For the Next President

AMERICA'S HARD SELL. Steven Weber and Bruce W. Jentleson, Foreign Policy, Nov/Dec 2008, var pages. "For more than half a century, the United States ensured that five Big Ideas shaped international politics. Now, as the Big Ideas of the 21st century are formed, who will corner the new global market of ideology is anyone’s guess. One thing is certain, though: If the United States wants to remain a player, it’s going to have to refine its sales pitch." READ MORE

RESTORING AMERICA'S IMAGE: WHAT THE NEXT PRESIDENT CAN DO. Mitchell B. Reiss, Survival, October 2008 , pages 99-114. "America's image in the world today is not all that it should be. Blame for this is most often assigned to President George W. Bush, but greater responsibility rests with deeper changes in the international system: the resentment (and fear) caused by the preponderance of American power, the loosening of alliances after the demise of the Soviet Union, a fundamental rethinking of the laws of war and peace in an age of terror, the co-branding of the United States with the forces of modernity and globalisation, and a demographic change that has sidelined the post-Second World War generation with their historical memories of American bravery and generosity. The next US president can start to restore America's image by setting a new tone, adroitly managing the US presence in the Persian Gulf and adopting new policies on climate change, immigration, world trade, and Guantanamo Bay. Even so, resurrecting America's image will be a slow, long-term process."  READ MORE

THE DREAM TEAM. Anonymous, Foreign Policy, Nov/Dec 2008, var pages. "The next American president will confront a host of potential cataclysms: from a virulent financial crisis to a vicious terrorist enemy, nuclear proliferation to climate change. He’ll need his country’s brightest minds—not his party’s usual suspects. So, we asked 10 of the world’s top thinkers to name the unlikely team that can best guide No. 44 through the turbulent years ahead." READ MORE

Some of the Challenges Ahead

AFGHAN AWAKENING. Bing West, The National Interest, Nov/Dec 2008, var.pages. "Can Kabul be saved? More troops are on the way, but a one-size-fits-all surge is not enough. We also need to change our tactics. If Washington wants to prevail in Afghanistan, we need to learn from successes in Iraq, and focus on fighting a war—not building a nation." READ MORE

FROM GREAT GAME TO GRAND BARGAIN. Barnett R. Rubin and Ahmed Rashid, Foreign Affairs, Nov/Dec 2008, var. pages. "The crisis in Afghanistan and Pakistan is beyond the point where more troops will help. U.S. strategy must be to seek compromise with insurgents while addressing regional rivalries and insecurities."
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GROWTH WITHOUT PROSPERITY IN AFRICA. Peter Lewis, Journal of Democracy, October 2008, pp. 95-104. "Fifteen years after the wave of democratization crested in Africa, the region still grapples with an economic malaise that is disappointing popular expectations and undermining the legitimacy of electoral regimes." READ MORE

THE NEED FOR MISSILE DEFENSE. Peter Brookes, Policy Review, Oct/Nov 2008, var. pages. "Despite Iran’s runaway nuclear program, North Korea’s atomic assistance to Syria, and robust ballistic missile production and testing by Russia and China, a missile defense system for protecting the homeland and U.S. interests overseas remains a controversial idea in some corners. It should not be. The security challenge arising from the proliferation of ballistic missiles and the dangerous payloads they might carry, including weapons of mass destruction (wmd) like nuclear arms, is a threat that — in fact — may be growing." READ MORE

WHO WILL SPEAK FOR ISLAM? John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed, World Policy Journal, Fall 2008, pp. 47–57. "At the heart of the moving puzzle the world faces over the next quarter century are the diverse Muslim populations, collectively known as the 'Global Muslim Community.' Spanning the globe and speaking nearly every language, they are united by one faith—Islam. Collectively, they make up one-fifth of the world’s population and sit on 75 percent of its oil wealth. Understanding the emerging trends of these societies is perhaps the world’s leading strategic imperative." READ MORE

On Democracies

HOW EUROPE COULD SAVE THE WORLD. David P. Calleo, World Policy Journal,  Fall 2008, pp. 3–12. "Both Europe and America present the world with a model for democratic government on a continental scale. Europe’s model is comparatively recent—with only a half century of history. America’s model has been evolving for over two centuries. Both are likely to play a major role in determining how the world organizes itself over the next 25 years. But the two models and their likely global roles differ greatly, and their implications for how the rest of the world develops are also likely to be very different." READ MORE

MINOR LEAGUE, MAJOR PROBLEMS. Charles A. Kupchan, Foreign Affairs, Nov/Dec 2008, var. pages. "A league of democracies would not secure cooperation among democracies and would expose the limits of the West's power and legitimacy. The next president should not embrace this disastrous idea."  READ MORE

Depending on Oil

OIL: A BUMPY RIDE AHEAD. Ian Bremmer, World Policy Journal, Fall 2008, pp. 89–94. "Over the next 25 years, the geopolitics of oil will likely prove a bad news/good news story. The nearer-term bad news is that, while politically inspired upward pressure on oil prices will continue for the next several years, price fluctuations will be cyclical, undermining the sense of crisis needed for a focused global push toward the large-scale development of alternative sources of energy." READ MORE

OIL DEPENDENCE AS VIRTUE. Daniel W. Drezner, The National Interest, Nov/Dec 2008, var. pages. "Imagine a world free of oil—one with diversified Arab economies divorced from the dollar, African nations devoid of the resource curse, and China and India ascendant. As it turns out, a world without oil dependence is a world that doesn’t need an American superpower." READ MORE

Diversity in Action

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: IS IT TIME TO END RACIAL PREFERENCES? Peter Katel, The CQ Researcher, Oct. 17, 2008, pp. 841-864. "Since the 1970s, affirmative action has played a key role in helping minorities get ahead. But many Americans say school and job candidates should be chosen on merit, not race. This November, ballot initiatives in Colorado and Nebraska would eliminate race as a selection criterion for job or school candidates but would allow preferences for those trying to struggle out of poverty, regardless of their race. It's an approach endorsed by foes of racial affirmative action. Big states, meanwhile, including California and Texas, are still struggling to reconcile restrictions on the use of race in college admissions designed to promote diversity. Progress toward that goal has been slowed by a major obstacle: Affirmative action hasn't lessened the stunning racial disparities in academic performance plaguing elementary and high school education." READ MORE

THE LIGHTNING ROD. Clay Risen, The Atlantic, November 2008, var. pages. "Michelle Rhee charged in as chancellor of the Washington, D.C., public schools wielding BlackBerrys and data—and a giant axe. She has made a city with possibly the country’s worst public schools ground zero for education reform, and attracted a cadre of young zealots some critics call 'Rhee-bots.' Now the changes that she insists schoolchildren need are colliding head-on with the political wants of adults." READ MORE