Alan Bock

It is almost impossible to predict how it will all shake out, but "old Europe," in former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s dismissive phrase, will almost certainly be politically different than it is today. The election in France, which brought putative conservative Nicolas Sarkozy to the presidency, the announced impending resignation of Tony Blair as prime … Continue reading “Renewing Old Europe”

The death of Boris Yeltsin, who might be described as the first and apparently the last relatively democratic leader of Russia, makes one wonder whether Russia will ever have anything approaching decent governance. (I’m not sure there is any such thing as good government, but some governments are less bad than others.) When I called … Continue reading “Tragic Russia”

The death of Boris Yeltsin, who might be described as the first and apparently the last relatively democratic leader of Russia, makes one wonder whether Russia will ever have anything approaching decent governance. (I’m not sure there is any such thing as good government, but some governments are less bad than others.) When I called … Continue reading “Tragic Russia”

There’s a certain charm in hearing a politician tell the truth, but in political terms Majority Leader Harry Reid put his foot in it when he said in public that he told President Bush in private that "this war is lost" and that the "surge" "is not accomplishing anything" given the heavy casualties this week … Continue reading “Getting Out With Some Dignity”

It has not been a good week for the dwindling band of true believers who still think just a little more effort using somewhat different tactics will yield something resembling a U.S.-Iraqi-quasi-government military victory, or even a tolerable stability, in Iraq. Earlier this month Henry Kissinger told the Associated Press that "A ‘military victory’ in … Continue reading “Portents of Failure”

Well, as I predicted a few days ago, the release of the British hostages/captives/whatever has been quickly followed by lamentations and gnashing of teeth. As David Pryce-Jones put it on Thursday over at National Review Online, "now is the time for recriminations." What might have seemed like a success to people using mere common sense … Continue reading “Lamenting Lack of War”

Far be it from me to defend elected Democrats in most circumstances. However, a certain amount of criticism of Democrats in Congress for not acting strongly enough to end President Bush’s misbegotten war in Iraq suggests an inordinate impatience that reflects a certain lack of understanding of just how convoluted the political processes in the … Continue reading “Clumsy Political Process”

Earlier this week another of the Bush administration hawks fairly quietly left the State Department, apparently upset at the deal the administration struck with North Korea. Robert Joseph occupied a "special perch" in the administration, according to David Sanger in the New York Times. And now – like Paul Wolfowitz (the architect pushed upstairs to … Continue reading “Nuclear Transformations”

I‘m not sure whether it’s an encouraging sign or not, but recent weeks clearly show that a criticism I among many others have made of President Bush – that he is so stubborn he can never change policies no matter what the facts on the ground might indicate as prudent – is simply not the … Continue reading “Bush the Flip-Flopper”

President Bush last week continued his rather pathetic tour of former presidents, stopping at Mt. Vernon, George Washington’s home on the Potomac, to deliver a speech that tried, with all the subtlety of a jackhammer, to compare the current occupant of the Oval Office with the Father of His Country. This is not a new … Continue reading “Breaking the Presidential Pattern”