Commentaries Archives - Page 337 of 837

The U.S. Credibility Deficit

by John Feffer, R.S. Zaharna | Dec 13, 2006

As Nancy Snow compellingly argues, more listening and civic diplomacy may be viable, preliminary steps to salvaging the U.S. international reputation from charges of arrogance and impatience. However, while Âmore ears than mouthÂ may counter the U.S. image problem, U.S. public diplomacy has a much more serious problem. It has a credibility deficit of global proportions. To tackle that credibility deficit, U.S. public diplomacy needs a comprehensive, innovative, and strategic approach that entails developing more creative relationship-building strategies, matching policy decisions with viable communication options, and coordinating traditional and public diplomacy initiatives.

The Limits of Public Diplomacy

by John Feffer, John Robert Kelley | Dec 13, 2006

After a conspicuous absence in the years between the end of the Cold War and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, U.S. public diplomacy has endured in excess of five years’ worth of setbacks, complete with a noteworthy lack of a clear strategy, repeated changes in management, and ample amounts of domestic scrutiny along the way. The cause for so much alarm over public diplomacy at this time rests on the unequivocal notion that the image of the United States has been and remains under siege by an unsettling share of the rest of the world. This group includes friend and foe alike. Each troubling assessment by the Pew Global Attitudes Project, the German Marshall Fund, or Zogby International serves as a reminder that public diplomacy is not working.

Anti-Americanism and the Rise of Civic Diplomacy

by John Feffer, Nancy Snow | Dec 13, 2006

Anti-Americanism has emerged as a term that, like ÂfascismÂ and ÂcommunismÂ in George Orwell’s lexicon, has little meaning beyond Âsomething not desirable.Â However it is defined, anti-Americanism has clearly mushroomed over the last six years, as charted in a number of polls. This phenomenon is, everyone agrees, intimately tied to the exercise of U.S. power and perceptions around the world of U.S. actions.

China and Southeast Asia

by John Feffer, Evelyn Goh | Dec 12, 2006

For those concerned about a rising China, Southeast Asia is of particular interest. It is a region of diverse states and cultures that involves all the major powers in the Asia-Pacific in a multiplicity of strategic interests. It is thus a fluid arena, offering the potential of different strategic games, options, and uncertain outcomes, but without a significant crisis hotspot such as those in Northeast Asia.

Using India to Keep China at Bay

by Tim Beal, John Feffer | Dec 12, 2006

U.S. attempts to construct and consolidate an alliance to contain China’s seemingly inexorable rise registered another milestone in November when the U.S. Senate passed a bill to allow the government to transfer nuclear fuel and technology to India. The nuclear deal with India flies in the face of long-standing U.S. rhetoric about nuclear proliferation and is yet another blow to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The Democrats & Iran

by John Feffer, Conn Hallinan | Dec 9, 2006

As the dust begins to settle from the mid-term elections, popular thinking is that, over the next two years, the Democrats will force the Bush administration to edge away from the unilateral militarism that has entrapped the nation in two open-ended wars.

Postcard from Sri Lanka

by Fred Abrahams, John Feffer | Dec 8, 2006

The mother of an abducted child in Sri Lanka holds a photo of her missing son. ©Fred Abrahams/Human Rights Watch 2006

IMF Identity Crisis

by Daniel D. Bradlow, Emily Schwartz Greco | Dec 8, 2006

The evidence that its members states are seeking to escape from the International Monetary Fund’s “jurisdiction” continues to mount. Most recently, Uruguay, the IMF’s third largest borrower, became the latest country to announce that it was prepaying its outstanding obligations to the IMF, and the IMF was forced to downgrade the multilateral consultations on global economic imbalances that it had proudly unveiled in April because leading economic powers have proved reluctant to fully engage in these consultations.

Stopping Firestone: Getting Rubber to Meet the Road

by Roxanne Lawson, Tim Newman | Dec 7, 2006

Liberia is rich in natural resources and Africa’s largest producer of natural rubber. It is also one of the world’s poorest countries. Liberia’s impoverishment is directly related to the wealth generated from its natural resources; wealth that because of a history of inequality and exploitation benefits multinational corporations and some wealthy Liberians at the expense of the citizens of Liberia. However, many Liberians, along with international allies, are actively resisting this unjust system.

Secrecy and Foreign Policy

by John Feffer, Robert Pallitto | Dec 6, 2006

Since the beginning of the republic, U.S. presidents have used some form of secrecy in the course of governing. In the wake of the Watergate scandal, congressional hearings in the 1970s and the disclosure of covert U.S. programs of assassination and destabilization overseas temporarily reduced the scope of secret activities sponsored by the executive branch. From the 1980s on, however, presidents have come to rely increasingly on secrecy-related practices. Though the U.S. Constitution does not explicitly grant executive secrecy in the list of Article II powers, presidents have increased their powers through legislation, the federal courts’ recognition of legal defenses to conceal information, and responses to the ongoing threat of terrorism.