From the Pew Global Attitudes Project: “Trickle-Down Global Economics: World Already Saw U.S. Influence as Negative Around the globe, people are anxiously following the U.S. financial crisis as it evolves into a worldwide meltdown. People nearly everywhere realize that what happens in the American economy can have a big impact on them. But even before […]
The U.S. is selling billions of dollars worth of arms to Taiwan and China is not happy about it. Why is the U.S. endangering an important trade and diplomatic relationship with one of the emerging great powers of the 21st Century? The answers date back to the Chinese civil war and the passions of the […]
United States Embassy in London, England (Alastair Grant/AP) The State Department announced last week that it will move its Embassy in London from its charming location on Grovesnor Square across the Thames to a more secure location. The International Herald Tribune reports that: “The demand for more space, greater security and better energy efficiency have […]
So what did you think of the Presidential Town Hall debate? I was pleased that there was a good bit of time devoted to foreign policy questions. I’d like to repeat my experiment with the debate transcript, again using the comments to break out the answers from each candidate. Reviewing the issues like this […]
The Presidential Town Hall Debate between Barack Obama and John McCain will air live tonight, Tuesday October 7th at 9 pm eastern time, 6 pm pacific time, on every major broadcast network and cable news network. Belmont University is the host for this debate, and Tom Brokaw of NBC News is the moderator. This is […]
This is a follow-up post to last week's post about the Vice Presidential debate, more of an experiment really. I thought it would be interesting to go back to the transcript and review the foreign policy topics that were covered and then separate out the replies from each candidate so they could be more easily […]
I couldn't pass up posting this AFP article reported today: “Afghanistan, Pakistan split over US presidential hopefuls From Pakistani tribesmen to violence-weary Afghans there are hopes but few expectations, on the frontline of the “war on terror”, that the next US president can solve the problem of Islamic militancy. US military incursions in Pakistan have made […]
Two weeks ago the Council on Foreign Relations, a New York-based think thank, hosted world leaders in town for a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly for separate, public discussions about current issues in world affairs. Those distinguished leaders include: Ali Babacan, Turkey 's Minister of Foreign Affairs; Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, President of Argentina; Viktor Yushchenko, President of Ukraine; […]
The U.S. Congrees has passed the financial bailout bill (Washington Post – House Approves $700B Financial Rescue Package): In a dramatic reversal, the House today approved by a comfortable margin a $700 billion financial rescue package that will bring the greatest intervention of the federal government into the private marketplace since the Great Depression, […]
Happy VP Debate Day! I’m looking forward to the debate, eager to find out more about Joe Biden and Sarah Palin's views of the U.S. role in the world. I don't really get too much into the actual mechanics of the debate, what they should or should not do to win, but I did […]
Where can you watch Condoleezza Rice talk foreign policy and then play piano, James Glassman discuss public diplomacy, Tom Friedman read from his new book, and King Abdullah II of Jordan related the US-Jordan relationship? The Aspen Institute's video blog. So far I’ve watched the first three of the above mentioned Aspen-sponsored events, and I […]
Sarah Palin seems to be the topic of the week as the country prepares for the vice-presidential debate tomorrow. The debate is highly anticipated and many are saying that it may well be most watched debate in television history. I’m not going to give into the temptation to stray into partisan territory here, and […]
If you were wondering about the global reaction to the U.S. credit crisis this AP report provides some insight (AP – US ‘casino’ mentality blamed for planet's meltdown): Astounded by the U.S. government's failure to resolve the financial crisis threatening the foundations of the global free market, fingers of blame are pointing at America […]
Last February, I wrote a post entitled “The Whole World is Watching,” using the slogan from the street protests outside the 1968 Democratic Convention to try to convey how intently the world was now watching the 2008 Election campaign. In 1968, it was rather fanciful to think that the “whole world” was following closely what […]
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs released last week a public opinion poll about Americans’ views on foreign policy issues. The findings show the American public's number one foreign policy worry is the country's standing in the world. The Financial Times reported on the findings: “The… survey found that 83 per cent of respondents thought […]