Wisdom-based foreign relations

Seeing International Relations and Foreign Policy through Different Eyes

Five Norms of Wisdom for Thinking about More Cooperative Relations between the United States and the Muslim Middle East

This article began in late 2008 as a Wisdom Project Special Paper for a senior adviser in Britain. My work had come to his attention and he was curious as to what the agency of wisdom might practically offer political and religious leaders and their advisers working in the field of Western – Middle East relations. Afterward, in hopes of reading a wider audience, I expanded the Paper into an article by drawing on material from chapters of the book I’m writing on U.S. – Mideast relations. It is a different way of reasoning about IR and FP. It is hoped that readers will comment and offer their perspectives. Thank you for stopping by.

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Bibliography

This is a list of books I have relied on over the years, as of the summer 2010, for my research on international relations and foreign policy that seeks to develop wisdom-based approaches to U.S. – Middle East relations. Apologies for not breaking these classifications into smaller ones, but the titles should make their subjects clear. Books on Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan are in “The Middle East.” Books about al Qaeda are in “War or Terrorism.” In due course I hope to find time to list other sources that have been essential, from formal reports, journal articles, interviews, and so on.

See the bibliography here

Democracy in Afghanistan?

In January, 2004, President Bush said, “A democratic Afghanistan will serve the interests of all the Afghan people,” and their “new constitution marks an historic step forward,” one that will help the nation “build a free and prosperous future.” Since then Americans have come to understand that democracy building in Muslim lands may give rise not to Western-style liberal democracies but to Islamic democracies.

First published in Sojourners Online, 3-29-06.

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Wisdom Words

This page may not appeal to every visitor, so feel free to give it a miss. Others will enjoy it and may want to comment on it.

I have included it on the site as a crib sheet of kernel ideas for those who might be interested in the meanings of numerous key words in the Hebrew Bible that describe classes of high-level government officials and individuals who were responsible for domestic politics and international relations in the old-world Middle East.

The definitions come from an array of authorities that I have found useful in my work on wisdom-based international relations and foreign policy.

See the Wisdom Words crib sheet here

Changing Tough Hearts & Minds

Is rational dialogue with a terrorist possible? More significantly, can the mind of a person committed to terrorism be changed? There are some surprising conclusions coming from the field.

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A World Needing a Map

We seem to be increasingly destination-challenged with each passing year, as familiar old grids of established -ologies and -isms are losing their durability. Amusing little systems, big systems, too, of meaning are going, going, gone.

If we have trouble finding our way along in the structures and systems we have built, where do we find the wisdom to navigate life and its meaning?

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Benazir Bhutto

Two months before she braved returning to her homeland and was murdered there, I had the opportunity to hear Benazir Bhutto address a group at the Council on Foreign Relations. Twice a former Prime Minister of Pakistan, she struck me not so much as a politician but as a leader with a clear, bold message. No one listening could misunderstand her vision for a democratic Pakistan or her keen grasp both of the military dictatorship and of the religious extremists who stood in the way of implementing democracy.

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Three American Myths

This essay is a result of some pondering during the months leading up to the 2008 U.S. presidential elections, when I was thinking about Christians as presidents and America as a Christian nation.

Read the essay here