Archive for Foreign Policy
The United States & Iran: An Alliance of Convenience
Surprised? Friday night (June 13) on the Charlie Rose television program, Richard Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations, laid out a case for the United States and Iran to work together to fight back ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) in Iraq. Saturday, Iranian president Hassan Rouhani publicly announced that […]
Read moreUS Military Intervention in Syria is Wrong
US military intervention in Syria is wrong, but President Obama has a rare moment to become an historic statesman. It’s now or never. Here’s why. Read the article here.
Read moreRemembering Benazir Bhutto
Today, August 20, 2013, nearly six years after the murder of Benazir Bhutto (twice Pakistan’s Prime Minister), General Pervez Musharraf (Pakistan’s military dictator at the time of Mrs. Bhutto’s death), has been indicted for her murder. If like me you feel her life is worth remembering…,
Read moreWise U.S. Foreign Policy Begins at Home
Wise U.S. Foreign Policy Begins at Home It’s no secret that the United States faces critical policy choices at home and abroad and that a disabled political process in Washington lacks the skill to find wise ways ahead in either area. In addition, a widespread lack of understanding exists among the American public about the […]
Read moreStay Home, America; Get Your Own House in Order
I’ve been extremely busy for months with The Wisdom Project, including long hours on the new book. There’s a lot I’ve wanted to post, and probably should have, but “eight days a week” still remains in the la la land of Beatles lore. So it saves me a lot of time when someone else not […]
Read more“That war . . . almost a kind of ideal”
“How did we, as a society, lose the ability to formulate questions about the feasibility of a political alternative? How did it happen that a person who suggests a nonviolent solution is the delusional one, the traitor, and the one who calls for the leveling of Gaza is the true patriot? How did peace become […]
Read moreThe Middle East Now, and Its Not Pretty Near Future
The Middle East Now, and its Not Pretty Near Future For this post, I’m breaking a rule never to post anyone else’s thoughts without commenting on them myself. So I’ve got to hand it to Hussein Agha and Robert Malley, who co-authored an article on the Middle East in the current New York Review of […]
Read moreSmart Power or Wise Power?
Time magazine’s recent cover story on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and “smart power” joins a growing consensus, at home and abroad, that U.S. foreign policy has softened considerably in recent years, therefore the world really ought to once again accept American leadership. But is this shift directed toward increased cooperation for the international common […]
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