The European Left And Ours. Peter Berkowitz. Policy Review, December 2008/January 2009, n.p. Obama’s election represents an historic moment for the United States. At the same time, Obama’s election reaffirms the reality, frequently denied or derided by progressive anti-American sentiment at home and abroad, that the United States is a land of golden opportunity. READ MORE

The Middle East Agenda

THE BABY, THE BATHWATER, AND THE FREEDOM AGENDA IN THE MIDDLE EAST. Michele Dunne, The Washington Quarterly, January 2009, pp. 129-141. "The new administration should not limit its judgment of regional democracy promotion to Iraq and Palestine, but should also incorporate lessons from Egypt, Bahrain, and Morocco where democracy has made headway without sacrificing U.S. strategic interests." READ MORE

A NEW AMERICAN MIDDLE EAST STRATEGY? Robert E. Hunter, Survival, December 2008 , pp. 49-66. "With wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the greater Middle East must top President Barack Obama's foreign policy agenda. He will also face critical challenges with Iran and Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. To deal successfully with any one he must deal effectively with all. Further, he must decide soon how much permanent US military presence to retain in and near the Persian Gulf and assess how much the American people will support open-ended US engagements in the Greater Middle East. Obama will clearly press for more European support, especially in Afghanistan. He should also foster a new regional security structure, in time involving all Middle East state. NATO and the EU can play supporting roles in training and counseling; and outsiders such as the United States should be prepared to intervene military if need be to keep the peace." READ MORE

OBAMA'S MIDDLE EAST AGENDA. Richard N. Haass and Martin Indyk, Foreign Affairs, Jan/Feb 2009, var. pages. "To be successful in the Middle East, the Obama administration will need to move beyond Iraq, find ways to deal constructively with Iran, and forge a final-status Israeli-Palestinian agreement. READ MORE

PERSPECTIVE: A MIDEAST NUCLEAR CHAIN REACTION? Joseph Cirincione, Current History, December 2008, pp.439-442. "A nuclear arms race has broken out in the Middle East, with potentially catastrophic implications. The incoming US president will need to persuade Iran not to build a bomb." READ MORE

Democracy & Foreign Assistance

FIXING FRAGILE STATES: SOLUTIONS THAT MAKE LOCAL SENSE. Seth Kaplan, Policy Review, Dec 2008/Jan 2009, var. pages. "Fragile states have marched from the fringe to the very center of U.S. security concerns. We have, at least for the moment, stopped ignoring fragile states. Indeed, everyone seems to have an opinion these days on how to fix fragile states. Presidents and generals, academics and aid specialists, even financiers and business executives are volunteering prescriptions for countries where the only growth industries are violence, corruption, and decay. Yet, for all the talk, there is little understanding of what ails places such as Pakistan and Afghanistan, why past efforts at helping them have failed, and what ought to be done to turn them around. Moreover, despite the increasing awareness of the importance of fragile states to the West’s own security and well-being, much of the tens of billions of dollars in aid spent attempting to reform these desperate places is funding policies that actually undermine them." READ MORE

GLOBAL DEMOCRACY PROMOTION: SEVEN LESSONS FOR THE NEW ADMINISTRATION. David Price, The Washington Quarterly, January 2009, pp.159-170. "The chair of the House Democracy Assistance Commission, mindful of the mistakes of the past, offers seven practical lessons for the new administration to rethink and refine the theory and practice of democracy promotion." READ MORE

REVAMPING U.S. FOREIGN ASSISTANCE. Leo Hindery Jr., Jeffrey D. Sachs and Gayle E. Smith, SAIS Review for International Affairs, Summer-Fall 2008, pp. 49-54. "Although many of its overall conclusions are sound, the December 2007 final Report of the HELP Commission comes up short on a number of issues. The official Report fails to adequately make the case for foreign assistance as a core pillar of U.S. national security and values. The authors, members of the Commission and authors of its Minority Report entitled Revamping U.S. Foreign Assistance, recommend that foreign assistance be repositioned within the U.S. Government structure and elevated to its own cabinet-level department. Moreover, Washington needs to be honest with itself, its international partners, and the American public about the insufficient funding devoted to foreign aid." READ MORE

WHY THE NEXT PRESIDENT SHOULD FOCUS ON A PROSPERITY AGENDA. Nancy Soderberg and Brian Katulis, American Foreign Policy Interests, September 2008, pp. 275-280. "The authors analyze what the agenda is and explain why addressing it at home and abroad will be the most important challenge that faces the next president of the United States. The new president can meet the challenge if he becomes the great persuader, not solely the great enforcer. The payoff, the analysis concludes, will be mutually beneficial. Not only did the U.S. decision to supply vast amounts of humanitarian aid to the victims of the tsunami disaster that occurred during the Bush administration's first term save the lives of people living in the path of destruction and improve the world's opinion of the United States, but it cost far less than the United States spends in Iraq in one day. Moreover, addressing the Prosperity Agenda will provide a base of supportive states on which the president can rely to join the United States in fighting the most serious threats that the world faces—terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction." READ MORE

U.S./UN Relations

MAKE THE UNITED NATIONS A CORNERSTONE OF U.S. FOREIGN POLICY! Ambassador M. James Wilkinson, SAIS Review of International Affairs, Summer/Fall 2008, pp. 17-29. "Under conservative influence, Washington for years has downgraded the role of the United Nations and undermined multilateral cooperation on pressing global issues. Nonetheless, the UN remains a powerful symbol of hope and with U.S. reengagement would be a much more effective vehicle for addressing global problems than it is now. The next President should again make the UN a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy, recommitting the United States to UN Charter values and collaboration within the UN framework. To restore U.S. credibility and enable effective diplomacy, Congressional backing will be essential, including ratification of long-stalled treaties endorsed by traditional U.S. allies." READ MORE

U.S.-UN RELATIONS: BRIEFING MEMORANDUM TO THE 44TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. Benjamin Rivlin, American Foreign Policy Interests, September 2008, pp. 321-327. "This analysis is based on the conclusion that the state of U.S.-UN relations is a barometer of U.S. leadership in the world. Because the new president will assume office presiding over a country whose standing in the world has been seriously damaged, he will have to reestablish the credibility of the United States as a world leader. In that effort the UN, with its membership of 192 sovereign states, constitutes an important venue in which the United States is challenged to exercise its leadership role in world affairs. This analysis makes clear, the next president can succeed in strengthening the U.S.-UN relationship by remembering that despite its multilateral ethos, the UN is a vehicle in which member states seek to attain their national interests." READ MORE

Environmental Actions

RECLAIMING U.S. LEADERSHIP IN GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE. Maria Ivanova and Daniel C. Esty, SAIS Review of International Affairs, Summer/Fall 2008, pp. 57-75. "The United States entered the 21st century actively pursuing a 'go-it-alone' approach to international relations. This is especially the case in global environmental affairs, where the United States is now widely perceived as a laggard and even an obstacle to collective action. Yet, the United States was the prime proponent and creator of international environmental organizations in the 1970s. In this article, we analyze the U.S. role in global environmental governance from a historical perspective and present a platform for U.S. re-engagement. We contend that the new U.S. Administration should re-examine its strategy towards global environmental concerns and reinstate a commitment to multilateralism as well as to playing a leadership role." READ MORE

REDUCING YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT: CAN INDIVIDUAL ACTIONS REDUCE GLOBAL WARMING? Thomas J. Billitteri, The CQ Researcher, Dec 5, 2008, pp. 985-1008. "As climate change rises closer to the top of the government's policy agenda — and an economic crisis intensifies — more and more consumers are trying to change their behavior so they pollute and consume less. To reduce their individual "carbon footprints," many are cutting gasoline and home-heating consumption, choosing locally grown food and recycling. While such actions are important in curbing global warming, the extent to which consumers can reduce or reverse broad-scale environmental damage is open to debate. Moreover, well-intentioned personal actions can have unintended consequences that cancel out positive effects. To have the greatest impact, corporate and government policy must lead the way, many environmental advocates say." READ MORE

STATES LEAD BY EXAMPLE ON ENERGY POLICY. Darren M Springer, Natural Resources & Environment, Summer 2008, pp. 29-33. "In a number of respects, states are better positioned to experiment with tailored policy solutions than the federal government, which is consistent with the historic role states play as policy laboratories in our federalist system. With growing concerns about energy security and climate change, it is fitting that states are leading the charge in pursuing a variety of policy initiatives. While not a replacement for federal actions, the lessons learned from these state efforts will inform federal policy." READ MORE

US Values

IN A LEAGUE OF ITS OWN: THE NEGRO BASEBALL LEAGUES BASEBALL MUSEUM.  Jonathan Earle.  Museum, May/June 2008, pp. 1-4.  The Negro League Baseball Museum, located in Kansas City, Missouri, tells the story of segregated baseball from the post-Civil War era to the 1960’s, focusing on the Negro National League, organized in Kansas City by Chicago American Giants owner Andrew “Rube” Foster in 1920. The Negro League games became very popular, often drawing more then 50,000 spectators to Major League ballparks across the country. Baseball officially became integrated after World War II, when Jackie Robinson joined the Major League’s Brooklyn Dodgers; the Negro League folded after the 1948 season, as more black players followed Jackie Robinson’s footsteps into Major League baseball. While it was founded during the era of segregation, the Negro Leagues enabled black-owned businesses involved with the league to flourish, and helped solidify the black community. The museum attracted 55,000 visitors last year, supports itself through licensing of Negro Leagues names and logos, and is currently undergoing an expansion. The new location will still be in the historically black part of Kansas City, whose history is intertwined with that of the Negro Leagues. READ MORE

WELCOME MAT.  Rob Gurwitt.  Governing, December 2008, n.p. American towns everywhere are struggling to adapt to an influx of immigrants. The immigration problem was “dumped [by Congress] into the laps of hometowns across America,” says New Haven, Connecticut, Mayor John DeStefano. While nearby Danbury, is cracking down on immigrants, New Haven has issued nearly 7,000 ID cards to both legal and illegal immigrants since July 2007 without discriminating between the two groups. Gurwitt outlines the arguments by supporters and opponents of this approach. Opponents consider the idea of giving ID cards to illegal immigrants “close to treasonous,” while supporters say the card and atmosphere of tolerance have made immigrants feel part of the community, boosted their use of public libraries and other services, and made them more comfortable talking with housing inspectors and police. The police chief of Fair Haven, a New Haven suburb where most immigrants live, claims a 17 percent drop in the crime rate, and librarians says libraries and ESL classes have more customers. However, the card has not helped many immigrants make use of the city’s banks, a key goal of the program -- only four New Haven banks will accept the cards. While there is not much evidence yet how beneficial the new ID cards are, it is “certainly clear is that places such as New Haven will be crafting their approaches to illegal immigration for a long time to come,” says Gurwitt. READ MORE