Comments on the influence of neoconservatives on GOP foreign policy establishment.

This is a guest note by Anya Landau French, Director of the US-Cuba Policy Initiative at the New America Foundation. As a Cuba policy analyst, I’ve given an surprising amount of thought to our policy toward the politically isolated, resource-rich nation of Burma (Myanmar) half a world away.

The Clemons Grades for the National Security Debate Rick Santorum  D+ [Changed to C-]Michele Bachmann  B+Newt Gingrich  B-Rick Perry  D-Herman Cain  FMitt Romney  B-Ron Paul   BJon Huntsman  B+ [After reviewing my grades, I decided that Rick Santorum‘s honesty about the importance of negotiating and willing to compromise with the “other side” deserves a bit more…

(photo credit:  Steve Clemons) Yesterday at the 2011 Halifax International Security Forum — basically the Davos for defense and foreign policy junkies at which 18 defense ministers from around the world are in attendance (about a 1:10 ratio with other conference guests and participants) — US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta gave a mostly compelling…

(photo credit:  Halifax the Forum) I’m up at the 2011 Halifax International Security Forum where 18 defense ministers and a who’s who of the international defense and security community have assembled.  The forum is modestly sized with about 200 attendees — but the diversity of perspective here is impressive.

Steve Clemons talks to Chris Matthews about Mitt Romney’s unserious Iran strategy. Tonight, I participated in a discussion with USIP-Wilson Center Distinguished Scholar and Middle East affairs expert Robin Wright and MSNBC Hardball‘s Chris Matthews.

Update:  The 2nd day of the Green Intelligence Forum starts this morning and can be watched live on the screen below.

After former World Bank President James Wolfensohn had taken over in 2005 as chairman of the Quartet a representative body comprised of the United States, the European Union, Russia, and the United Nations and focused on moving the cause of Israel-Palestine peace forward, he once said that the only way to know whether progress was…

Susan Bayh, wife of former Senator Evan Bayh, and I took turns softening up this adorable camel who pretty much hung out with us until the food bell rang. No kicking of spitting. Just an extremely sweet camel.

(photo credit: James Fallows) I had to laugh when I saw this post by my colleague James Fallows noting that the US edition of China Daily now had a news-box right outside our offices at The Atlantic.