Douglas Rediker Joins Obama International Economic Policy Team

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Sitting in my Berlin hotel room last Tuesday night/Wednesday morning at about 1:30 am, I saw a note from the White House come through the transom that was not about the President’s West Point speech on Afghanistan and Pakistan but rather about new presidential appointments.

Misunderstanding July 2011?

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Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) is speaking at Brookings today on the Obama administration’s course in Afghanistan. His speech, while largely supportive of the frame that Obama has brought to the challenge — a narrowed mission, discussion of an offramp, and more — also includes lingering doubts.

Barack Obama: Last Transatlantic President?

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This is a guest note by Nicholas Kitchen, Editor of IDEAS Reports and a Fellow of the LSE IDEAS — or for acronym-challenged, Diplomacy & Strategy at the London School of Economics Barack Obama: Last Transatlantic President? When Barack Obama took office in January, expectations of what the new President could bring to international affairs…

Are Sanctions on Iran More about Satisfying American Emotional Needs Or Designed to Really Fix the Iran Problem?

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The Carnegie Endowment’s Karim Sadjadpour is one of the best commentators explicating the Iranian Government’s behavior in the business. He recently did and interview with Middle East Progress on the state of play in Iran that I found insightful.

Hillary Clinton Does 185,731 Miles and Asks If I was a Party-Crasher. . .

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Hillary Clinton would have probably flown more miles this year had she not badly injured her wrist in a nasty State Department parking lot fall, but she still logged a very impressive 185,731 in flight miles so far this year.

Joe Biden Swears in David Huebner for New Zealand Ambassadorship — Kiwi Ambassador to US Says on Prospect of Uptick in Gay Tourism “Bring It On!”

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I just had the privilege of attending the swearing-in ceremony for my old friend David Huebner as the next US Ambassador to New Zealand. Demonstrating the importance of this appointment to the White House, Vice President Joe Biden gave the oath to the openly gay lawyer turned diplomat.

Thoughts on the AfPak Speech

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Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy Here are some of my early thoughts on President Obama’s Afghanistan-Pakistan “Way Forward” speech from a clip I did with Keith Olbermann on Countdown tonight. I said 40,000 troops in my opening comments when I meant 30,000 troops.

Guest Note by Lawrence Wilkerson: Damned if You Do and Damned If You Don’t

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This is a guest note by former Department of State Chief of Staff Lawrence B. Wilkerson. Wilkerson is the Pamela C. Harriman Visiting Professor of Government and Public Policy at the College of William Mary Damned if You Do and Damned If You Don’t President Obama is in a corner.