 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Okay, I know that the Fuzzies were Sudanese followers of the Mahdi and that the Somalis are ethnically different, but they all do have bushy hair, which is what Kipling was referring to. I have been following the debate over what to do about the Somali pirates with some interest, particularly as assiduous readers of [...]
Filed under: Foreign policy, War
Having savaged each other for a year, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have now formed a rare partnership in power. Not since James Garfield chose James G. Blaine has a new president chosen his principal rival to be secretary of state.
What does this tell us?
First, don’t take campaign oratory all that seriously.
Second, unlike Dennis Kucinich, [...]
Filed under: Foreign policy, Politics
Gideon Rachman of the Financial Times posts about the Silk Revolution in Thailand:
Remember all those theories about how the emergence of an urban middle-classes is a force for democratisation, because the bourgeoise will demand political rights? Well, in Thailand the precise opposite is happening. The urban middle-classes are rising up and demanding that democracy be [...]
Filed under: Foreign policy
In today’s Washington Post former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson joined the song of praise being raised by neocons and faux-conservatives alike lauding Barack Obama’s cabinet for its “moderation” and “centrism.” What that really means, of course, is that they are all recognizing that Obama will preserve the Bush status quo when it comes to foreign [...]
Filed under: Foreign policy
His mercy fills the Khyber hills — his grace is manifold; and now Robert Kagan wants to launch an invasion of Pakistan. And if the prerequisite personnel and material resources are running low, never fear: our supply of euphemisms is abundant bordering on limitless.
Have the international community declare that parts of Pakistan have become ungovernable [...]
Filed under: Foreign policy, War
Three pieces appearing in today’s Washington Post and New York Times reveal the fundamental problem in changing America’s failed foreign policy. The voters who gave Barack Obama his margin of victory want an end to the continuous warfare that has characterized the post 9/11 world but have been sold down the river. The politicians and the their media claque want [...]
Filed under: Foreign policy, Uncategorized
It’s easy to miss the fact that Bill Kristol has, somewhat at random, targeted Somalia for an invigorating little naval bombardment and perhaps invasion in a column mostly centered on a proposal to award torturers the Order of Lenin Medal of Freedom on the explicit basis of their job well done torturing, the better to [...]
Filed under: Foreign policy, War
We just got a much anticipated phone call from our daughter, who is on a junior year abroad program in a city near Mumbai. She’s fine. But, she told us, she had been at one of those bars hit by the terrorists a few weeks ago. Deeprak Chopra is on the TV. Among [...]
Filed under: Events, Foreign policy, Religion, Uncategorized
I’m aware that some of my colleagues have been depressed about the notion that the Clintonites are taking over the Obama Administration. I’m certainly disappointed by the expected nomination of Hillary Clinton to be the next secretary of state. But I was encouraged after reading Scowcroft Protégés on Obama’s Radar in the WSJ today, and [...]
Filed under: Foreign policy, Politics
One might recall the remora from high school biology, a highly specialized fish that has a sucker on the top of its head that enables it to attach itself to sharks and feed on the leftovers after the host has dined. I don’t know if anyone has ever compared the neoconservatives to remoras, but their [...]
Filed under: Foreign policy, Uncategorized