Blog Profile / Shadow Government
| URL : | http://shadow.foreignpolicy.com/ | |
|---|---|---|
| Filed Under: | News / International Affairs | |
| Posts on Regator: | 1036 | |
| Posts / Week: | 6.6 | |
| Archived Since: | May 12, 2010 | |
Blog Post Archive
Pakistan’s turbulent elections present an opportunity
Pakistan has just held a historic election with the highest voter turnout in four decades. For the first time, a civilian administration completed its full term and handed power to new civilian leadership. The military stayed in its barracks and did not openly seek o tilt the electoral playing field, as in the past. Show More Summary
On Syria, diplomacy and coercion are not mutually exclusive
When U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visited Moscow recently to discuss the deepening crisis in Syria, he brought with him the hope hat the severity of events in the Middle East would finally be sufficient to spur Russia to reconsider its rigid support for Bashar al-Assad's regime, and plans for a new multilateral diplomatic initiative. Show More Summary
Turkey and the Kurds: Will Erdogan's peace process with the PKK save Turkey or destroy It?
Something quite extraordinary -- perhaps even historic -- is afoot in Turkey. The country's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is engaged in a colossal roll of the political dice, an act of statesmanship, ambition, and hubris largely without parallel on the current world stage. Show More Summary
A Syria policy even Obama could love
Will and Peter have raised important points about the Obama administration's policy failings with regard to Syria. The President's approach combines the worst of moral negligence ("If he drops sarin on his own people, what's that got...Show More Summary
Would you like that foreign policy straight? Or dumbed down?
Peter Feaver raises a very interesting issue in his recent post on choosing an optimal policy for Syria. He suggests that we should not dwell on policies that would require a vigorous wartime leader, since he doubts President BarackShow More Summary
Confronting Syria with the commander in chief we have
These have been tough weeks for the Obama administration on foreign policy. On so many issues of consequence, the trajectories of real-world events have been running decidedly against the Obama policy line. If you had to pick a major...Show More Summary
Benghazi redux: When the facts are not with you, pound on the table
Wading hrough all of the Benghazi hearing revelations prompted me to review my own blog posts on the subject. If I caught them all, my progression runs something like his: 1. Initially, I was inclined to give Team Obama a passing grade...Show More Summary
A Pakistani Election Primer
In Pakistan's 66-year history, a civilian government has never completed a full term of office and then handed power through elections to a successor administration. That will change on Saturday when Pakistanis go to the polls to elect a new parliament. Show More Summary
Did Hillary Clinton have it right back in 2008?
All presidents make serious mistakes. Presidential leadership comes not from avoiding mistakes, but from having the humility, wisdom, and courage to correct those mistakes. There are growing signs that President Obama and his seniorShow More Summary
Jimmy Carter gets it wrong on Venezuela, again
Last year, in the run-up to what would be Hugo Chávez's final election, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter provided the ultimate cover for the late caudillo when he called he Venezuelan election process "the best in the world." Today,...Show More Summary
China is unhappy
Happiness research is a growing discipline in social science that is taken more seriously in the academy and increasingly among policymakers as well. AEI President Arthur Brooks has done research on the subject, finding the happiest people are those who have earned their success. Show More Summary
Five years is long enough to wait for an Obama grand strategy
The debate about the Obama administration's lack of a Syria policy points to an overriding concern: the president's lack of a grand strategy for foreign policy. Indeed, as Israel takes the lead in Syria, I think he Obama administration...Show More Summary
The dangerous domestic politics of U.S.-China relations
Over the past six months, China and the United States have experienced political transitions that allow the leaders of both countries to focus on bilateral relations free from the pressures of domestic political campaigns. With political...Show More Summary
Two lessons from Iraq that could haunt Obama's Syria policy
There are many ways that painful lessons from the Iraq war have been shaping or will come to shape Obama's Syria policy. Here are wo I have not seen discussed much yet: 1. The public punishes policy failure even if it supported the policy initially. Show More Summary
Not even one cheer for off-shore balancing?
As Syria descends further into the maw of a sectarian civil war fueled by militant islamism -- and Iraq teeters on the brink of it -- the options for American foreign policy look increasingly grim. The core pillars of Obama's regional strategy have crumbled. Show More Summary
The Obama administration's troubling history of politicizing intelligence
For months, the Obama administration has been avoiding the conclusion that the Assad government used chemical weapons in its armed struggle to suppress its citizens. As recently as yesterday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel rebuffed the notion, saying "suspicions are one thing; evidence is another." Today the White House finally conceded the point. Show More Summary
The biggest victim of the Bush legacy? The left's capacity for strategic thought
In his excellent critique of the critics of the Bush foreign policy legacy, Peter Feaver spotlighted Water Russell Mead's advice to Republicans to reflect "openly and honestly" on how the 43rd President forever corrupted the GOP's foreign policy credentials. Show More Summary
How to debate the Bush legacy
This week, the George W. Bush Presidential Center will be dedicated. It will be a fun reunion of people who served in he Bush administration -- those who helped advise, make, and implement the president's policies in a time of greatShow More Summary
Debating next steps on Iran
The failure of the latest round of negotiations over Iran's nuclear program will likely bring calls for changes in the American approach -- for bilateral engagement, for an "endgame proposal," or even for reconsideration of the merits of "containment" of a nuclear-weapons-capable Iran. Show More Summary
A curiously selective economics rethink
The policy world has turned on Ken Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart with a vengeance. The two are the celebrated authors of multiple studies showing that very high levels of government debt have historically been associated with slower growth. Show More Summary