Blessed Be the Peace Makers

Richard Holbrooke the greatest diplomat of his era, has died. Like the American foreign policy he served all his life, he was arrogant, brave, and did more good than harm.

And Now the Turn Around

Turns out, when America is not run by a idiot ass who invades countries at a whim, America is pretty popular.

Coup Rollback

A nice little victory for diplomacy and the Obama administration.

World Leading Wackness

Muammar Qaddafi, staking his claim for craziest world leader, with a very strong hour and a half UN rant.

Your move Kim Jong. Your move.

Life is Hard for Pawns

You do not want to be a pawn, no matter what the game. Not dealing drugs and not in power games between countries.

Outreach

Obama in Cairo

Iranian Outreach

Don't Tease Me

Can Hillary Help Liberate Burma?

Let's see how far engagement can go.

The Peacemaker

Not that there's lots of reason for hope in the Middle East, (Did you see 60 Minutes on the subject? Doomed!) but at least one reason is that Obama has appointed George Mitchell as a special envoy to the region. Michell did pull off a Northern Ireland peace accord, so the man does have diplomatic game.

Alex Massie takes a good hard look at how the two conflicts match up. Conclusion: The Middle East will be much harder. But you knew that already, didn't you?

Power Back On

Samantha Power, who got caught up in some campaign b.s. back during the endless primary, is getting a job with the transition team. Sure, we can loose the occasional hack to campaign crap, but Power is way too important to let go over little crap.

Warning

Bush is now a cautionary tale. All would-be invaders and would-be Caesars beware, things can go south for you in a hurry.

Ouch

Hardcore socialist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is now mocking Bush over joining the socialist revolution. He does have a point.

Question

So while Georgia and Russia went to war, Bush spent the weekend going to Olympic events and, um, interacting with the athletes. This is is not a rhetorical question: Is it better that Bush is isn't paying attention to the crisis? Would it really be better if he focused his attention on events, and not the shapely ass of beach volleyball team? Wouldn't he make the situation worse? As still yet another Bush foreign policy ends in a bloody fiasco, and the usual suspects start pimping for more war, maybe its better if Bush stays happy and out the way for the rest of the Olympics.

Now What?

It appears that a war is breaking out between Georgia and Russia. Not "down south" Georgia, "Former Soviet Republic" Georgia. The dispute is over the separatist region of South Ossetia.

How about a little Olympic truce, eh folks?

Unpopular

Glenn Greenwald gives Tom Friedman a good education on why America has become so unpopular in the world. Keep in mind this unpopularity has real negative consequences to American interests. It hurts our efforts to do things like help Zimbabwe or get NATO help in Afghanistan. This isn't like high school popularity, where the unpopular nerds go on to great fame and fortune. This unpopularity hurts for real.

Negotiations Breaks Out

Bush Administration, to the surprise of no one, nowhere to be found.

Magic

So now apparently Obama is so amazing he's able to negotiate a ceasefire in Nigeria without even talking to any of the parties involved.

Ooooohhhhhh.

Women's Work

Why is Laura Bush out in front on diplomatic efforts to help Burma in the wake of the cyclone disaster? Laura Bush doesn't do or say much of anything. No really, name me one thing Laura Bush has done or said in the last eight years? She just kind of stands there with that slightly drugged-out smile. Could none of the real players in this Administration be bothered with a humanitarian project? Is it only war that gets the manly men of the Bush Administration out of bed in the morning. It be one thing if this was a Hillary Clinton or Eleanor Roosevelt-type first lady, an activist with real pull inside the Administration and a high profile with the press. But putting Laura Bush on the case is a pretty clear signal that they don't care.

The Obama Doctrine

Read it.

Peace in Our Time

Peace conference today. I'll be glade if the Bush administration managers to get though the day without setting the table on fire. They may be bad at war, but peace they take pleasure in screwing up. Seriously though, all three parties - Olmert, Abbas and Bush are politically crippled. I don't see how they come to an agreement that they can enforce. Better Presidents than this one have tried and failed. I'm not hopeful.