You might think Barack Hussein Obama would choose a safer audience than the Arab world for his first TV interview as President. But he chose Dubai-based Al Arabiya, and he chose well. With all the innumerable problems facing the United States, the most daunting long-term problem is America's relationship to the world; within that context, […]
I’d like to call your attention to the new White House website that has a page devoted to the foreign policy agenda. The site highlights efforts in dealing with Afghanistan and Pakistan, Nuclear Weapons, Iran, Energy Security, Renewing American Diplomacy, Israel, and Bipartisanship and Openness. Although the page is not in a blog format and […]
You are probably familiar with the advice given to President Obama from U.S. leaders, critics, pundits and even comics, but are you familiar with the advice he has received from other world leaders? The magazine Foreign Policy recently invited an assortment of international leaders to offer their advice to the new president. Some of the […]
Today has been a very busy day for foreign policy at the Obama White House. President Obama is making plans to shut the Guantanamo and CIA prisons, the new Secretary of State has arrived at the State Department, and a new Mideast envoy has been appointed. Here is a quick roundup of the day's headlines: […]
As the inauguration of President Obama fades into history I thought it would be interesting to parse out references to foreign policy in the inaugural address (text, video). Although the speech was short on specifics, President Obama did set a tone suggesting a willingness to engage the world, to lead collaboratively, and contained the requisite […]
How is the inauguration of Barack Obama changing perceptions of the U.S. role in the world? According to this AP report, the answer involves expressions of hope, expectation, elation and celebration: A world made weary by war, recession, joblessness and fear shed its collective burden Tuesday to celebrate the arrival of a new American president. […]
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 16-1 today to confirm Hillary Clinton's appointment as the next secretary of state. The committee's report now goes to the full Senate for a vote after the inauguration. This AP report characterizes Clinton's confirmation hearing testimony as a call for the return of diplomacy and an end to unilateralism: […]
Hillary Clinton is appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's confirmation hearing today and since this is all happening while I’m at work, I’m checking out the Madame Secretary blog for updates. Nice work guys. This AP report also has a summary of Clinton's comments to the committee during her audition to be America's next […]
In this op-ed, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger sees great promise for American leadership in addressing the global financial crisis: Not since the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy half a century ago has a new administration come into office with such a reservoir of expectations. It is unprecedented that all the principal […]
Many people believe that U.S. foreign policy is dictated by Israel. A good counterexample to offer such people is the recent revelation by The New York Times that Israel requested U.S. support in bombing Iran's suspected nuclear sites. According to the report, President Bush vetoed this plan and offered only limited intelligence sharing: President Bush […]
I think my son was disappointed at what he got this year. After opening his gifts, he started throwing shoes at me.” -David Letterman, December 29th By now it should be obvious: President Bush's final visit to Iraq, planned in secrecy for dramatic impact, will be remembered for the startling gesture of disrespect invented by […]
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