While foreign policy issues played almost no role in Tuesday’s election results, the historic Republican landslide will almost certainly make Barack Obama’s vision of a more positive U.S. role in international affairs more difficult to pursue.
Midterm Miscarriage
Even before the polls opened for voting in the U.S. midterm elections, the finger-pointing had already begun. The Obama agenda, instead of coming to term after four years, was suffering a miscarriage halfway through. The potential culprits were many and diverse.
Proposition 19 Is a Vote Heard ‘Round the World
Latin American governments can’t help but ask how the U.S. government can continue to call on them to implement harsh drug control policies when a key policy is being called into question in the United States itself.
What if Nuclear Terrorism Were Just a Mouse Click Away?
With 50 nukes knocked offline, inquiring minds want to know: can hacking be ruled out?
Republican Sees 50 Nukes Knocked Offline as a Chance to Recoup Lost Ground
Republican sees nuke base failure as yet another opportunity to engage in new START obstructionism.
START: Arms Affirmation Treaty
The New START treaty should at best be called an “arms affirmation treaty,” confirming that expensive weapons systems, which include the nation’s nuclear arsenal, remain a national priority. Like the earlier Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, New START insulates nuclear weapons spending, as well as large budgets for other weapons systems.
Is Obama a Turkey or an Eagle?
In 1784 Benjamin Franklin played the tongue-in-cheek naturalist and castigated the decision by the Congress of the Confederation to adopt the bald eagle as the symbol of the United States. The bald eagle, Franklin wrote, lives by “Sharping & Robbing,” watching a “diligent” hawk fishing, and then stealing its hard-earned booty. Rejecting this lazy thief, Franklin preferred that the national honor be borne by the proud but prudent (“tho’ a little vain & silly”) wild turkey.
Worlds Collide at Cancun Climate Talks
The debate over climate change generally transpires within the cloistered confines of expensive hotels, executive boardrooms, and diplomatic halls. As seen in the failure to arrive at binding agreements in Copenhagen, the talks are generally as sterile as the surroundings.
Canada on Ice: at the UN
Canada’s defeat in elections for a temporary seat in the UN Security Council has implications that reach beyond being an upset for Stephen Harper’s conservative government in Ottawa. It reinforces how far most UN members are from supporting other nations that unconditionally accept Israeli behavior in the Middle East. It also, ironically, lends some support to Ottawa’s longstanding opposition to increasing the number of permanent Security Council members.
Military vs. Climate Security: The 2011 Budgets Compared
The gap between federal spending on military as opposed to climate security has narrowed since 2008. Compared to China, though, our progress is meager.
Though its military spending is not wholly transparent, it is estimated that China spends one-sixth as much as the United States does on military security, and twice as much on climate security.