How many allies does the U.S. have to turn away from before we have none left? I’m sure you are aware of the dominant narrative about the “Arab Spring” in which popular democracy movements sweep the Mideast free of dictators. It’s a compelling and dramatic narrative that offers hope for the region and finds the […]
The problem with President Obama’s “Remarks on the Middle East and North Africa” is that it is already being regarded by almost everyone as a speech on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. This is a shame because it wasn’t what the speech should have been about (and actually otherwise was about) at all. For that reason, I […]
Political scientists like to say that the U.S. has a special role as the sole remaining superpower to provide a certain level of public goods to the world at large. The word “goods” in this sense doesn’t relate so much to material goods as it relates to a particular role that only a great power […]
I noticed that the first GOP debate of the election season is tonight and this report from the Council on Foreign Relations offers a fascinating overview of the traditional GOP view of the U.S. role in the world. Yes, I know that the Foreign Policy Association is not a partisan group and like all of […]
After a full day of media reporting and analysis of the death of Osama Bin Laden we are now in a better position to answer some of the questions I posed in my last post. Of course, details remain sketchy and some things may never be known, but we are at least starting to fill […]
Sarwar Kashmeri, a senior fellow in the International Security Program of the Atlantic Council and a fellow of the Foreign Policy Association, has two recent offerings that give excellent insights into how the Libya operation might affect NATO’s future: 1. A posting on European Geostrategy, CSDP – the Atlantic Alliance’s Saviour? (CSDP is the European […]
President Obama announced tonight that Osama Bin Laden is dead. A military operation comprised of elite special forces from the CIA and Navy SEALs conducted a raid on a compound located in Pakistan and in the ensuing firefight Bin Laden was shot and killed. Forensic tests have confirmed the identity of the body. Here is […]
In honor of today’s royal wedding, I draw to your attention a very interesting article that appeared in one of Canada’s leading newspapers, the Globe and Mail – Britain’s Crisis of Succession: Charles and the Story Behind the Royal Wedding. The article gives us a glimpse into the politics inside the royal family and how […]
Since its independence, Pakistan has been a crucial ally to the United States — though when it comes to fighting the war in Afghanistan, it is proving a reluctant one these days. Pakistan has sacrificed blood and treasure in fighting terrorism in its tribal regions, but its government has failed to end both extremist support and influence within its borders.
The United States is winning no popularity contests in Pakistan. Only 17 percent of Pakistanis view the U.S. in a favorable light. Obviously, the U.S. State Department has a long way to go on the public diplomacy front. One of the most promising ways State is trying to engage foreign publics with unfavorable perceptions of the U.S. is through citizen diplomacy.
Last month BBC New Magazine ran a curious story (here) about the US State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), calling it “a little-known scheme run by the US State Department [that] has demonstrated an uncanny capacity to pinpoint these leaders-in-waiting.” Despite the BBC’s assertion, the IVLP is quite well-known and highly regarded. The State […]
Earlier this month the president of Cornell University, David Skorton, published an excellent essay in the Huffington Post on the role that higher education can – and should – play in public diplomacy (full essay is here). I have written about how higher education is often overlooked in current analyses of public diplomacy (the focus […]
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