Barack Obama's election victory has inspired a windfall of comment, most of it euphoric, with some grumbling from the political Right and the small quarters of the Left that remain unimpressed, so I am hesitant to contribute to the chatter. There is one element of...
The Pragmatism of
The Imperial Transition
Did you know that the IBM Center for the Business of Government hosts a "Presidential Transition" blog; that the Council on Foreign Relations has its own "Transition Blog: The New Administration"; and that the American University School of Communication has a...
The Silent Winter of Escalation
Sunday morning, before dawn, I read in the New York Times that "the Pentagon is planning to add more than 20,000 troops to Afghanistan" within the next 18 months "raising American force levels to about 58,000" in that country. Then I scraped...
Hawks Campaign to Preempt Iran Talks
Anticipating the ascent of President-elect Barack Obama to the Oval Office, groups of hawks, among them neoconservatives, have begun to offer public advice on just exactly what the new administration should do to deal with Iran. Accusing Iran of a covert plan to...
Tuesday: 4 Iraqis Wounded
Updated at 7:10 p.m. EST, Dec. 9,2008Eid observances continue in Iraq so reports of violence remain low. Only four injuries were reported throughout the country. No Coalition deaths were reported. Meanwhile, the U.S. military refuses to honor an Iraqi court order to...
Backtalk, December 8, 2008
The Meaning of Mumbai I am an Indian and I am against going to war with Pakistan over these attacks, but I have many reservations about your article. Your theory seems to be that the West (which, really, I suppose means America) wants to use India as a tool to expand...
If Only US Law Applied to the US Government
The U.S. government does not have a monopoly on hypocrisy, but no other government can match the hypocrisy of the U.S. government. It is now well documented and known all over the world that the U.S. government tortured detainees at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo and that...
Mumbai and Obama
In international politics, events can precipitate crises few had expected, although the elements of crisis may have been lying apparently dormant. Just a few weeks ago, Newsweek's John Barry could write a piece suggesting that whatever domestic economic problems he...
The Case of the Telltale Hoax
The idea that a nuclear war could be started by a hoax caller may seem too Bizarro Worldish, even for the post-9/11 era, but there you have it: "A hoax caller claiming to be India's foreign minister threatened Pakistan's president with war during the final hours...
Business Groups Support Dismantling Cuba Embargo
If U.S. President-elect Barack Obama wants to begin dismantling Washington's nearly 50-year-old trade embargo against Cuba, it appears he will have widespread support for doing so. Not only have some major foreign policy heavyweights recently called for ending the...


