I think it’s terrific that Barack Obama went abroad to connect with leaders and some people in Europe and the Middle East. I think he should have gone to Brussels — but I can certainly embrace that he emphasized ‘engagement’ with this trip.
I just accomplished a goal that I set over a year ago — getting a copy of John Bolton’s book without paying for it.
A new poll released last week from J Street, the self-proclaimed “pro-Israel, pro-peace” political action committee, contained very promising data regarding American Jews and their views of the Middle East peace process.
Perhaps Senator Joe Lieberman wasn’t totally clued in to the crowd he was hanging with, but on July 20th, he agreed to carry to President Bush a “pardon request” for a convicted terrorist that the FBI prosecuted and sent to prison for terror activities aimed against Cuba.
Ben Katcher published an interesting post just below that links my meeting tomorrow with Karen Hughes successor as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy James Glassman and our “Terrorism Salon” taking place on the blog now.
(Stephanie Kaplan is a Visiting Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center). We seem to have reached the consensus that poverty–along with other grievances such as political oppression and cultural alienation–are not reliable indicators of future terrorist activity.
One of the central challenges for the next president will be to address the precipitous decline in the United States’ popularity throughout the world that has characterized the Bush years. This is in part a result of stepped-up US counterterrorism efforts, which have clashed with once sacrosanct internationalist tenets like sovereignty.
(Paul Cruickshank is a Fellow at the NYU Center on Law and Security). I agree with the other panellists that no link can be demonstrated between poverty and terrorism. This is not to say that socio-economic conditions have no relevance whatsoever.
(Peter Bergen is a Schwartz Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation).
(Eric Rosand is a senior fellow at the Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation in New York and a nonresident fellow at New York University’s Center on International Cooperation).
