Friday, January 23, 2009

"Real vs. Rhetorical Change" in US Foreign Policy...

Greg Djerejian, at the BelgraviaDispatch, here
1) Don’t Let Afghanistan Become Your Administration’s Iraq...
2) De-Mystify Al-Qaeda, It’s Not All That...
3) Resuscitate the Middle East Peace Process, But For Real This Time...In short it is high time to cease the hapless by-standing (pre-Annapolis), or alternately, the empty spectacle (Annapolis), and instead roll up our sleeves and get to the hard work of forging a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace without a moment’s delay, and with relentless energy (without getting bogged down necessarily in a months long series of anti-smuggling discussions with the Egyptians, in large part a waste of time given factors such as these, rather than focusing on the larger strategic picture). Such hard toil can and likely will pay-off (see Camp David, Madrid, Oslo, etc), but only if all instruments of American national power are used, and focus, intelligence and intensity are brought to bear consistently from the Presidential level on down, with pressure applied even-handedly to get to the (so elusive, but not impossible) goal-line. ...
4) Iran: A New Paradigm, Moving Beyond “Carrots & Sticks”...Additional tracks should be considered as well, meaning beyond the nuclear, Afghanistan and Iraq tracks, for instance, Iran’srole in supporting Hamas and Hezbollah. This track should not be included merely to scold and berate, ..."

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