All Commentaries
Preparing for Peace in Pakistan
Criticism has been leveled against the Pakistani government’s efforts to hold talks with militant groups. While concerns about the Taliban regrouping remain valid, it is in America’s long-term security interest not only to support the multidimensional peace plans being formulated, but refrain from words and actions that could jeopardize the process.
An Interview with Jonny 5 from the Flobots
The Flobots are unique both in message and style. Saif Rahman from Foreign Policy In Focus had the opportunity to talk to Jonny 5 from the Flobots about their background, views on foreign policy, the Democratic National Convention being held in their hometown, and their hopes for the movement and this country.
Trouble at the Pentagon
The Pentagon is in crisis: The war in Iraq is entering its fifth hot summer. And while U.S. troop casualties are down, the light at the end of the occupation tunnel is no closer and no brighter.
Obama’s Right Turn?
In many respects, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has played right into the hands of cynics who have long doubted his promises to create a new and more progressive role for the United States in the world. The very morning after the last primaries, in which he finally received a sufficient number of pledged delegates to secure the Democratic presidential nomination and no longer needed to win over voters from the progressive base of his own party, Obama – in a Clinton-style effort at triangulation – gave a major policy speech before the national convention of the America-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Embracing policies which largely backed those of the more hawkish voices concerned with Middle Eastern affairs, he received a standing ovation for his efforts.
Lebanon Intrusion
On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the first U.S. military intervention in Lebanon, and 25 years after a second U.S. military intervention which left hundreds of Americans and thousands of Lebanese dead, the U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a resolution by a huge bipartisan majority which may lay the groundwork for a third one. At a minimum, this move has crudely and unnecessarily inserted the United States into Lebanon’s complex political infighting.
Free Trade Follies
Although Iraq is the defining foreign policy issue so far in the presidential race, China will no doubt be smuggled into the election through this rather stark contrast between the Republicans and Democrats over trade.
Richard Wright on Black Power
In 1954, acclaimed novelist and thinker Richard Wright published Black Power about his visit to the Gold Coast (later Ghana) and his observations concerning the rise of the Pan-African movement. On the 100th anniversary of Wright’s birth, the American University of Paris is holding a centennial conference on June 19-21. In the lead-up to this conference, FPIF’s E. Ethelbert Miller discusses the novelist’s views on Africa and colonialism with James Miller (English and American Studies, George Washington University), Michele L. Simms Burton (African American Studies, Howard University), and Jerry W. Ward (English, Dillard University).
McClellan Right: Press Too Deferential
When Bush’s former press secretary admits that the administration used a “political propaganda campaign” to sell its case for war and calls the mainstream media “deferential, complicit enablers” – as Scott McClellan does in What Happened – it’s time to examine just how badly the press failed.
An Interview with Jonathan Hutto
After five years of war and little end in sight, much of the anti-war movement has acquired a case of “war fatigue.” Over the last two years, some of the most energized movements opposing the war have not been those made up of civilians but those who have served on the front lines.
Anti-War Soldier: An Interview with Jonathan Hutto
Iraq Veterans Against the War, with their Winter Soldier hearings, have brought their stories to the public. Along with IVAW, the Appeal for Redress is organizing where no one else is–inside the military itself. What began on October 23, 2006 with 65 active-duty soldiers has now swelled to over 2,000. Documenting the history of this movement as well as telling his own personal story of how he became an “Anti-War Soldier” is one of the leaders of the movement, Jonathan Hutto.