David Sanger

Washington is facing two major foreign policy situations. The U.N. Security Council has voted to act broadly in Libya, imposing a no-fly zone and even leaving open other forms of conflict in order to protect the civilian population. With ten member states voting for the measure and five abstaining, it is an historic move in a complicated region. And in Japan, a dire nuclear threat continues while survivors of last weekend's earthquake and tsunami struggle to find food and shelter. How is Washington tackling these two situations? 

Warships, no-fly-zones, and UN resolutions in the Middle East. Unions, collective bargaining and budget woes in the Mid-West. David Sanger, Chief Washington Correspondent for the New York Times, discusses what's on the Obama administation's mind today.

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As repressive regimes teeter and fall across the Middle East, the armed forces in these countries are in a consequential position. The Egyptian military quickly realized that President Mubarak’s hold on power was slipping. As protests erupted in Cairo, most of the armed forces refused to open fire on civilian protesters. However, the situation is radically different in Bahrain and Libya. What role are militaries playing in political change in the Middle East and elsewhere?

David Sanger is the chief Washington correspondent  for The New York Times, files "The Washington Report" for WQXR, and is the author of The Inheritance: The World Obama Confronts and the Challenges to American Power. He joins us today to go behind the scenes of Egypt's regime change, and to explain the organization there and the U.S. response.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak continues to hold power in Egypt after his announcement that he would not cede to demonstrators demands that he step down. Instead he decided to hand day-to-day powers to Vice President Omar Suleiman and made vague promises about the Egyptian Constitution.

President Obama watched Mubarak's speech on Air Force One, while returning from a trip to Michigan and seemed to be somewhat caught of guard. What role will the United States take now? A cautious one, says The New York Times, David Sanger.

President Obama is treading delicately as tumult continues in Egypt. President Mubarak has been an ally of the United States for a long time, but the popular uprising has forced President Obama to come out in support of the protesters without being seen as meddling in the region.

David Sanger, New York Times chief Washington correspondent and author of The Inheritance: The World Obama Confronts and the Challenges to American Power, looks at the Washington response to the pro-democracy movement in the Middle East.

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A Swiss magistrate has recommended that three members of a family in Switzerland be tried for violating their country’s laws regarding the use and proliferation of nuclear weapons. Magistrate Andreas Muller told The New York Times that a six-year investigation by Swiss authorities showed Friedrich Tinner and his sons, Marco and Urs, were working with Abdul Qadeer Khan, the so-called “father” of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb. The Tinner family had also, according to American officials, worked secretly with the C.I.A. on nuclear issues since 2000. If the Tinners are found guilty, they face up to ten years in prison. But what does their relationship reveal about a black market of nuclear proliferation at work in a country so friendly to the U.S.? 

North Korea seems to have surpassed Iran, in its efforts to develop the advanced technology that produces nuclear material and weapons. According to David Sanger, chief White House correspondent for our partner The New York Times, senior American officials were recently stunned to see that North Korea is far more advanced in its nuclear ambitions than anticipated. The officials visited a new plant at Yongbyon, where North Korea's main nuclear complex sits.

Among the State Department cables leaked on WikiLeaks and analyzed in The New York Times were messages from the U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan about the country's nuclear fuel resources. In a cable dating May 27, 2009, Amb. Anne W. Pateron reported her concern over a stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which had been sitting for years near an aging research nuclear reactor in Pakistan. There was enough to build several “dirty bombs” or, in skilled hands, possibly enough for an actual nuclear bomb.

The cables show that underneath public assurances lie deep clashes over strategic goals on issues like Pakistan’s support for the Afghan Taliban and tolerance of Al Qaida.

Secret diplomatic cables obtained by whistle-blower organization WikiLeaks shed new light on the global nuclear standoff with Iran. The documents reveal for the first time that the U.S. believes Iran has obtained nineteen powerful, Russian-designed missiles from North Korea. Their range is long enough to strike Western Europe. Will this change the way the country is seen and dealt with by its neighbors?  

On this week’s edition of The Big Picture, a look at why our military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan has not been more of an issue on the campaign trail during this election season. David Sanger, Chief Washington Correspondent for the New York Times, explains what the official withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq and the increase in the number of troops in Afghanistan has meant for candidates and voters so far this year.

President Obama declared the end of combat operations in Iraq last night. David Sanger, chief Washington correspondent for The New York Times, analyzes President Obama's address from the Oval Office last night, and explains what it reveals about the future of the U.S. in the Middle East. Sanger says that Obama's speech was interesting for its message that the commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan are not open-ended, and that there are bigger priorities at home, including the economy and job creation.

It's a simple question with an infinitely complicated answer: what happens if Iran is able to build a nuclear weapon?

Russia is expected to deliver low-enriched uranium to Tehran to bring the Bushehr reactor, Iran's first nuclear power station, online. And the U.S., Israel and other nations are reportedly on alert, as hawks are calling for the bombing the reactor before the fuel is loaded into it.