In her Senate confirmation hearing last week, incoming Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that American foreign policy under President Barack Obama must blend military, diplomatic and humanitarian efforts, in equal measure. “We must use what has been called ‘smart power,’ the full range of tools at our disposal.” While consistent with Obama’s longstanding call for greater international cooperation to address the world’s problems, the idea of “smart power” gained widespread popularity in military and diplomatic circles during George W. Bush’s second term. Obama’s national-power strategy represents an evolution, not a revolution. At a speech at Kansas State University in [...]
This WaPo piece (via Laura Rozen) is good news. Amid all the commentary saying how the Gaza War was a major setback for President Obama’s Middle East agenda, I remained convinced that it should not keep him from investing fully into the cleanup immediately upon taking office. It could very well be true that the realistic potential for success has been limited, but a lot of that will depend on the timing of where and when diplomatic resources are brought to bear. And George Mitchell brings a lot of cred to the job.
Love him or hate him, Syrian President Bashar Assad sure holds up his end in this tough, adversarial Der Spiegel interview: SPIEGEL: No Western politician wants to sit at the same table with Hamas. Assad: That’s not true at all. Many European officials have sought a dialogue with Hamas, especially recently. SPIEGEL: With your mediation? Assad: The Europeans have learned from experience. That’s why they are nowtalking to the Hamas leadership here in Damascus — not publicly, ofcourse. I don’t want to mention any names. But I do think it’s tellingthat they include people who are especially critical of Hamas [...]
