Will the Pittsburgh G-20 Mean More than Traffic & Protesters?

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I am up this morning in Pittsburgh speaking in a forum sponsored by the RAND Corporation and the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh about the political context of next week’s G-20 meeting. We’ve just gone through one morning panel, and I will be in the next segment that starts at 9:45 am.

What Colin Powell Needs to Convey to Barack Obama

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(photo courtesy of Atlantic Council of the United States) Barack Obama has invited Colin Powell in to see him today — and knowing General Powell’s respect for the Office of the President, whether occupied by Barack Obama or George W.

STREAMING LIVE: America’s Debt Overhang

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Big conference on America’s debt mess today. I’m moderating a big chunk. Here is the rundown of a very interesting symposium thinking through the challenges of private debt overhang and the public debt debate. The bursting of the housing and credit bubbles has left the United States with a huge debt overhang.

Obama Taking Wrong Course with Conditionality Approach to Cuba

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President Obama has missed yet another chance to pressure Congress to end the self-inflicted damage of a “unilateral embargo” against Cuba and to take American foreign policy writ large in a new, more constructive direction.

Afghanistan Exposing Huge Limits on American Power

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Does anyone even remember that this was supposed to be about Osama bin Laden? How did we get into a full on war with the Taliban and thus in the middle of an Afghan Civil War in which neither side likes us much? The Obama administration has made a major mistake in allowing a sleight-of-hand…

Obama Administration Codifies US-Cuba Moves: How about Third Cousins?

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The Obama administration today lightened travel and remittance restrictions for US-based relatives of Cuban citizens residing in Cuba. The limit on relatives is noted at “second cousins.” Hooray! — not. OK — it’s some progress. But this is progress that the Cuban-American right wing wanted.

Hot Topic: Israel’s Nukes and Iran’s Nukes

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The way that the nuclear weapons world works today is that if you are “trusted” by the US and Europe — you can overtly or covertly hold on to your nukes, particularly if a nation is not part of the non-proliferation regime. But if you aren’t trusted, you can’t have them under any circumstances.