Foreign Policy

The American Prospect (05/01) features Parag Khanna discussing the "second world's" growing influence.
The Project on Middle East Democracy (05/01) quotes Steve Clemons' critique of U.S. foreign policy.

Senator Chuck Hagel on a Realist Internationalism for the 21st Century

Sen. Chuck Hagel, Steven Clemons, and American Strategy Program Director's Council Chair Rita Hauser at a recent Salon hosted by Clemons and the New America Foundation.

Former serviceman, businessman, and long-serving politician, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) contributes a wealth of personal experience on America’s most pressing issues from the domestic economy to political divisions to the Iraq war. The self-proclaimed patriot is not afraid to question the nation’s current status, recent policy debacles and future prospects. America: Our Next Chapter is a tough but optimistic letter from one concerned citizen to the rest of America.

Click on the player below to watch this event LIVE at 12:00 pm on April 30, 2008.

Today, the New America Foundation's U.S.-Cuba Policy Initiative gathered leading Cuba watchers and scholars to discuss the implications of Fidel Castro's announcement that he will not seek nor will he accept the role of Cuban President and Commander-in-Chief. (On Sunday, Feb. 24, the Cuban Council of State is expected to hand power to Fidel's brother, Raul Castro, ending Fidel's 49-year rule with a constitutional succession.)

An MP3 audio recording of this conference call is available below. Participants in the call, which I moderated, included:

• Rep. Jim McGovern
  U.S. Congressman (D-Mass.)
• Col. Lawrence Wilkerson (ret.)
  Co-Chair, U.S.-Cuba Policy Initiative, New America Foundation
  Former chief of staff to secretary of state Colin Powell
• Julia Sweig
  Rockefeller Senior Fellow for Latin America Studies, Council on Foreign Relations
• Peter Kornbluh
  Director, Cuba Documentation Project, National Security Archive
• Sarah Stephens
  Executive Director, Center for Democracy in the Americas
• Jake Colvin
  Director, USA*Engage, National Foreign Trade Council

President Bush's final State of the Union address was his least interesting -- largely because it also his least partisan one.

So says Steven Clemons, Director of the American Strategy Program, in this morning-after assessment of Bush's performance, positioning and policy proposals: