The common wisdom circulating in Washington these days is that the United States is too bogged down in Iraq to consider risky military action against Iran orÂGod forbidÂNorth Korea. Policy analysts describe the U.S. military as Âover-burdened or Âstretched to the limit. The presumption is that the Pentagon is telling President Bush that it can’t really undertake another major military contingency.
North Korea claims to have tested a nuclear weapon. Iran refuses to halt its uranium enrichment program. The non-proliferation regime teeters on the brink. Washington’s uncompromising tactics with both Tehran and Pyongyang have failed to achieve anything but the most radioactive results.
There is so little room in the American consciousness for Africa.
The Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano writes about foreign policy with the flair of a poet. He also writes poetry with the geopolitical knowledge of a foreign policy analyst. His one-volume treatise on the colonial pillage of Latin America (Open Veins of Latin America) is a must-read classic, and his three-volume literary meditation on the continent’s history from its mythic beginnings to the Reagan years tells true tales in a laughter-through-tears style reminiscent of Marquez and Gogol.
It was a graphic representation of global dissatisfaction with the United States. Provisions Library in Washington, DC put on an exhibit of international political cartoons and how they depict U.S. relations with the world. On September 14, FPIF joined Provisions in inviting Clay Ramsay of the Program on International Policy Attitudes to discuss whether international polling supported the generally negative portrayals of the cartoons.
Writers Becky Thompson and E. Ethelbert Miller bring poetry to the streets. Photo by Mike Maggio.
President George W. Bush’s address before the United Nations General Assembly on September 19 appeared to be designed for the domestic U.S. audience. Indeed, few of the foreign delegations or international journalists present could take seriously his rhetoric regarding the promotion of democracy in the Middle East, given the reality of U.S. policy in the region.
George Bush held a summit last week with a key ally. But if you blinked, you might have missed it. It lasted for about an hour. There was no joint statement or big press conference. It was one of the least newsworthy events in Washington.
When President George W. Bush admitted finally on September 5 that the CIA held suspected terrorists overseas and interrogated them according to an “alternative set of procedures”—an intriguing euphemism for torture—he gave the speech before a hand-picked audience. No pesky journalists were allowed to interrogate the president. In the audience were relatives of those who died on September 11.
Despite promises from the White House that the address to the nation on the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy would be non-political, President George W. Bush devoted much the speech to defending his unrelated policy on Iraq.