Mahbubani Responds: Western Intellectual and Moral Cowardice on Israel/Palestine is “Stunning”

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(Kishore Mahbubani speaks at New America Foundation reception on the “Rise of Asia and the Decline of the West. Pictured are Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Robert Kimmitt, Kishore Mahbubani, and New America Foundation/American Strategy Program Director Steve Clemons.

Candidates Offer Joint Statement on Darfur

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According to UVA’s Larry Sabato, quoted in the Save Darfur Coalition’s press release, it’s the most significant joint statement by rival presidential candidates since advisors to FDR and Dewey pronounced the shared resolve of their bosses to defeat the Axis powers in 1944. The statement is here.

The Debate on East vs. West Continues: Anne-Marie Slaughter Challenges Mahbubani

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This is the third installment in a debate that The Washington Note is hosting between Kishore Mahbubani and other of the world’s premier intellectuals on international affairs — including G. John Ikenberry, Anne-Marie Slaughter, Parag Khanna, Michael Lind, and others.

Scott McClellan Knifes the White House

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This is my next read. It’s overdue — and I’m sad to see that McClellan basically waited all of this time to tell his story. He should have gotten word to Patrick Fitzgerald that Libby and Rove were coordinating their Valerie Plame stories. But the worst is even more confirmation that George W.

New Short “Sea Studios” Documentary: State Strategies on Climate Change

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Just today, the Sea Studios Foundation has released a new short documentary on what states are doing on the climate change front. Innovation at the state level is impressive and outpacing by far what is happening at the federal level — but the feds and a new set of international protocols are needed. Watch.

Bolton: Israel Should Negotiate With Iran

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First, in this National Journal interview, John Bolton slams Barack Obama, arguing that negotiation is not a policy but rather a technique. Yet, most of the interview is dedicated to defending the pre-2006 Bush approach of non-negotiation as policy. Then, Bolton is asked about Israel’s recent decision to negotiate with Syria.

May We Never Confuse Honest Dissent with Disloyal Subversion

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(portrait of President Dwight Eisenhower by Mike Hagel; hanging in Senator Chuck Hagel’s private Senate office) Joe Lieberman may lament what he considers to be the shift of the Democratic Party, but he may also want to reflect on how neoconservatives have so dramatically changed and warped the Republican Party in foreign policy.

Grover Norquist Calls for a Humbler Foreign Policy that Rejects Bush/Cheney-style Empire

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I have many liberal friends who are not into Grover Norquist — but my policy is to reach out to all parties across the political spectrum to try and balance against the incredibly destructive influence of pugnacious nationalists like John Bolton and neoconservatives like Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, and William Kristol.