This picture of Philadelphia business man Richard Vague and former National Security Advisor General Brent Scowcroft was taken today on the Acela AMTRAK train up to New York.
Scowcroft, who turns 86 in March, continues to post incredible mileage on planes and trains as he tries to work behind the scenes with policymakers and world leaders to get them to get serious about resolving some of the world’s most immediate problems. He has often stated that President Obama needs to invest greater amounts of his personal time and attention in the Middle East peace process.
In this photo, Richard Vague — who co-founded with me the Afghanistan Study Group — is thanking General Scowcroft for his many decades of service to the country.
Those who want to read some vintage Scowcroft commentary in a book I helped wire together should read America and the World: Conversations on the Future of US Foreign Policy which features a set of organized conversations between Zbigniew Brzezinski, Scowcroft and moderator David Ignatius. This book was picked by New York Times critic Michiko Kakutani as one of her most favored books in 2008.
— Steve Clemons
