Joe Biden, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, held a hearing last week on an important topic in American foreign policy. In Biden's words the hearing was called to explore the following question: “In expanding the role of our armed forces, have we diminished our civilian capabilities – our diplomatic and development assistance institutions‚ and […]
Obamania never ceases to stimulate musical innovation. This time, cue the smoke machines and get out your glowsticks! German news site Bild.de is holding a contest for the best techno remix of Obama's Berlin speech. Some of the songs are pretty catchy; Dj Moon and Stefan Schmidt's rendition (numbers 2 and 9) really got my foot tapping. Number […]
Looks like Defence Secretary Gates’ call for more support for US “soft power” tools is a view also shared by those under his command. A new poll of US military officers conducted by the US Global Leadership Campaign shows that they overwhelmingly support diplomatic tools to addressing the variety of security challenges the US faces. A majority of […]
Let's turn now away from issues of high politics towards something more humanitarian. As I mentioned in my first post, I hope to highlight the ways in which the U.S. is working to make this a better world through the strategic use of U.S. aid. Let's face it, when we think of the U.S. […]
The Washington Post reported today that the Taliban insurgency is gaining ground in Pakistan (Clashes Escalate in Third Day of Violence in Pakistan): Violent clashes between extremist insurgents and Pakistani troops escalated Wednesday in the country's fractious northwest as Taliban leaders threatened to withdraw their support for peace deals brokered earlier this year with […]
Yesterday NBC Nightly News broadcast an interview with Iranian President Ahmadinejad. If you saw the interview, what did you think of it? As you watch the interview, consider the following: Does he answer the questions posed by Brian Williams? Does he acknowledge the deadline given to Iran? Does he suggest any flexibility about the possibility […]
Where do you get your international news? What are your trusted sources for finding out what the U.S. is doing on the world? The MountainRunner blog (devoted to public diplomacy and strategic communication) recently examined a new study about the amount of international news coverage in the mainstream American media. The study found that the […]
Although I disagree with The New Yorker's recent taste in cover art, I do think Hendrick Hertzberg is one of America's best political commentators. Until we have some reliable polls on how Americans feel about Obama's recent foreign travel, Hertzberg has the next best thing: how Americans ought to feel: There has been much discussion […]
This week we witnessed a dramatic showdown in Indian domestic politics between the Prime Minister and various factions who are against a proposed nuclear deal with the United States. Since India is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has developed a nuclear weapons capability, the U.S. has been working on a […]
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has journeyed to Germany to deliver a speech today (text, video) and although I know that the Foreign Policy Association is non-partisan, I just thought I’d mention it in the wider context of the historic speeches delivered in Berlin by John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. Is Obama's speech in […]
In a few hours, Barack Obama takes the stage in Berlin's Tiergarten park for the kind of open-air public address that no American leader has made in Europe in a generation. As I mention in my “Election 2008” blog, not since Ronald Reagan's speech at the Berlin Wall in 1987 has there been anything quite […]
Senator Obama is visiting Israel and the Palestinian territories and using his brief visit to assure both the Israelis and the Palestinians that he will work for peace if he is elected. His visit is prompting both hope and resignation among the two different audiences (The New York Times – Mideast Sees More of […]
Imagine the following scenario: Food riots destabilize the capital of a sub-Saharan African country, military officers stage a coup, a civil war breaks out, the government falls, a new government takes power but their hold on power is tenuous, social unrest continues, people are starving. What can the U.S. do? Traditionally, the U.S. would send aid […]
The Geneva meeting with Iran over the weekend did not go well. The presence of a U.S. representative apparently made little difference, nor did Iran appear to appreciate the gesture (The Washington Post – Iran Nuclear Talks End Without Agreement): High-level international talks on Iran's nuclear program ended inconclusively today in Geneva, with European […]
By now you have heard the news that a U.S. representative will attend a previously scheduled meeting tomorrow with an Iranian representative in Geneva. Although this represents a dramatic departure from the U.S. effort to isolate Iran, a skeptical observer may ask why this such an important move. Do we really expect a breakthrough? An op-ed […]