Matt Schwieger
New Af-Pak Strategy
Limiting the scope of U.S. objectives is an important step in the right direction. Still, I see two principle shortfalls with the Obama administration’s “new” strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan:
- Rosy assumptions on Iraq drawdown: The plan miscalculates by underestimating the risks associated with the drawdown of U.S. involvement in Iraq. Should a violent faction lie in waiting for the U.S. to pullout (now they have the timetable and can do so) and the situation in Iraq deteriorates, how does this affect the planned troop increase in Afghanistan? The probability of such a contingency is not as unlikely as some would have you believe.
- Inadequate troop levels given historical ratios: If you accept the view…
Russia Seeks Counterbalance to West from SCO
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev appealed to China and other Central Asian nations to show its support for Russia’s actions in Georgia at a Shangai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tajikistan today. International press offered conflicting analysis, which of course, is no surprise. What is striking, however, is that the break was not along traditional media fault lines. The following is a snapshot of a few of the headlines…
(CNN) — Russia’s hopes of winning international support for its actions in Georgia were dashed Thursday, when China and other Asian nations expressed concern about mounting tensions in the region.
Pragmatism versus the Neo-cons: A False Dichotomy for McCain
Elizabeth Bumiller at the NY Times loves to report on the “battle for the soul” of John McCain between foreign policy “pragmatists” and “neoconservatives,” taking any and every opportunity to characterize McCain as the “neo-con” candidate. Today, she summed up the recent ‘shift’ in the Bush administration’s approach to foreign policy as such:
Essentially, as the administration has taken a more pragmatic approach to foreign policy, the decision of Mr. McCain to adhere to his more hawkish positions illustrates the continuing influence of neoconservatives on his thinking even as they are losing clout within the administration.
Ms. Bumiller’s characterization of Sen. McCain’s approach to foreign policy misses the mark. Though the Bush administration may well be approaching intellectual collapse in…
Six-Party Sham
The Six-Party talks are set to continue today in Beijing with hopes that North Korea’s recent declaration of its nuclear activities will lead to a breakthrough that puts the country on a path towards complete and verifiable denuclearization. Some have suggested this recent “progress” made on the diplomatic front demonstrates the power of negotiation and is the template by which the U.S. should approach other rogue nuclear aspirants, such as Iran.
John Bolton described the diplomatic ruse of the Six Party Talks best in the Wall Street Journal last week…
There is no advantage to the U.S. in proceeding by phases. To the contrary, North Korea alone benefits by phasing, by stretching out a process that enables Kim Jong Il to stay in power and to maximize the…
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