Friday, March 31, 2006

When You're Jet, You're a Jet All The Way......

Same as being a Neo Conservative. Once you're in baby....

Anyway, there's a great little internecine gang war going on in Foreign Policy circles. But unless you follow this stuff, you'll have no idea what I am talking about.

So, where to start?

Well for starters, any moment now I am expecting to hear that the Italians have given asylum to Francis Fukuyama as well as that Afghani who converted to Christianity.

That is the fate of apostates. And right now, Francis is apostate du jour.

Francis Fukuyama, author of "The End of History and the last Man" was one of the leading lights of the Neo Cons, the guys that brought you "Iraq 2 - This Time It's Personal." Their essential thesis has been the promulgation of an interventionist foreign policy with muscle.

In his latest book, "America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power and the Neoconservative Legacy" he recants his views in favor of an approach involving more emphaiss on softpower, the use of public diplomacy and media to affect the hearts and minds of those we want to encourage on the road to democracy, and the guys in the clubhouse are NOT happy. And now they are essentially calling Francis a big wuss.

Basically the big question comes down to this: Should the US kick some booty in the world, or should we take a softer approach.

This may not seem like a big deal for most folks who get up everymorning, fix breakfast for their kids and get them off to school before commuting to a job they don't like. But it is a big deal. Because, the side that wins this argument will decide whether or not your kids will be carrying a gun somewhere in the world in the future.

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Catching up

Well...I had my bout with the flu, so now I'm back, and where do I start?

They held an election in Belarus...and sitting President Aleksander Lukashenko won... again. (wink...nudge.) Of course he had to arrest a few opposition leaders, and stuff a few ballot boxes but hey...it's the Chicago way.

Africa is coming apart at the seams. Trouble and strife in....well...pretty much everywhere. Congo, Somalia, Ethiopia...and the Sudan continues to fester. People continue to die in Darfur. Hey...if there was someone from Darfur on American Idol, maybe we'd notice. But until then...

The Fourth World Water Conference was held in Mexico City and gee...where does one begin with this issue?

The news is not all that good. One of the big issues was the privatisation of water delivery systems in developing countries. The Guardian sums it up quite well in this paragraph:

"Water privatisation was seen by the World Bank and G8 countries as the most effective way to bring clean water to large numbers of poor countries throughout the 1990s, but in spite of investments of $25bn (£14bn) between 1990 and 1997, the rich have mostly benefited at the expense of the poor. Sub-Saharan Africa has received less than 1% of all the money invested in water supplies by private companies in the last 10 years."

Wow....the poor didn't have any money! What were the odds?!

And for those of you keeping score, bird flu deaths are now at 103. Slowly, slowly, creeping inexorably to full scale pandemic.

Have a lovely day.

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Shhhhhhhh

Things must be slow in Taiwan.

How else to explain President Chen poking China with a stick. That stick, of course, is the never ending issue of unification. China wants it, Taiwan...not so sure.

This question has always been the proverbial 800lb panda in US-Chinese relations. The issue pops up every now and then, kind of like the swallows returning to Capistrano.

A few days ago, it reared its furry little head again. As the BBC reported, Taiwan's President Chen decided to scrap the council on unification with China.

Hello? Who cares? And why bring it up now?

Domestic consumption? Is there a scandal brewing? Does he need to divert the attention from something else?

China naturally responded by saying the move "will create antagonism and conflict within Taiwan and across the strait."

Well....yeah. What did you expect them to say?

But the real question here, that NO ONE wants to ever have to answer is:

What would the US do in a scenario where China decided to invade Taiwan?

The Bush administration is committed to spreading Democracy around the world. Taiwan, aside from the occasional fist fight on the floor of the legislature, is a Democracy. You see the dilemma here? Who's going to come out on top? Taiwan? A little island that makes computers?

Or Wal-Mart's factory?

Dear President Chen, not sure if you know much folks here in the US like their Wal-Marts, but I suggest sending over a fact finding mission.

Or short of that, you may want to take a meeting with the Ambassador from Wal-Mart.

I'm not saying that Democracy isn't a good thing, and that everyone should have it, but if the dragon is sleeping, don't go poking him with a stick.