http://usrole.foreignpolicyblogs.com The World Affairs Blog Network Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:49:01 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en In light of Senator Jim Webb's trip to Myanmar and former president Bill Clinton's recent and well publicized visit to North Korea, I thought this report in The Washington Times was interesting. It examines the practice of using "proxy diplomats" to deal with international crises and questions the political implications ... http://usrole.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2009/11/04/use-of-proxy-diplomats-questioned/ Foreign policy has once again returned to the headlines as President Obama continues his decision-making process on Afghanistan and Secretary of State Clinton recently completed a tour of the Middle East. I'd like to call your attention to an interesting report in today's Washington Post that compares and contrasts the ... http://usrole.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2009/11/02/foreign-policy-style-substance/ The U.S. often takes on the role of defending basic freedoms in the world at large. One of the better examples of this is our championing of religious liberty abroad and one of the primary tools we have used to do that is the annual publication of the report on ... http://usrole.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2009/10/28/defending-basic-freedoms/ As you know, President Obama has not yet made a decision on whether to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan and there are any number of reports in the media about his decision-making process. The White House is signaling that President Obama is nearing his decision on Afghan war ... http://usrole.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2009/10/27/afghanistan-and-long-term-commitments/ The news cycle has moved on and few are talking about President Obama's Nobel Prize award but the event did prompt me to wonder how the U.S. was doing overall in the prize count. We like to think of the U.S. as producing outstanding achievers in almost every area of ... http://usrole.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2009/10/20/twilight-for-us-science-technology/ Like many people I've been fascinated with the news that President Obama has won the Nobel Prize. The story isn't really dying down at all and it's dominated chat in the blogosphere. What strikes me most about the coverage of this story is how often commentators link the award committee's ... http://usrole.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2009/10/10/did-the-restored-us-role-win-nobel-prize/ There were two important developments today in the Afghan war effort and the debate about the overall strategy. First, President Obama has received an unofficial copy of General McChrystal's recommendations. I'm a bit confused about how a general's recommendations can be considered unofficial when given to a president, but ... http://usrole.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2009/10/07/one-afghan-option-is-ruled-out/ Nicholas Thompson responds in this blog post to Andrew Bacevich’s article in The Washington Post about updating the Cold War doctrine of containment for the war on terrorism. He agrees that here is much in George Kennan's original idea that could be applied to the present conflict with global jihad ... http://usrole.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2009/10/06/the-return-of-containment/ President Obama is engaged in a comprehensive policy review of U.S. strategy in Afghanistan and meetings this week at the White House have produced a flurry of news reports about about the situation there. In this report in the LA Times, General Stanley McChrystal makes the case for a "troop-intensive ... http://usrole.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2009/10/01/mcchrystal-argues-for-more-troops/ In an extraordinary move, President Obama today presided over a meeting of the U.N. Security Council and turned the U.S. into the world's number-one anti-nuclear crusader. In an unanimous vote, the Security Council issued a call for global nuclear disarmament. President Obama has acknowledged that this will be a very ... http://usrole.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2009/09/24/us-leads-un-vote-on-nuclear-arms/