), wrote last year that the presidency of Donald Trump was "an American experiment with fascism."

Democratic National Committee chairman Jaime Harrison echoed him, declaring that the Republican Party has "become a party of fascism and fear."

Actor/activist Rob Reiner tweeted last week: "This Midterm there is no gray area. You either cast a vote for Democracy or Fascism. That's it."

And, of course, President Biden recently charged that Republicans – many if not all – embrace "semi-fascism."

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On the eve of a potential nuclear deal with neighboring Iran, Iraq is in chaos – yet again. But this time, in what many Iraq analysts consider one of the most serious challenges yet to Iraq's sovereignty and preservation of the state, Washington seems to have been missing in action.

As David Schenker, a former Assistant Secretary of State for the Near East under former President Trump wrote a week ago, senior State Department and National Security Council officials visited Iraq only twice in the nearly nine months between the national election last October and the most recent outbreak of violence this week.

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A Belgian court has temporarily prohibited the Belgian government from exchanging an Iranian diplomat convicted of terrorism for a Belgian citizen being held in Iran on dubious charges of espionage.

The court's ruling represents a potential blow to a controversial new prisoner exchange treaty, which critics say will embolden the Iranian government to step up its practice of taking foreigners hostage to pressure Western countries into making concessions.

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Are you confused about conflicting "research" findings on certain foods' effects on our health? It would hardly be surprising. First, butter is the enemy; then, it's solid margarine. Is caffeine good or bad for your heart? For a time, beta-carotene supplements are thought to prevent cancer — until they are found to increase the risk of lung cancer in smokers. And finally, does a woman's diet at conception determine the sex of her fetus?

When you do a deep dive into the methodology of studies that produced such conclusions, it's not surprising that they're inconsistent or implausible.

Let's consider who performs such research.

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