Tempting fate, the folks over at Foreign Policy Magazine have asked some distinguished FP professionals to suggest possible candidates for Obama’s “dream team”. Lists like this are sometimes little more than a glimpse at the rolodexes of the contributors. This group leaves out quite a few notable and talented advisers to Obama’s campaign. That said, it’s worth a look.
It does raise an interesting question, though – how will Obama balance bringing “old hand” competence back into American foreign relations with bringing generational change to our FP apparatus?
Retired General Colin Powell endorses Barack Obama today on Meet the Press. With a strong statement comparing the two candidates, General Powell gave a clear, vigorous endorsement of Senator Obama.
You all recall how Sen. McCain pushed for war with Iraq just two months after 9/11. The ashes had not yet settled on the sites of those horrific attacks that good ol’ Johnny was already drumming up the invasion of Baghdad.
So it should come as somewhat of a surprise to learn that the man Sen. McCain tapped to lead his potential transition is a former lobbyist for – you ready for this? His Excellency Saddam Hussein.
Mr. William Timmons aided an influence effort on behalf of the Iraqi dictator to ease international sanctions against his regime. What’s worse is that Timmons’ activities occurred in the years following the first Gulf War, when Washington considered Iraq to be a rogue enemy state and a sponsor of terrorism. And that included his current boss, Sen. McCain, who was a strong supporter of the 1991 war effort.
McCain campaign: are you really sure you want to go down the dirty “guilt by association” road? Needless to say, McCain was not eight years old when Timmons was working for Saddam Hussein…
A somber, frightening clip that puts McCain’s choice of Palin against the correct backdrop: Not the surreal media whirlwind of a presidential competition, but the life-and-death competition of global politics.
The leader of the UK, US’ staunchest ally in Iraq and Afghanistan, has taken an unprecedented step for a British Prime Minister and endorsed Barack Obama in his quest for the American presidency.
Gordon Brown points out the strength of a potential Obama administration in sheparding the global economy back to health. And God knows we need a leader to help us recover from the financial mess the Bush/McCain policies have brought upon us.
Brown, the archictect of the British economic miracle which led to more than a decade of economic growth, says that, “To help prevent people from losing their home, Barack Obama has proposed a Foreclosure Prevention Fund to increase emergency pre-foreclosure counselling, and help families facing repossession.”
Most of us might remember that George W. Bush’s soul-mate, Russian strongman and quasi-dictator Vladimir Putin offered Bush his endorsement over John Kerry in 2004. Of course, the endorsement of the democratic leader of the 5th largest economy on the planet (not to mention our closest strategic partner) is probably a more coveted endorsement these days than the backing of the war-mongering nationalist, Vladimir Putin.
The FP team in the McCain camp, furious and hurt by Brown’s backing of Obama, flooded the British embassy in Washington with vitriolic phone calls on Wednesday. Way to go McCain team…
Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek International editor and one of the best foreign affairs pundits out there, has some choice words this week in his critique of Sarah Palin:
Can we now admit the obvious? Sarah Palin is utterly unqualified to be vice president. She is a feisty, charismatic politician who has done some good things in Alaska. But she has never spent a day thinking about any important national or international issue, and this is a hell of a time to start….
In these times, for John McCain to have chosen this person to be his running mate is fundamentally irresponsible. McCain says that he always puts country first. In this important case, it is simply not true.
The focus point of last week’s debate was foreign policy. But, as we all saw and expected, the status of the economy played a big role as well.
The connections between economics and foreign policy are numerous, but here are three key things that the next president (that’d be Obama) can do to the economy to affect foreign policy.
1) “Fiscal Responsibility”-how and how much we spend and levy taxes has a huge impact on foreign policy. Borrowing from foreign governments is partly how we finance our deficit.Obviously that reduces our leverage in global affairs.This is what Joe Biden meant when he said that taxes were “patriotic”.
We cannot be strong abroad unless we are strong at home.A weak economy means that foreign investors, including certain governments, will control more of our businesses and property.
We need an adequately funded government to expand the Foreign Service, aid organizations, as well as the Army and Marine Corps.
2) “Smart Regulation”- We all know that American securities markets will be more regulated, just like how new accounting rules came with Enron a few years ago.There is every reason to believe that securities regulations that corporate governance issues will be codified globally.Therefore, healthy relations with other countries will be essential for American companies to raise capital.
3) “Fair Trade/Development”- There is no end in sight to foreign trade, but trade deals must be enforced.Trade is essential for goodwill, domestic economic growth, for developing countries’ growth, and for a strong dollar.
In a sign of just how much the McCain campaign had put all their hopes behind a clear, stunning, game-changing victory in the foreign policy debate, Sen. McCain expressed disappointment over the weekend at the media’s characterization of the first debate as a tie.
