The Guardian (London)

Europe's Century

Ron Tang — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 06:25:00 -0400

This past week saw not only the Irish rejection of the Lisbon treaty, forcing a crisis summit this week to chart an alternative path to EU continuity, but also the annual EU-American summit in Slovenia, aiming to forge a common transatlantic agenda on Middle East peace, climate change and trade. The Irish vote is likely to fuel rumours of the EU's demise, yet it is the latter summit that will prove more revealing about its future. While mending transatlantic divides is commendable, the summit presents an opportunity to rectify misperceptions about the US leading and Europe following on global issues.… more

Nuclear Fallout

Ron Tang — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:01:00 -0400

Shaul Mofaz is Israel's minister of transportation. He formerly served as the IDF chief of staff and as defence minister. He is hardly considered to have been one of the greats to occupy either post. Another position he currently holds is that of minister in charge of the strategic dialogue with the US. The very existence of this position is emblematic of the dysfunctionality of Israel's political system right now (ordinarily the role would be part of the mandate of the defence or foreign minister, but was somehow attached to the transportation minister's portfolio as a sinecure handed… more

Steve Clemons in the Guardian | 'Leadership Position in Senate May Prove to be Irresistible'

Communications — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:23:00 -0400

New America in the News:

...Steve Clemons, director of the American Strategy Programme at the New America Foundation and a popular liberal blogger, said some Clinton allies were pressing ahead to install her as Reid's successor.

"There is appetite in the Senate for it, and I think she'd take it," Clemons said, adding that "if [Obama] is politically savvy and mature, he'll make this happen"...LINK

Len Nichols in Reuters, the Guardian, National Post | 'U.S. Health Insurers Pitch Policy Changes'

Communications — Thu, 29 May 2008 06:07:00 -0400

New America in the News:
..."I think the important lesson is - they get a range of savings that is reasonable. It suggests there is a growing consensus that these elements are what are needed for change to happen," said Len Nichols, a healthcare economist at the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan research group...LINK

In Rocky's State, a Legislator Can Still Outpunch an Orator

Ron Tang — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 07:52:00 -0400

The razor-thin margin separating the contenders for the Democratic nomination grew even thinner at the weekend. Why is this battle so close? A simple reason is that, despite the occasional invective, Americans genuinely admire both the charismatic Barack Obama and the fiercely resilient Hillary Clinton. When John McCain is thrown into the mix, we have the greatest reality show ever, an epic clash of survivalists. It is a shame Sergio Leone is not here to direct the final scene. But the general election is not until November. For now, it comes down to the Democratic nomination, and that prize will… more

Maya MacGuineas in The Guardian | 'Budget Gap Set to Climb Steeply'

Communications — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 16:42:00 -0500

New America in the News:
U.S. budget gap set to climb steeply this year (The Guardian)
... Referring to the prospects of growing budget deficits this year, Maya MacGuineas, head of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said, "Every billion is a big deal."

Flynt Leverett in The Guardian | 'Axis of Oil'

Communications — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 10:39:00 -0500

New America in the News:
Different Clinton, More Painful Bill (Guardian Unlimited - UK)
Flynt Leverett says in the U.S. magazine National Interest that the U.S. should be seriously concerned about this so-called "axis of oil" because it has the potential to exert the same sort of financial and monetary pressure on the U.S. as Washington put on Britain and France in 1956. "Half a century after Suez, there is growing potential for a coalition of major energy exporters - disproportionately concentrated in the Middle East and Russia - and major manufacturers like China to coordinate the application of financial and monetary pressure on the United States for strategic purposes." ...

Mark Schmitt in The Guardian | The 'Theory of Change'

Communications — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 16:38:00 -0500

New America in the News:
This is the most important election of our lifetime (Guardian Unlimited - UK)
The astute analyst and writer Mark Schmitt was the first to identify this phenomenon, naming the Democratic race the "theory of change" primary. ...

Steve Clemons in The Guardian on Clinton's Stance on Pakistan

Communications — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 13:55:00 -0500

New America in the News:

In the Democratic presidential scuffle over extricating the U.S. from Iraq, differences among the candidates have faded into the background recently. But the rivals are diverging on an equally incendiary foreign policy issue: the political instability in Pakistan.

The party's White House hopefuls moved swiftly to condemn Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf after he suspended the constitution and imposed emergency rule on November 3. Since taking early shots at the Bush administration over the crisis, however, the Democrats each have carved out niches on Pakistan -- most recently in a little-noticed exchange during last week's debate -- that suggest disparate approaches to the nuclear-equipped country believed to harbour Osama bin Laden. ...

Steve Clemons, senior vice president of the New America Foundation, hinted at a potential challenge for each of the Democratic candidates. A former senior US military official recently told Clemons that the Bush administration is taking steps to promote another Pakistani commander as an alternative to Musharraf and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Should the current president abandon his seemingly waning support for Musharraf, Clemons said, Clinton's response will be extremely telling.

"Does that become a political price for her [to pay] or become a political opportunity to endorse an alternative process?" he asked. "The narrative would be, this is a nuclear nation. We can't afford to let it go, we need new leadership. Just being about elections is not democracy; that's ballot-ocracy. That's what led to us getting Hamas in power." ...

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Iraq Withdrawal Will Not Hand Victory to Bin Laden

Articles — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 09:35:00 -0400

Critics of the Iraq war have called it George Bush’s Vietnam. Now, it appears, President Bush himself agrees. In a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars last week, the president sought to increase support for his policy by drawing parallels between the consequences of the US departure from Indochina in the mid-1970s and possible consequences of a US withdrawal from Iraq. In Vietnam, the president stated, "the price of America’s withdrawal was paid by millions of innocent citizens, whose agonies would add to our vocabulary new terms like boat people, re-education camps and killing fields." Similar suffering would follow… more