The Other View: Wild Arabian

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Friends who have been battling a series of really bad fires that forced evacuations from homes in central Colorado — near Westcliffe, Colorado — have been sending me pictures of what has been going on as I have some land in the Rockies near them.

Pakistan’s ISI from the Inside

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The best places to meet the world’s most interesting national security and foreign policy personalities are no longer Washington or London or Paris.  Rather, highest on the list are Beijing, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha. Many years ago, I met Lt. General Asad Durrani in Beijing thanks to a conference organized by Australia’s Monash University.

Some Human Rights More Equal Than Others?

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The U.S. Helsinki Commission, co-chaired by Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), has been quiet about the bashings of gay people and their family and friends at gay pride marches in eastern Europe and the Baltics, according to the Council for Global Equality.

The Other View: Fuji at Sunset

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I love Andrew Sullivan’s Daily Dish feature, The View From Your Window, which I occasionally copied (with his permission) at The Washington Note.  (click image above for larger version) But now at Andrew’s former home among The Atlantic‘s “Voices”, I am going to post occasional photos that intrigue me as “The Other View”.

Biden’s Burden: Last One Standing in Afghanistan Policy Wars

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Now that General David Petraeus has mothballed his uniforms, turned the ISAF command in Afghanistan over to General John Allen, and taken Leon Panetta’s chair at the CIA, the next to last big name who fought for primacy in DC’s Afghanistan policy wars is, for the most part, off to other pastures.

America Next: End of the World As We Knew It

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In the case of the United States — which has been indisputably the reigning global superpower for six decades — there are signs — ranging from the tumult in the Middle East to a humiliating war in Afghanistan to a downgrade of US sovereign debt — that America is at a key inflection point in…

Ideas to Kickstart New Firms & New Jobs

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Later today in Washington, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation will release a proposal and report titled “The Startup Act’.  it’s not legislation but rather a package of proposals designed to facilitate growth of young firms, which interestingly, are responsible for “all” new net jobs created in our economy in recent years.

Forward and Backward on Latin America

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Over the last couple of years, I have been increasingly impressed by the work and thinking of Georgetown scholar and now outgoing Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemispheric Affairs Arturo Valenzuela. I didn’t start there.

Israel Kicks Down its own Democratic Hill?

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Part of the annual foreign policy ritual in Washington is that the US President, Vice President, and leading Members of Congress make major campaign and fundraising speeches, sign on to resolutions, and pledge unconditional support to Israel, often referring to it as “the only genuine democracy in the Middle East.