By Scott Paul

Every time I think Columbia University could not possibly be the subject of more controversy relating to Middle Eastern politics, another controversy emerges.

This is what state failure looks like. Zimbabwe is in everyone’s backyard. In an increasingly interconnected world, cooperating to help Zimbabwe pull itself together is in everyone’s interest. Everyone ought to read the International Crisis Group’s important report.

We take it for granted that Presidential candidates say dumb things during campaigns. Sure. That’s a given. Mitt Romney’s taking it a step farther with a letter to the United Nations he released today.

Unilateralists are getting ready to squirm. The date for the first hearing on the Law of the Sea convention has been set for September 27, when government witnesses will testify. In October, treaty opponents and business representatives (all supporters) will testify in a second hearing.

If you’re in the Southwest United States in the next few days and have some spare time, you’re in for a treat. My colleagues Raj Purohit and Tom Moran are on tour with Michael Otterman. The three are discussing Otterman’s important book, American Torture.

I know I’m a week late in seeing it, did this attack on Nobel Laureate Mohamed ElBaradei come out of nowhere or what? The Washington Post doesn’t always get it right, but it’s never gotten it quite this wrong.

Senator John Ensign just proposed a major cut to U.S. contributions to UN peacekeeping on the Senate floor. Just last month, with strong U.S. support, the UN Security Council authorized a peacekeeping mission to Darfur. It’s the largest, most expensive mission ever, and it’s coming together now in a very promising way.

J.J. Goldberg, Editor-in-Chief of The Forward, says I misinterpreted the editorial he wrote on Israel, the American Jewish community, and the Armenian genocide in my post last week. The writers and editors at The Forward are a very bright and thoughtful bunch, and I value their contributions to the public debate highly.

Jon Corzine ended up being the butt of a couple of jokes today at the ground-breaking event for the new Giants and Jets football stadium.

Marc Perelman, writing for The Forward, has just released an important summary of the diplomatic back-and-forth currently in progress between major American Jewish organizations and the governments of Turkey, Israel, and the United States. What I’ve been hearing privately jives pretty well with what Perelman has published.