What's Next?

So what's up for next month? As you can imagine I have a couple of suggestions. My problem is that most of the stuff that I like to read is similar to the stuff that we've read for the past two months. Well here is a bunch of books that I'd like to get around to reading:

• "The Tragedy of American Diplomacy" by William A. Williams - a revisionist classic
• "The Sorrows of Empire" by Chalmers Johnson - a neo-isolationist speaks
• "The Paradox of American Power" by Joseph Nye - introduced the concept of "soft power"
• "Rogue Nation: American Unilateralism and the Failure of Good Intentions" by Clyde Prestowitz - a former "conservative" speaks
• "The Breaking of Nations: Order and Chaos in the Twenty-First Century" by Robert Cooper - a Brit diplomat's perspective
• "The Ideas that conquered the World: Peace, Democracy, and Free Markets and the Twenty-first Century" by Michael Mandelbaum - a realist talks about the ideas shaping the post-cold war world
• "A Future Perfect: The Challenge and Promise of Globalization" by Adrian Wooldridge and John Micklethwait - writers from The Economist talk about globalization

I will confess the last two are the ones I am most anxious to get my hands on.

China and Taiwan Link Up...

This is a bigger deal than most may realize. For decades Taiwan feared that the mainland would use the guise of civilian flights to launch an attack. For the separatist government to reach an accord to allow direct flights is a remarkable achievement in Strait relations. I still do not see a quick resolution to the one China quandry. The mainland has botched the one country two systems formula in Hong Kong - not enough to destroy HK, but enough to show they do not have an understanding of civil rights or democracy. Taiwan has gone too far to go back. That is not to say that Taiwan will declare its independence it's just that giving up their sovereignty and their system of government seems out of the question.

About the Elections in Iraq

The President has staked his reputation on the election in Iraq that is just a couple of days away. The Christian Science Monitor reports that what most of us already know that patience is running low in both Iraq and the US. If you scroll all the way down here to the map of Iraq you will find a great interactive feature from CSM which has more info than you'll ever need or want on the election. In and of itself the map is helpful displaying the ethnic/religious breakdown of the country and the anticipated turnout in said regions.

Election Ads Iraqi Style

The Middle East Research Institute has put together and translated a collection of election ads currently airing in Iraq. Election posters in Baghdad can be seen here. I am not adding it to our links list but Friends of Democracy promises "ground level election news from the people of Iraq."

More Hersh Hating

Yes Max Boot is a neo-con and yes he hates Sy Hersh. By the way the Teddy Kennedy quote has nothing to do with anything Hersh has said about the terror war. It alludes to Hersh's salacious expose of the Kennedys.

Sy Hersh, China and the Oil for Food Scandal

I'm feeling kind of red today so here is some more stuff from the right. Michael Ledeen does not like Sy Hersh. The Heritage Foundation continues to beat the drum on the Oil-for-food scandal at the UN. Now they are questioning Paul Volker's role in investigating the matter. John Tkacik also from the Heritage Foundation takes on the EUrowimps for selling out to Red China. The EU (Chirac) is eager to lift its arms embargo on China. The embargo was originally imposed to punish China for the massacre of innocents at Tiananmen Square. The hope was that China would change its ways but, since it hasn't the EU has decided to throw its hands in the air. After all what do they have to lose in all this? The EUrowusses aren't likely to ever confront China militarily and if Beijing uses those weapons to take over or decimate Taiwan that would be our problem, not theirs. Sorry, but the whole China thing always whips me up into a frenzy.

The Neocon Perspective

I couldn't help but notice that everything that I had posted knocked the Presiden't Inaugural Speech. In the interest of equal time I present Kristol (ok), Krauthammer(blah), Kagan(not bad) and Joshua Muravchik (best of the bunch).

What About Me?

I didn't see my name on this list.

Sy Hersh Interview

Sy Hersh will be on the Daily Show tonight at 11. Thanks to Christa B for the heads up.

Revenge of the Bushies

A couple of original Bushies are less than thrilled with the message of his Inauguration Speech. In two seperate op-eds both Mark Helprin and Richard N. Haas take on the crusade to rid the world of tyranny. Helprin penned W's convention speech in 2000 ("A generation shaped by Vietnam must remember the lessons of Vietnam: When America uses force in the world, the cause must be just, the goal must be clear, and the victory must be overwhelming.") and Haas was the Director of Policy Planning at the State Dept. from 2001 -2003. George Kennan crafted the containment policy as the DPP and Paul Nitze helped put together NSC-68 from that office after succeeding him. Helprin bemoans our current strategy, "God help the army that must fight for an idea rather than an objective." Haas notes that "freedom is not a doctrine" and that "it is neither nor practical to make democracy promotion the dominant feature of American foreign policy."

Don't Drive to Mexico

Two different writers telling the same story in two of the most important daily papers. That can't be good for business.

The Neocons Take Over

It's a couple of days old but this LA Times article chronicles the Bush admin take-over by the neo-cons. Pretty good although Victor Davis Hanson is not really a neocon and Fouad Ajami just keeled over after being named one.

It Makes Sense...

That W should like Sharansky's book so much. It is an impassioned and for the most part convincing manifesto for the destruction of "fear societies" and replacing them with "free societies". He believes that "the free world can once again secure a better future for hundreds of millions of people around the world" by "linking international policy" to build these free societies. It doesn't hurt Sharansky's case that he speaks the President's language and understands his frustrations. Sharansky is exasperated that those who have known liberty all their lives "do not appreciate the enormous power of freedom." He figures that living in the black and white world of the Soviet Union provided him with the "moral clarity" that the free world with "its varying shades of gray" has difficulty grasping. Sharansky goes on stating:

A lack of moral clarity...is why people living in free societies cannot distinguish between religious fundamentalists in democratic states and religious terrorists in fundamentalist states. It is why people living in free societies can come to see their fellow citizens as their enemies, and foreign dictators as their friends.

I could not help but notice that Sharansky gives a tip of the hat to two neo-con heroes Ronald Reagan and "Scoop" Jackson. He also takes a swipe or two at the bete noire of all foreign policy idealists Henry Kissinger. I have to say that overall the book makes a fine argument, but I don't think it will convince any self-respecting realist that you can impose democracy on a state that may not be ready for it.

One last thing the book is "co-authored" (translation: actually written) by Miami Beach native Ron Dermer. Dermer also happens to be the brother of Mayor David Dermer of Miami Beach who scored an invite to the inauguration.

Sunday's Best

I was a little underwhelmed with today's offerings, but here it goes. The relief effort in Aceh is a mess and Islamic militants are moving in (like they weren't already there). Friedman's column declaring that the war in Iraq will be won with voter turnout and not troops was o.k., but I have to include it because Zarqawi decided to prove his point. Speaking of Iraqi elections Arab leaders are fretting over the almost inevitable victory of the Shia. Last week Andres Oppenheimer discussed Hugo Chavez's ego trip and this week he talks about Bush's and how it will be received in Latin America. W's crusade to rid the world of tyranny is also the focus of Fareed Zakaria's longish article in Newsweek. Zakaria has more of a global spin and uses the extra space to draw a clearer picture of what is wrong with the President's plan. The Washington Post is also on the Bush freedom meme and brings up the affect that Natan Sharanky's "The Case for Democracy" had on W's thinking. Not mentioned was that after the election W supporters were e-mailed a message urging them to read it. It is still a GOP must read. The planets must be aligned because both the Post and the Washington Times stress that if Bush is true to his rhetoric he will help the state formerly known as the Ukraine.