Quote of the day

"We should invade their countries, kill their leaders, and convert them to Christianity." —Ann Coulter, 13 September 2001

Statescraft as Psychiatry

Afghanistan's president has issues.

Esther Duflo at TED

The MIT Economist who won the John Bates Clark Medal:

The award is considered one of the most prestigious honors within economics [..] Many consider the Clark Medal to be a preview of future Nobel prizes, as 12 of the 31 prior Clark Medalists have gone on to receive the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science (including Paul Krugman and Milton Friedman).

Here is a video of her talk on using randomized trials to evaluate which development policies work.

Realism 101

Stephen Walt explains China's motives on the issue of a nuclear Iran.

Grading the Obama administration's foreign policy process

Read Dan Drezner.

On the other hand, world affairs are looking pretty

Quote of the day

"If this is [Sarah Palin's] game of Scrabble, you can only imagine what her foreign policy would be like."

—Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution

Foreign greetings

Protesting diplomacy

Unfortunately Obama's bow was too deep, the Japanese dislike handshakes (though exceptions are made for foreigners), and any touching during a bow is a serious faux pas in Japanese culture.

But almost nobody on the Right is aware of this; they've just been hysterically criticizing the very act of bowing (nevermind that Nixon and Bush Sr. did so as well).

Quote of the day

"It's time to admit that no amount of American lives can resolve the political disagreement that lies at the heart of someone else's civil war."

—Barack Obama, 2006

(via Obsidian Wings)

BSG as metaphor

Lev reflects.

Israel's undiplomatic ambassador

Andrew takes down Michael Owen and gets letters.

China

Is acting like a great power. (contra The Economist)

Judging the Obama team's talks with Iran

Shadow Government provides a framework.

The U.S.-Iranian triangle

Roger Cohen's latest op-ed on Iran's nuclear program makes my head hurt.

Reading Hu Jintao's mind

Stephen Walt goes there.

Independents disapprove of Obama

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A majority of independent voters disapprove of how Barack Obama's handling his job as president, according to a new national poll.

Fifty-three percent of independents questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Tuesday say they disapprove of how Obama's handling his duties in the White House, with 43 percent in approval. That result marks the first time in a CNN poll that a majority of independents give the president's performance a thumbs-down.

[..] Broken down by issues, the president still gets majority support on foreign affairs and terrorism, but a majority now disapprove of how he has handled health care, taxes, the economy and the budget deficit.

[..] "Among all Americans, his rating on health care has dropped 13 points since March. Compare that to his 16 point drop on the deficit and 17 point dip on taxes and it looks like there is growing discontent with Obama's overall domestic agenda — not just his health care policy."

Agreed. Domestic fiscal issues have become dominant now, hence our disapproval with Democrats' left-wing course.

But foreign affairs, terrorism, and (I would add) civil rights—wherein lay Bush's biggest disasters—is now on the right track (with the probable exception of Afghanistan). So there's the good news, it's just not getting a lot of attention. Partly because things have been quiet, but also because non-intervention in general isn't sexy enough to draw much media.

Why the Right's foreign policy sucks

I'll let DIA explain:

JOHN BOLTON is probably the only person curmudgeonly enough to frown on the release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee. Mr Bolton is no fool in general, but in calling this a "classic case of rewarding bad behaviour", his analysis is just plain wrong. It depends on a mistaken, and dangerous, assumption made again and again during the Bush administration, and these days still by Republicans out of power. This is the idea that negotiations themselves are some kind of reward for bad regimes, and until they lay down their arms and promise America everything it wants, they should be utterly shunned.

According to my simple quick think through history, George W. Bush may be the only postwar president never to have met with an adversarial leader (unless perhaps you count Vladimir Putin, which I wouldn't). This is no Democratic weakness, appeasing baddies. Presidents Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan and the first George Bush all made major diplomatic breakthroughs by dealing with unfriendly states, because they weren't afraid that a photo-op was a concession. Mr Bolton remains terrified that it is, even though neither Bill Clinton nor Barack Obama have conceded anything (publicly) more than a few photographs for the release of two young women.

If America had a shadow foreign secretary as Britain has, Mr Bolton would probably be it. He is ceaselessly sought out for the conservative view on the foreign policy of the day. It's a shame. The right needs to get past bluster as policy—or at least stop fetishising Ronald Reagan.

Bolton is hardly the only one, though. Krauthammer: "It was a hostage ransom. No question at all," He says he doesn't know if money or goods were promised or exchanged.

Keeping quiet

John Schwenkler is disappointed with Obama's latest remarks on Iran:

..having just lived through a period where the “international community’s” (proper) condemnation of our own nation’s unjust actions led to boycotts of French wine and frantic calls to “double Gitmo”, can it really be believed that being incessantly hectored about how best to run elections and deal with political protests is going to lead the Iranian government to be more respectful of liberal values? Of course not. No matter the thrill it might be for Americans to see the Leader of the Free World get up on his high horse, the people with the guns are going to view these words as a provocation, if not an attempt at exactly the kind of coercion Obama professedly deplores. So why add fuel to the fire? Why not just keep quiet, when it’s as clear as day that this kind of moralizing is only going to strengthen the oppressors’ resolve?

The pressure from Republican pundits for Obama to be more vocal and "less timid" in his response to the situation in Iran has been horrible.

Exhibit A: Andy McCarthy's post at the Corner is a disgusting, ridiculously unhinged piece of work.

Israeli settlements are illegal

Let there be no confusion.