President Obama took a break this week from Washington D.C. drama to attend the G20 summit in France. As you can imagine, most of the debate at the summit had to do with the European debt crisis. Given that focus, it was not a summit at which one would expect U.S. leadership to be especially […]
If you have followed this blog for a while you may have noticed a few posts on the subject of U.S. foreign aid (most recently: here , here , and here). I’ve mentioned it several times and so I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that the U.S. is celebrating the 50th anniversary […]
Guest Post by John Paluszek It’s now apparent that Tunis and the many newly-“Occupied” cities are virtual neighbors – not geographically, of course, but in the newly-aroused global Vox Populi Community. These “neighbors”, although in vastly different societies, have common fundamental demands: “justice”, “fairness” and “voice”. In this historic year of 2011 something seminal seems […]
Vladimir Putin, the once and future Russian president, made waves recently in an article he published in Izvestia about the desirability of a “Eurasian Union”, which would deepen and build upon the existing customs union involving Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan and potentially expanding to include Tajikistan and Kyrgyz Republic. He writes: This project also implies […]
As Libyans celebrate the end of almost 42 years of dictatorial rule by Muammar al-Qaddafi you may be wondering what role the U.S. played in the dramatic final hours of Qaddafi’s life. According to most reports, as the fall of Sirte became certain, Qaddafi fled in an armed convoy hoping to escape yet again and […]
“Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons” ~ R. Buckminster Fuller Much has been made about how the late technology giant Steve Job “changed our lives”. The Discovery Channel, not to be outdone by all the media hoopla surrounding his death, will air a one-hour documentary on Sunday 30 October […]
Operation Unified Protector, NATO’s mission in Libya, is winding down. Claiming victory, the Obama administration is chiding those who opposed U.S. involvement. While NATO has succeeded in preventing Muammar Qadhafi from further targeting civilians, the mission has exposed a significant alliance weakness: the unfair sharing of the burden for common defense among NATO members. In […]
As you may have heard, Steve Jobs lost his battle with cancer today. Much will be written about the life and legacy of this amazing man over the next few days and I expect his death will echo and reverberate in our media and social networks for some time because of the way he touched […]
When Nazi troops occupied Prague in March 1939, they destroyed the city’s tribute to former United States President Woodrow Wilson. Erected in 1928, the statue commemorated U.S. support and President Wilson’s leadership in shaping the first free Czechoslovakia. After WWII, a plaque served as a placeholder in the statue’s former location until a new one […]
An article in yesterday’s New York Times caught my attention. It concerns the U.S. budget for foreign aid programs and long-time readers will know this is a subject we discuss here from time to time. Most recently I mentioned it in a blog post in August in which I noted public misconceptions about the size […]
It’s no secret that representing the U.S. abroad entails both risks and rewards. Ambassadors though are rarely in the news and rightly so- they are sent to represent their country, not make a name for themselves. I’m sure most people would be hard-pressed to name any ambassadors. If they are in the news it usually […]
As you may know by now, the leadership of the Palestinian Authority have decided to seek a vote on statehood at the United Nations later this month. President Obama asked them not to pursue this path and they refused. Now, normally I like to consider weighty matters of international affairs by referencing analysis by think […]
There was a lot of talk at this week’s CNN Tea Party Debate about creating jobs but not a lot about increasing global competitiveness. I thought about that when I read this report about the U.S. losing a lock on the #1 position in the world computer market. As the LA Times reports: China passed the […]
I’ve been reviewing some of the 9/11 commentaries and news reports that are saturating our media as the anniversary approaches and I have to admit that many of them leave me feeling cold. This commentary by Frank Rich in the New York Magazine, for example, raises many interesting and provocative points that I found myself […]
I had just returned to the States from a relatively innocuous tour in The Bahamas as a diplomat with the U.S. Department of State. The most personally significant event during my time in Nassau was meeting and marrying my Romanian-born wife. My onward assignment was to Moscow, Russia with a year of intensive Russian-language training […]