He Was Into S&M and Bible Studies, Not Everyone's Cup of Tea- September 19, 2008 Yet another example of how, under Bush administration stewardship, the Shining City on the Hill is falling into disrepair: Judges around the world have long looked to the decisions of the United States Supreme Court for guidance, citing and often following them in hundreds of their own rulings since the Second World War. But now American legal influence is waning. Even as a debate continues in the court over whether its decisions should ever cite foreign law, a diminishing number of...http://americanfootprints.com/drupal/node/4159 Despise the Sound of Shaking Paper- September 18, 2008 Matt Duss highlights some salient aspects of the recent attack on the US embassy in Yemen: The use of two vehicle bombs one to breach the perimeter of a compound, a second to drive inside and explode is a tactic used by the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq. He said a new, less-compromising generation of al-Qaeda leaders emerged, many of them moving into action after escaping from a Yemeni prison that year, he said.The new leaders have found followers among al-Qaeda fighters...http://americanfootprints.com/drupal/node/4157 Miami's Vice- September 18, 2008 Matt Yglesias, commenting on some of the warped logic surrounding our Cuban policies: One obstacle to the adoption of a more humane and sensible Cuba policy is that the country has found itself on the State Departments list of state sponsors of terrorism. Its pretty clear to anyone who thinks about it that this is a politically motivated move, designed to bolster status quo policies rather than an actual reason for adopting them. But its good to have Richard Clarke on record about this ...http://americanfootprints.com/drupal/node/4156 McCain: Dangerously Ignorant or Just Recklessly Irresponsible- September 18, 2008 Wherein I outsource commentary on the McCain-Spain gaffe to Tim Fernholz (who has been doing some real fine work for some time now): After John McCain's gaffe yesterday he had basically two potential responses: Either admit that he didn't know who Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero is, or pretend that his Spain policy is crazy. Apparently, he's chosen the latter, as his campaign's foreign policy adviser Randy Sheunemann tells the Post: "The questioner asked several times...http://americanfootprints.com/drupal/node/4155 Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell- September 17, 2008 On Tuesday, some of the highest ranking officials in the American Foreign Policy establishment came out in support of one of the planks in Barack Obama's foreign policy platform: Five former U.S. secretaries of state said on Monday the next American administration should talk to Iran, a foe President George W. Bush has generally shunned as part of an "axis of evil." Engaging Iran is important because Washington's military options against Tehran are unsatisfactory, said the...http://americanfootprints.com/drupal/node/4152 Guest Post: VP Choices, Foreign Policy, and Leadership- September 12, 2008 It is my pleasure to present a guest post from Benjamin Orbach, whose book was reviewed on this site - with a follow up interview. Jerusalem I was in the U.S. the week that included the VP selections, the DNC convention, and the Sarah Palin media mushroom cloud. Courtesy of Delta, I had two full days to think about it all on my way back to Jerusalem and concluded that the respective VP choices spoke volumes about each candidates foreign policy approach and leadership style. I found...http://americanfootprints.com/drupal/node/4149 John McCain Thinks You're Stupid. Will You Prove Him Right- September 11, 2008 When Steve Doocy of Fox News first suggested that Sarah Palin had foreign policy experience because, crikey, Alaska borders Russia, he was roundly ridiculed. Rightfully so. The notion is beyond risible - I mean, do the governors of states that border Canada or Mexico have foreign policy expertise by dint of that juxtaposition Nevertheless, Cindy McCain made the same laughable argument just days after Doocy's embarrassing gaffe. I thought, at the time, that someone..http://americanfootprints.com/drupal/node/4148 And Why Not They Even Look the Same- September 9, 2008 This should be unremarkable news: Al Qaeda has issued a video marking the September 11 attacks, in which deputy group leader Ayman al-Zawahri accuses Iran of taking part in a Western "Crusader" war against Islam, Al Jazeera television said on Monday. ... In a segment on the video aired by al Jazeera, Zawahri attacked Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, questioning the Islamic Republic's anti-Western stand. "The (leader of Iran) collaborates with the...http://americanfootprints.com/drupal/node/4147 Unipolar Melt- September 9, 2008 Matt Yglesias is making sense: Nobodys paid any attention to this, but as Mark Goldberg points out probably the most significant news of the weekend was the Nuclear Suppliers Groups decision to give the go-ahead to the US-India nuclear deal. Daryl Kimball and Joseph Cirincione have described the deal as a non-proliferation disaster"...It goes to show, however, that if we want to get global non-proliferation policy on the right track were going to have to start doing things...http://americanfootprints.com/drupal/node/4146 A War that Must Be Won in the Name of Truth- September 4, 2008 Gregory Gause (a professor at the exceedingly awesome University of Vermont), has a guest post up at Marc Lynch's place that is, as they say, well worth the read. Gause describes some of the recent actions undertaken by Prime Minister Maliki and suggests that they form part of a larger strategy to consolidate power, solidifying Maliki's role as some new military strong man (like Saddam, only Shiitier!). In this respect, Gause's post provides some additional evidence to bolster an...http://americanfootprints.com/drupal/node/4144 |