Great article on American diplomatic efforts in Syria today in the Washington Post from reporter Mary Beth Sheridan: U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford, known as a quiet, under-the-radar-screen diplomat, has changed the dynamic of U.S. relations with Syria by traveling to a tank-ringed city at the center of the protests that have swept the country. Acquaintances … Continue reading
Even while the situation in Libya is leading most news cycles—along with the nuclear crises in Japan—no one seems quite sure what to make of the United States’ involvement. We’re participating, but not leading? Erm, well, we were leading the mission, but now it’s in NATO’s hands? We’re enforcing a United Nations decision in another … Continue reading
Most of you (45%) got this week’s question right: at a cost of around $1 million per missile, NPR could fire 5 Tomahawk missiles each year with the money that it gets from the federal government (don’t feel bad if you picked “3″…the NYTimes puts the cost at $1.4 million/missile). Please recall that we fired … Continue reading
Thoughts on the occasion of being up early and listening to Morning Edition: Since the UN Security Council resolution on Libya, there’s been a host of hand-wringing from critics of intervention on the left and right. Why Libya? Why not Yemen? Why not Côte d’Ivoire? etc. What’s the Obama Doctrine driving this mission? The Obama … Continue reading
I’ll post the answer later in the week, but in the meantime, cast your votes… The U.S. has fired 162 Tomahawk missiles into Libya since March 19. How many would we have to fire to spend as much as we spend per year on NPR? (polls)
I have a new strategy this week. Each time that I hear a conservative bemoaning America’s declining role as a global leader, I’m gonna do my best John Boehner impression… “We’re broke!” If we don’t have enough money to fully fund LIHEAP or NPR or the International Affairs budget, we certainly don’t have enough money … Continue reading
The Post‘s Jennifer Rubin closed her posting yesterday with a fairly archetypal conservative critique of President Obama’s approach to international relations (“The shrinking superpower“). It more or less echoes the Krauthammer blurb that I rubbished a few days ago. Obama is being too cautious/He’s emboldening our enemies/International consensus is unnecessary to act in Libya/etc. Above … Continue reading
If you’ve been following Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen’s latest antics, you know that she’s been banging the drum lately for quick, decisive U.S. action in the Middle East. The UN Human Rights Council’s recent action on Libya was “overdue” and “insufficient,” in her words. The United States should encourage democracy in Egypt, but “engaging with the … Continue reading
