Taliban Archived Statements

This article is purporting that the analysis and statistical information on the Taliban, while useful, could use a supplement in terms of a more motive/psychological based look at the issue. They bring up the problem of reporting accuracy for both sides of the conflict as reporters that could most appropriately assess the Taliban's self perception (the reporters in the conflict area) are mum for fear of physical harm. The article creates an archive of statements taken from insurgents themselves maybe in hopes of clarifying or increasing understanding of the 'other' side's position. Is the assessment of intention via the stories told by a select view insurgents really all that valuable? Or is it more important from a humanistic view point than a foreign policy one?

Newsweek Article

More about pigless, and trashful, Cairo

See the post below also

"The One Thing Iran is Actually Afraid of"

Note: I really despise how people confuse the actions of a nation's government for its people. U.S. media are especially terrible at avoiding this (not insignificant) distinction. There's no fundamental difference in the people of the stretch of land between Tehran and Dhaka, or Kathmandu and Kandy, but if you listen to the choice of vocabulary on the part of the media it would seem as though we were all worlds apart. Anyway.

Applebaum attempts to argue that there are, in fact, two Irans, and the people who care about one "don't care about the other." Well that may be true, but the number is certainly higher than two if so, and Applebaum herself would definitely call into the category of someone who cares about only two of the three.

She goes on to argue that the worst fear of Iran is a sustained, well-orchestrated human rights campaign. I don't really believe her, or her conclusions regarding what we should do with that "information", but judge for yourself. 

"The Terrible Consequences of Egypt's Swine Slaughter"

For those who have never been, Cairo has a lot of trash. A lot of it. And, remarkably, most of that trash remains organic. Pigs tend to eat organic trash and convert it to flesh, in fact they do this at a rate faster than any other land mammal. Egypt's government recently ordered that all pigs be slaughtered to prevent the spread of swine flu. The natural, albeit incidental, consequences of that decision are chronicled here. 

Hitchens' sectarian analysis is particularly interesting, and as usual, he does not let the opportunity to rail against religion slide.

Clashes in the Holy City

In the realm of conflict resolution (and going off of Maryam's earlier post), I'm sure many of you are familiar with how the second intifada, also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada, started after Ariel Sharon visited Al-Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount, leading to violent clashes in 2000. With the start of Yom Kippur, this does not bode well for the peace process. Jerusalem is a giant tinderbox of latent tension, and while a small incident, those have demonstrated to be just the spark needed in the past.

Just around the corner from where I lived this summer, the family that I grew very close with lives along the walls of the Al-Haram al-Sharif, and have been in the middle of this since the British mandate. Listening to their experiences, these kinds of events puts everyone on edge immediately with a particular fear of retaliation on innocent individuals. With the increasing settlements and land seizures in East Jerusalem/West Bank and US policy reversal, there is concern that the dragging/non-existent peace negotiations may come too late---thoughts? Did Obama make the right decision in reversing his settlement freeze precondition? Or does what we do even really matter? Some argue that the Second Intifada was furthered by Arafat walking out of the Camp David talks- does the example of Clinton's failure (and the potential for Obama's success now) demonstrate the US role could be significant? Or does that example do the exact opposite?


Update Here

A government shut-down of the Internet?

Despite questionable relevance to foreign policy as we define it, this interesting article from MSNBC raises a conundrum that I'm sure all political-minded constituents of Great Decisions would enjoy -- the possible government shut-down of the Internet in the face of an unprecedented security emergency. At first glance, such a transgression would slap the face of freedom, liberty, and everything we hold dear. But with the risk of cyber attack increasing in probability and severity every day, a national security takeover of vulnerable websites seems more rational than before.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33038143/ns/technology_and_science-security

And yes, I have nothing better to do at 4 am.

Qaddafi

May I just say.....

Congratulations.

Regardless of accuracy, Qadafi was very entertaining.

Foreign Policy compiled a top ten list of crazy U.N. moments.

I'm very proud Krishna Menon is up there with his rather epic filibuster on Kashmir.

Encounter them here

Also

"Do Not Mess With the Giant Squid"

Also

Bidenisms: A continuing list (modelled after Bushisms)

Also

Does anyone else think Ahmadinejad is one of the best gesticulators , gesturers, and body-language artists of all time? The man is mesmerizing.

I also suspect he's vastly more intelligent than many over here give him credit for.

Ok halftime's over, go heels!

"Is Afghanistan the New Africa?"

An intriguing, if short, look at how foreign aid and not-so-well-founded "optimism" tends to rule the public accounts of Afghanistan's development, or lack thereof.

here

Russia on Iran

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/24/russia-agrees-to-possible_n_298219.html

It looks like Russia is now open to sanctions on Iran. Wow, that was fast.

"Taliban Expand into Afghanistan"

There's no real analysis here, just straight news reporting.

O Obama, where art thou?

     One thing oft pointed out about the Taliban though, at least by subcontinental media, was that if you were the average nonwhite bearded male, there was a lot of safety and security present under the Taliban which is now, sadly, lacking under Karzai's ineffective governance.

     Justice was swift, and if harsh, at least was prompt enough to allay any wounded feelings. Travelling also was very easy; the roads were all perceived to be safe and people often had no compunction about taking random travellers into their home.

     Nowadays, all those things are gone. Of course, so are the random beheadings, stonings, beatings and rapes of women, burnt houses in the middle of the night, lynched journalists, etc.

     But, for the average nonwhite bearded male (who makes the decisions in Afghanistan after all?), things must have seemed way better before the U.S. invaded.

Just War Theory in Afghanistan

Counter Insurgency

General Petraeus released a document a few years ago outlining the areas of contention that needed attention if America was going to win 'hearts and minds' in Iraq. It seems with the continued problem of insurgency in Afghanistan and Iraq, there hasn't been much progress made on that front, and it is doubtful that there is advancement forthcoming with the right resource allocation. This seems to give credence to Mike Walzer's philosophy on Just War that explicitly states foreigners are not to trifle with other nations' territorial integrity or political sovereignty on the grounds that legitimacy cannot be forced by outsiders, but must be an internal struggle for self determination. With that in mind, does intervention seem like it could breach this right to self determination under certain circumstances?

Russia backs down about Iranian sanctions.

Article!

So, it seems that what we talked about last weekend came to fruition. The Russians made an unofficial statement that they were ready to examine Iran and punitive measures. This isn't a diplomatic commitment, but it is a "we are on the same page and willing to move forward with this". Technically, they said that sanctions are sometimes inevitable and that if incentives don't work, the Russians may need to adopt tougher measures. Looks like Obama's gesture wasn't in vain.

Obama drops demand that Israel freeze settlements.

See the Article here

Remember my post about how negotiations in Israel/Palestine would be stalled because neither side is backing down on the issue of settlements?
Well it appears Obama is trying to set a precedent, this time siding with the Israelis. Guess he realized nobody cares what he wants....

Personally, I am upset. I don't think we should have caved. What does this say about us????

"Has the U.S. Lost Interest In Europe?"

Precisely what we discussed.

"Mobilizing the Will to Intervene"

In an interview with Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire, Foreign Policy unearths some serious issues underlying our involvement in international conflicts. Lt. Gen. Daillaire was the head of the UN peacekeeping mission in Rwanda in 1994 and now advocates strongly for intervening in international conflicts (like Rwanda) to protect civilians of all nations. He believes that due to the globalizing effect that intra-country or intra-region conflict can have on international security (like leaving space for terrorist cells to establish themselves) and different rules of engagement that have militaries engaged in something other that the classic use of force, that we need mobilize the international community to intervene in these crises like genocide and civil war. But for these types of interventions we need militaries and commanders trained in methods of anthropology, sociology, and philosophy so that they can understand the complexity of the problem and employ adapted forms of force. And just as important, we need countries on the UN Security Council to stop being so isolationist and believe that the problem's just between "those guys" because Lt. Gen. Dallaire says "..in this era, that stuff moves, and it will affect us."

To me this question of intervention is incredibly interesting and so understandably controversial. In general, I do believe that we live in a different world now and another country's war will affect everyone in the end. But I'm also torn about what this means for national sovereignty and allowing a country to clean up its own messes and grow from them. We certainly had to do that and we are stronger and more unified because of it. And where do you draw the line about how extensive the intervention will be? Obviously Iraq brings up this question; how much resources do you have to commit to for rebuilding purposes and how we will sustain this? And then finally why are we really intervening? Lt. Gen. Dallaire is not shy to admit that it really comes down to protecting one's own national interests but wouldn't that inevitably affect our decisions on what areas get preference--who are we going to decide is more worth our while to save--civilians in the DRC or those is Afghanistan?

As promised, the link to the Tea Party People

T-Baggers. Ignorance mixed with fear is not a good combo.

Europe

I have noticed that the vast majority of the blogs tend to focus on American foreign policy, so I thought that I would share some thoughts regarding events in Europe.

Turkey is still in the process of obtaining membership to the European Union. This prolonged attempt in itself is huge, because it again redefines Europe politically and geographically. Many are skeptical towards European expansion further east for a variety of reasons, but religion arguably stands out. Although Turkey is a secular country without an official state religion, the majority of the country is Muslim. You may ask where am I going with this...but accepting Turkey could have major implications on EU legislation in other countries. I am neither for or against Turkish integration, purely because I am not knowledgeable enough to make a rational judgement, but from what I do know, it raises issues for the EU as a body itself.

Originally, the EU comprised of 6 countries. Now it has 27. 3 more are in the process of integrating. If the EU continues to push east, where do the boundaries end? Surely if Turkey (which is more in Asia than Europe, geographically) has a legitimate claim to being part of the EU, so does the likes of Morocco, Libya and Algeria as they only separated from mainland Europe by a few hundred miles of the Mediterranean? Surely Russia has a legitimate claim for being within the geographical boundaries of 'Europe'?

If religion plays apart in the decision, then surely Muslim countries in the region have a claim to join as well? I have no problem with religion, let me stress that point. But how can the European Union be united if some countries, like France, do not have the same rights for Muslims in their country than others.

For example, take headscarves. Since 2004, donning a headscarf in a French state school was banned. If Europe really was united....we would have the same laws and expectations. But arguing this is arguing for further European expansion, something that skeptics such as myself strongly dispute.

This blog could go on and on, but I will refrain. In short, will there really be benefits to further EU expansion?

A Tale of Two Cities: Two Human Trafficking Cases

In this recent New York Times article, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/09/17/world/AP-EU-Netherlands-Human-Trafficker.html?scp=5&sq=human%20trafficking&st=cse the escape of a notorious human trafficker is causing a frenzy in the Netherlands. Saban Baran, on a week leave to visit his family, escaped from authorities and is now at large. Baran has been convicted of multiple accounts of human trafficking for forcing women into prostitution. Authorities concede that allowing him to leave was a terrible mistake—and public outcry has become intense. Judges only officially revoked Baran’s week leave after he had fled. Although this is one incident in the very large and broad issue of global crime it begs the question of how these situations are being handled at a local and national level.

However, in contrast to the Baran situation, the New York Times came out with another article on the same day http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/09/17/world/AP-ML-Egypt-US-Adoption.html?scp=10&sq=human%20trafficking&st=cse. This article discussed the illegal adoption of Egyptian children. Under Islamic Law, adopting children is illegal for Muslims, however, some Christians do adopt Egyptian children. Two couples attempted to adopt children and did so by forging documents. Eventually they were detained under charged of human trafficking and forgery. Was this case treated reasonably? Should these two couples, attempting to adopt children, be charged under similar child trafficking laws that Saban Baran was subjected to?

These two articles present sharp contrasts and perhaps cracks within the criminal justice system. One article tells the story of a man convicted of human trafficking of over 100 women, another presents two couples trying to adopt children. At the root of the issues is the local government and its rulings. Are local governments handling the human trafficking situations in an effective way? In order to effectively mitigate global crime, the crime within countries must be addressed first.

Update: Barak Obama's Facebook Feed

Right chyah

Updated Missile Defences in Europe

So, big news today. Obama has announced that he's canceling the US plans to extend the antiballistic missile shield into Eastern Europe. The Russians have responded to this with exceptional enthusiasm, with Putin repeatedly praising Obama and the new policy. Presumably, this is a concession made with the intention of improving relations with Russia, especially to nudge Russia closer to backing US sanctions against Iran, which the Russians have been consistently resisting. Russian refusal to condemn Iran for their nuclear program has drawn fire from the US, and it would seem that the US is willing to take the first step, in hopes that the Russians will match this.

Article!

Also, the new NATO Secretary General made a speech recognizing Russia as a major partner in future strategic talks, and had proposed that NATO and Russia conduct a joint review of vulnerability and pool their resources to combat threats. All of this seems to revolve around an attempt to either disarm or at least protect against the Iranian threat, which the Russians still refuse to publically recognize.

Also, article.

TED Talks: Hans Rosling on the Developing World

If you haven't heard of TED talks you should really check them out. Hans Rosling, a Swedish professor at the Karolinska Institute and Director of the Gapminder Foundation, uses data sets and amazing visuals to deconstruct our notions of the developing world and challenge our generation to change our mindsets. Even if this is not your field, he is very entertaining and I would suggest watching!

Hans Rosling: Let My Dataset Change Your Mindset

Obama and China: A marriage of protectionism?

The Council on Foreign Relations reports on the recent decision by the Obama administration to ratchet up tariffs against entry-level tires from China. Cornell's Eswad Prasade presages that the move may commence a "full-blown trade war" between the powers -- a frightening scenario considering that both countries are only recently mending the wounds of the financial crisis. From the other side of the fence, some experts believe that Obama may be preparing to open up trade at later dates: "Four previous U.S. presidents each made moves to protect domestic industries at the outset of their administrations before later pursuing free trade agendas."

Apologies, but these are hilarious

If you don't already, definitely hit up the Onion as often as possible and view the videos.

U.S. Condemned for Pre-Emptive Use of Hillary Clinton Against Pakistan

Study: Multiple Stab Wounds Harmful to Monkeys

Americans Observe 9/11 By Trying Not to Masturbate

"Who's Stupid Now?"

Short enough to quote directly. The full story is here

Stories like this from the Associated Press drive me nuts. The Afghan army is "hard to train." Why? Because the soldiers are illiterate. Pop quiz: How many of the Spartans at Thermopalye were literate? One reason armies have had officers is to ensure that for every 100 or so soldiers, there  is someone who can decipher a map and read orders.


[excerpt from the quoted story]

The average private soldier in Afghanistan does not need to be literate. Nor does he need diversity training, by the way. (FWIW, he probably has a lot more liberated attitude toward gays than does the average Marine recruit.)

He only needs the sort of literacy classes described in the AP article if his American trainers lack the imagination and historical knowledge to train him to be an Afghan, instead of an imitation American, soldier. If we are going to make any progress in dealing with failed states, we are going to have to learn to train across cultures. I mean, Gurkhas became one of the most feared entities in the British military establishment.

I suspect that Americans tend to think people who are illiterate are stupid. They are not, especially in a country like Afghanistan. 

The Changing Nature of Diplomacy

Discussed in FP recently was how much in the hole the Department of State is right now- which directly relates to the deployment of envoys. The point they focus heavily on is the militarization of diplomacy and foreign policy in general, and the serious implications of that. As the article hints, there are some advocating the end of our foremost diplomatic institution, which, huh, is kind of a big deal. Most would agree that on the ground people understanding the countries and people we interact with will never cease being a necessity- and that can't be done effectively through the Pentagon or special envoys, and people know that. They are hiring twice as many FSOs as they did last year and injecting more money, and there is re-concerted effort in understanding how we conduct our foreign policy. We don't have much of a choice - in the 20th century and the Cold War, being 'America' was enough in diplomacy. Now we actually have to work at it, and we can't afford to fail miserably--bureaucratic messes and inefficiency isn't going to cut it.


Some would argue that the slowing of American preeminence in a increasingly multi-polar world makes good diplomacy a definite necessity. Can special envoys do that?




Sorry, the link wasn't working....
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/09/11/hitting_bottom_in_foggy_bottom

"Can We Bribe Our Way to Victory?"

An article examining an alternative approach to rapprochement with (at minimum) Pashtu citizens of Afghanistan...namely distributing cash to political leaders or already-established tribal leaders and using their existing system of disbursement to create a "victory" in Afghanistan for the U.S. forces there.

You can read the article here

Will Iraqi elections be the answer?

This past Sunday we questioned U.S. troops role in establishing political security abroad. This article challenges the US assumption that intervention in Iraqi elections will play a positive role in resolving political tensions by revisiting US success in Lebanon, Iran and Afghanistan. Has Vice President Biden over simplified Iraqi political structure in assuming that national elections will solve many of the unresolved security issues?

Read here.

FedEx Global Education Center Event Tonight:

If you are free I highly recommend going to see this documentary. Sarah Singh shares valuable insight on the historical, cultural and political turmoil that exists between India and Pakistan. Really interesting!

Wednesday, September 16 at 6:00 PM

Nelson Mandela Auditorium

New York Film-Maker Sarah Singh will be coming in person to Chapel Hill to speak about her award-winning documentary on the 1947 Partition of India and the creation of Pakistan: “THE SKY BELOW.” Followed by a screening of the film and a question and answer session. To create the documentary THE SKY BELOW, Sarah Singh traveled solo--without a crew-- across one of the world’s most volatile regions tracing culture, history, society and the politics of divide and rule.

THE SKY BELOW is a contemporary exploration of the creation of Pakistan and the 1947 Partition of the Indian Subcontinent, weaving together 5000 years of culture, while investigating the lingering after-effects of this six-decade old political divide, most tragically witnessed by Kashmir. With her life in the hands of strangers and sometimes gunmen, Singh traveled from the desert of Kutch to the snowy mountains of Kashmir; and from the seaside city of Karachi to the spare but volatile terrain of the Khyber Pass.

Syria starts to tackle sex trafficking

Syria attempts to combat the rise of sex trafficking

A correspondent for Anderson Copper on CNN reports on the legislation Syrian lawmakers are working on to fight international and domestic sex trafficking in their country. As the article reports, "if passed, it will be the first law of its kind in the Middle East."

For a country that America hates, way to go Syria!

I would like to point that each year 15-20,000 women and children are trafficking into the US and 100,000-300,000 are domestically trafficked within the US.

Yeah, it's a problem here. Don't even get me started on All Girls Staff right here on Franklin Street (formally University Massage but they had to change their name because they don't have a massage license. Can we say shady??). There have been reports not only of sex work, but of trafficked women from another "massage place" in Orange country, The Gentlemen's Club. And they have reports of trafficking women from abroad. Too bad our police don't want to get involved in this mess so they continuously refuse to investigate the business. Epic fail on public safety guys.

The issue at hand here is the framework in which sex work and sex trafficking is discussed. A lot of ignorant people will try to argue that sex workers in general choose their work and so should be held responsible. This is a problem because many Countries, even here in NC, don't legally differentiate between sex workers and sex workers who were trafficked. Can women who are trafficked give consent?

The answer is no. The UN definition is that for an adult victim, issues of consent are irrelevant if any threat to the victim is involved. Most sex workers are threatened, beaten and raped by their "pimps" and customers. And sex workers who are trafficked never receive a cent for their "work;" it all goes to their "pimp."

Another issue in the framework is the attention paid to this problem. There often isn't much context for the power hierarchies that cause these women to be in these situations in the first place. Most articles that discuss sex-trafficking (of which there are few) focus on its "criminal" activity or legislation (such as the article i'm giving you above). Most articles don't address global issues or lack of women's rights as frameworks for understanding why sex trafficking exists.

Keep your eyes peeled for news of this in the media. I put my money that you won't hear a thing....

"My Ramadan World Tour"

Instead of critical analysis I'll copy and paste the author's last sentence, which sums up the gist of the article.

"Other than in Saudi Arabia, where the Quran is literally the law, in my travels I've found encouraging examples of societies fitting their own local needs to religious restrictions; a sign that pragmatism, if not secularism, is on the rise."

You can read the rest of the article here

For laughs

My professor asked us today, "Does anyone know what major world event occurred in 1957 that changed US education for years to come, especially in relation to math and science?"

Someone goes, "Didn't we drop a big bomb around then??"

Professor: "You mean an atomic bomb? Like, in WWII?"

Student: "Ya!"

... which made me think of how Americans are pretty oblivious. (1957?!) Which in turn made me think of this map.

(The event was the launch of Sputnik and subsequent space race influenced emphasis on math and science in American public schools.)

"Engaging With Iran Is Like Having Sex With Someone Who Hates You"

Christopher Hitches, a highly entertaining, if divisive, writer deigns to bless us with his opinions regarding the Obama "administration"'s attempts to engage in dialogue with Iran.

Link here

US Black Op in Somalia

The United States just sent in a special forces team to Somalia and killed a main leader of Al-Qaeda in the process.

To see the article, click here.

The Gangs of Baghdad - Role of Mercenaries in Today's World?

In today's NY Times, they reported on the trial of former Blackwater ruffians (formerly of Blackwater, perhaps still ruffians), who may or may not have been taking "justice" into their own hands during their stint in Iraq. These State Department hired individuals reportedly fired on unarmed civilians on multiple occasions. While this is horrible to hear, my question is, is anyone surprised?

The Blackwater case is a couple years old, yet the entire scenario raises important questions. What will the role of these outside forces be in the future? How can we regulate them? Should they be used at all?

We send mercenaries to a country where we're trying to win the "hearts and minds" of the locals, and are then surprised when it goes poorly. The Blackwater case and the fact that the US decided to use them at all makes me so very upset. What do you all think?

Global Crime? Start "small"

In our increasingly globalized world, global crime is becoming a greater problem every day. Whether it is human trafficking or drug cartels, the influx of crime has been astounding. The United Nations Office of Drug and Crime began publishing this year an annual report on human trafficking. In addition, the office created a Convention against Organized Crime, that despite its ratification by member states, has still not been largely ineffectual. In fact, it seems, as of late, the United Nations has struggled with making any discernable progress with preventing organized crime—leading to the question, what international organizations can effectively deal with this problem? (see: http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2009/090212_UNODC.doc.htm )

However, looking only holistically at the ever elusive international bodies that can provide solutions to global crime is a daunting and often impossible task. Instead, it is critical to look at the social and economic factors that contribute to global crime in the first place. This New York Times slideshow: (http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/07/29/world/20090729ARGENTINA_index.html?ref=americas) reminds us that global crime starts because of social and economic disparities and can often begin on the smallest of scales. Paco, an addictive drug which is a cheaper substitute to cocaine, is becoming rampant in parts of South America. The solution to crack down swiftly on drug cartels comes from judges and other officials who issue orders for raids. The slideshow also touches on the very individual aspect of the drug trafficking and notes the addictive cycle that users face—again emphasizing the contribution individuals have on the global crisis.

The New Israel Lobby

The New Israel Lobby

This is an extremely good article that takes this issue into depth. There really isn't much that I can say to introduce the topic that this article doesn't already. So if you don't know much about the issue, this article can guide you through it.

Basically, a big change in the "Israel Lobby" in the US is with the new J-street lobby that has moved to a new meaning of being pro-Israel that allows for criticism against Israel. Big moves. Let's see where it goes....

No settlement freeze - Netanyahu

No Settlement Freeze


Israeli has recently started up the path to peace talks last week after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo. However, it doesn't seem promising. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has been insistent that he will not meet with any Israeli officials until Israel agrees to freeze its illegal settlements in the West Bank. Netanyahu though made it clear today that he would not freeze construction, but only try to scale it down.

US Mid-East envoy George Mitchell has arrived in the region on Saturday to help facilitate discussions but his participation may be useless if this stand-off continues. And it seems like the stand-off will continue since Netanyahu doesn't seem to be getting the hint that the US wants the settlements to stop. How will this hurt America's playing power in the region if they go into negotiations they know will be fruitless?

Just something to think about....

Russia is losing its grip

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/weekinreview/13levy.html?_r=1&scp=10&sq=russian&st=cse

Crossroads in Afghanistan

Thomas Friedman's column today in the NYT links together the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan by relating a story about bank robbers. What happened, he explains, is that people connected to the Iraqi vice president held up a bank for $4.3 million in cash. But, in a twist, some of the robbers were found, arrested, tried and convicted. Although the judicial process was less than perfect, Friedman notes that this might be a sign of a new political culture "of democracry and the rule of law." Iraqis, he says, are like battered children. They grew up under the brutality of Saddam and now, as many battered children do, have the potential to grow into battering adults. This bank robbery illustrates the conflict of two political cultures clashing. It's similar in Afghanistan. Afghanis grew up under the Russian occupation and then during the brutal Taliban rule.

These broad outlines raise many practical, logistical and philosophical questions about our presence in Afghanistan. Violence has spiked recently (See: : "A wave of attacks engulfs Afghanistan," NYT Sept. 13) and our troop levels are at an all-time high. But it still seems we don't have enough there to help secure peace so democratic institutions can flourish. We face similar questions in Afghanistan that we did in Iraq before the surge. Are we willing to commit thousands more troops in order to undertake a slow, painful and bloody nation building struggle? As Friedman points out, what we've accomplished in Iraq is "at a huge cost, we have given a chance for a more democractic political culture to emerge in the heart of the Arab-Muslim world." It seems more and more that we're going to need a surge-like increase in Afghanistan if we're going to even have a remote chance of success there.

There are doubts we're going to get it. First, as the NYT pointed out on Sept. 11 ("Obama is facing doubts in party on Afghanistan," A1), support is going to be hard to come by. Leading Democrats are questioning whether it's a good idea to send thousands more troops to help the painstakingly slow process of nation building. Another thing complicating the matter is that the American people don't really seem to be engaged on Afghanistan any more — and if they are, they're against sending more troops. The war ranks near the bottom of issues most important to people in tracking polls (Obama's squandered summer, NYT Sept. 13). And those who do have an opinion seem to be against sending more troops — a CNN poll released on Sept. 11 found that 57 percent of people oppose the war and oppose sending more soldiers (Obama's squandered summer, NYT Sept. 13).

We seem to be having some success in Iraq post-surge. Yes there's still violence, corruption and bloodshed, but we slowly seem to be helping Iraqis build democratic institutions. As the situation moderately improves there, it seems to be slipping away from us in Afghanistan. Should we remain committed there to the process of nation building? It almost seems that our position of limbo now is the most harmful. While we're wavering on whether to send more troops, the situation is deteriorating and violence is increasing. If we're going to commit, Friedman says, "President Obama has to be as committed to any surge in Afghanistan as President Bush was in Iraq, because Mr. Obama will have to endure a lot of bad news before things — might — get better."

Tough choices to make abroad as we're engulfed domestically by the economy and health care. These are mostly logisitcal questions so far. But there are deeper philosophical ones as well that I'm not sure we've sorted out about, among other things, the possibility of building democratic institutions. Many tough choices to come.

Crisis Guide: The Global Economy

CFR.org - Crisis Guide: The Global Economy

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"Iraq's New Surge: Murdering Gay People"

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/09/09/iraqs_new_surge_gay_killings

The Musharraf I Know: My Friend, the Dictator

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/09/09/the_musharraf_i_know

"Bind your eyes and plug your ears! Here come the 9/11 anniversary stories!"

http://www.slate.com/id/2227796/

Also: Remembering 9/11: An Ambassador's Perspective

http://www.newsweek.com/id/214988

In the most recent Newsweek, State Department honcho Ryan Crocker assesses the current state of U.S. foreign policy in retrospect of that infamous day.

China: Expectations and Consequences

IMHO, China is mired by five major social, economic, and political predicaments:

1) A massive wealth disparity between socioeconomic classes
2) A massive population
3) Entrenched corruption at all levels of government
4) Perceived lack of human rights by the Western world
5) One-party rule by the Communist government

Above these obviously monumental issues is an even more severe umbrella problem: Any attempt to solve any one of these problems would likely exacerbate at least one other problem in the frightening list.

For instance, controlling population growth is unfeasible for China if the one-child policy is not perpetually enforced. China can either appease the West and allow its population to expand even further, or disregard complaints of human rights abuse and continue restricting family freedoms.

As another example, bridging the wealth divide requires the sort of bureaucratic clout that a single party -- operating efficiently with little political competition -- can best wield. Yet only a fleeting glance at municipal governments would attest that lack of such competition breeds graft and kleptocracy. Thomas Friedman touches on China's one-party dilemma in the following Times article.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/opinion/09friedman.html?_r=1

In the face of international and domestic pressures pulling China in a multitude of directions, what is a burgeoning power to do?

Russia!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/28/world/europe/28crimea.html

A great article outlining Russia's conflict with Ukraine, one of the major issues plaguing Eastern Europe at the moment.

And in a completely different political tone, the Russians are promising to rebuild and reorganize the separatist Georgian territory with extensive economic aid:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/world/europe/13russia.html

Muhammad Atta: Student of Urban Planning

http://www.slate.com/id/2227245/entry/2227246/

Afghanistan

http://www.slate.com/id/2227232/

Turkey and America

http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14380297

Afghanistan and Iraq

Christopher Hitches, mild defense of the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq

http://www.slate.com/id/2227227/

Saudi Arabia

Another series of "Dispatches" from Slate, concerning various aspects of the Saudi education system and its effect on Saudi society and politics.

http://www.slate.com/id/2226874/entry/0/

Albania

First three of a (hopefully) five-part Slate series called "Dispatches"; basically someone goes somewhere and writes about it. Interesting stuff about Albania.

http://www.slate.com/id/2226840/entry/2226841/

TOPICS

Topics Have Been Announced!!!

Also, to further push your competitive natures, those outside of the winners last Sunday can compete for next in line to choose their topic: the individual who writes the best post (before Sunday) on the topic they want will get it.

Special envoys

Special envoys can help bring attention and diplomatic muscle to resolve conflicts and global challenges but they also bring with them their own "special" problems. Will the Obama administration's reliance on special envoys increase the ability of the U.S. to deal with major international issues or complicate our diplomatic options?

Preventing genocide

Post-election rioting in Kenya in December 2007 brought pressure on Nairobi, from international and regional diplomats, to end tensions and avert bloodshed on a massive scale. What lessons can be learned from the intervention in Kenya? What does it mean for the UN's emerging “responsibility to protect” doctrine?

Global crime

From the booming sex trade in Eastern Europe, to online fraud syndicates in Africa and the drug cartels of Asia and Central America, crime is becoming increasingly organized and globalized. How can countries better protect citizens seeking the benefits of a globalized world from being exploited? What international actors can effectively fight global organized crime?

U.S.–China security relations

China's influence is growing, along with its military expenditures. How will this growth affect China's relations with its neighbors and with the U.S.? Will China's expanding military and economic power affect traditional U.S. roles and U.S. alliances in East Asia? How will countries like Japan, South Korea and India respond?

Global financial crisis

The global financial crisis that began in late 2007 revealed major deficiencies in the regulation of markets and institutions – all of which came perilously close to collapse. Emergency measures to prevent a full collapse of the global financial system have led to mixed results. How will governments and the world community respond to this challenge?

Russia and its neighbors

Russia's policy of maintaining a “sphere of influence” in former Soviet satellites has been challenged in recent years by movements against pro-Russia regimes. Russia has pushed back by cutting Ukraine's natural gas supply and intervening in Georgia's campaign in South Ossetia. Will Russia regain its traditional leadership role in the region?

The Persian Gulf

Now more than ever, the Persian Gulf region offers many difficult challenges to U.S. policymakers. How will Obama's direct appeal to Arabs and Muslims impact U.S. foreign policy in the region? What will the fallout of withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq be? Can the U.S. and its allies prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons?

Peacebuilding and conflict resolution

U.S. campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan have shown that military force alone cannot ensure peace in all conflicts. How can the U.S. successfully integrate the tools of peace building into its statecraft? At what point do poverty, disease and climate change threaten national security? What role can non-governmental actors play in supporting government led efforts?

also, not to be excessive but these are hilarious

http://www.slate.com/id/2220430/

By the by, shall we start labelling our blogs with keywords so it'll be easier to muck through later? bottom right of the darkish box surrounding where you type this.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/

this site is good not because of its mainline content (but that's good too) but because of the constantly updating "channels" it has, e.g. the "AfPak" channel.

Copenhagen 2009

As we all know, the U.N. Climate Change Conference will be held this December in Copenhagen. All around the world who are environmentally conscious hope that this round of negotiations will spur the cooperations of the U.S. and China, two major emitters of waste that were either uncooperative or exempt during the Kyoto negotiations. I anticipate that Copenhagen will be important for Great Decisions in the coming weeks and months.

Michael Levi of the Council on Foreign Relations wrote this pessimistic piece in the most recent issue of Foreign Affairs. I look forward to discussing with y'all the implications of regulating emissions in both industrialized and developing nations. Would levying the same degree of regulation on a developing country as, say, the United States be unfair?

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/65386/michael-levi/copenhagens-inconvenient-truth

Foreign Policy Association Blogs

Here's a collection of foreign policy blogs. There are several issues followed, for example, "Arctic News Roundup" (a favorite of mine) and "The Kurdish Issue."

http://foreignpolicyblogs.com/

According to the site, "Foreign Policy Blogs is the largest network of global affairs blogs. Staffed by professional contributors from the worlds of journalism, academia, business, non-profits and think tanks, the FPB network tracks global developments from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe and everywhere in between, daily. The FPB network is a production of the Foreign Policy Association."

I thought this could give us some ideas about how to follow and blog foreign policy issues.

Much love.