I was supposed to be flying off to Portland, Oregon tomorrow to speak to the Portland Business Alliance on Friday on the subject of America’s “Green Trade Deficit.

At the Clinton Global Initiative, I interviewed Palestinian-American businessman Hani Masri, founder of Tomorrow’s Youth Organization, an institution based in Nablus in the West Bank of Palestine that is committed to improving the lives and opportunities of young Palestinian women.

This is a guest note by Flynt Leverett. Flynt directs the New America Foundation/Iran Project and is the former Senior Director of Middle East Affairs at the National Security Council. He is also publisher of the forthcoming blog, The Race For Iran.

This is a guest “note” by Daniel Levy. Daniel Levy directs the New America Foundation/Middle East Task Force and formerly served as a senior Israeli negotiator. Levy is a principle drafter of the Geneva Israel-Palestine accords. Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, reopened today after a long break for the summer and the Jewish holidays.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy Here is a short clip of my appearance on Countdown tonight discussing Liz Cheney’s reaction to Barack Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

This evening at 8:15 pm Eastern time, I’ll be in Countdown with Keith Olbermann discussing Barack Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize and how crazy it has made some of America’s leading pugnacious nationalists, particularly Liz Cheney. Some background reading: My CNN piece on the subject. A first and second response from the reasonable opposition at Powerline….

While putting back together the United States’ foreign policy portfolio, one of the key challenges for the Obama administration will be to engage rising powers like China, India and Brazil without offending traditional allies, including Japan. The future of the U.S.

I have to confess. I read Powerline and have particularly enjoyed the writing of Paul Mirengoff who is a sharp intellectual usually committed to just about everything I’m not. Powerline has just bestowed two awards on my CNN comment on Obama’s Nobel Prize.

This pic was sent to me by a soldier who has just returned from Iraq and Afghanistan. I’m surprised he wanted to see more sand, but given this pic from his hotel room, I understand. I occasionally run interesting pics sent in by readers. Andrew Sullivan gave me permission to copy his practice. More soon….

A few years ago, I was invited to an extraordinary set of meetings in Beijing organized by Marika Vicziany of Monash University. The meeting featured participants like then Labor Party leader (and next Australia Ambassador to the U.S.