Several years ago, I met with the Deputy Director of the Policy Planning staff of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and I asked him what he was working on — and what China’s grand strategy was. His reply: “We are trying to figure out how to keep you Americans distracted in small Middle Eastern countries.

(Photo: United Nations Development Programme’s Photostream) This is a guest note by Johanna Mendelson Forman. She is a senior associate of the Americas Program and the William E. Simon Chair in Political Economy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL-21) has announced that he will not seek reelection in November. There is speculation that his brother, Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL-25), will shift districts and run for Lincoln’s vacated seat because it is more Republican dominant.

Bill Clinton has been hospitalized, according to a blitz of news alerts moments ago. We hope that he will be OK and recover quickly. The world and America are not done with him, not to mention all of his current responsibilities in helping to generate massive aid for Haiti.

Yemen’s government has just released a statement that it has reached a truce with the Houthi tribes in Northwest Yemen.

(photo credit: Brian McKeon) Senate staff member Brian McKeon snapped this great shot of sledding at the US Capitol during the great blizzard of 2010. And for those trying to be irritated at a government that is shut down, these sledding pics were taken Saturday. . .just to clarify.

I really like Tommy Sowers — and while I normally don’t post appeals to support this Congressman or that, I couldn’t help it in this case. Sowers, a former Special Forces officer who did deployments in Kosovo and Iraq, was also a new media and politics instructor at West Point.

I recently had the opportunity to participate in a small dinner with CENTCOM Commander General David Petraeus and his wife Holly. These sorts of discussions are nearly always off the record — but the fact that they happened is not off limits.

Kevin Sullivan’s Real Clear World is aggregating some thoughtful commentary on Iran on 22 Bahman, the anniversary of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Washington Note also started the day with a great essay by Shane M.

of the great blizzard-caused government shutdown in Washington, we are all beginning to go a bit crazy. We have apparently surpassed all records now — beating the snow blitz of 1888-89 for the amount of snow the DC region has experienced during a season. And we have more on the way on Monday.