Marking the Anniversary of the Embassy Seizure
Today marks the 30th anniversary of the seizing of the U. S. embassy in Tehran by factions of the revolution that overthrew the shah. President Obama has issued a statement on the occasion which I will reproduce in full here: Thirty years ago today, the American Embassy in Tehran was seized. The 444 days that began on November 4, 1979 ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on November 5, 2009 10:58
Obama’s Europe Neglect Could Bring Bush Nostalgia
My first piece for ForeignPolicy.com, "Europe's Obama Fatigue," is online. Despite George W. Bush's defiant "you're with us or you're against us" public stance, he actively solicited advice and input from his NATO partners. Obama, by contrast, is saying all the right things in public about transatlantic relations and NATO but adopting a high-handed policy and paying little attention to Europe. [...] It would ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on October 30, 2009 06:10
Old Europe, New Europe
Back in 2003, then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld famously noted that while "Old Europe" (particularly France and Germany) was hard to work with, America could count on "New Europe." Fast forward to 2009 and we may have reversed polarity. My latest New Atlanticist essay, "Losing New Europe, Too?" explores this evolution, including why Western Europe is back in the fold and why ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on September 15, 2009 09:29
Health Reform: What Liberals Want
Kevin Drum seconds Alex Massie that a British-style nationalized health system is not a politically feasible option in the United States. Indeed, even Democrats don't want that: [W]ith the exception of a few outliers, the liberal community really, truly doesn't want a fully government owned and operated healthcare system like the NHS. We want a government-funded healthcare system like Medicare or ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on August 12, 2009 10:36
Healthcare Reform ‘Fact-Checking’
Steve Benen heaps praise on ABC News' new Fact Check segment for "actually informing the public about a controversy in a fair and accurate way." Kate Snow tackled the vile right-wing demagoguery on end-of-life care, and while she refrained from calling Palin and her ilk "liars," she made it very clear that the accusations about euthanasia are completely wrong. It wasn't ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on August 11, 2009 12:09
Seen in the Comments–Vizzini Edition
In this post of mine on Efficiency and Administrative costs frequent commenter Michael Reynolds wrote, How about we take the French system plus 20%? Hell, France plus 50% would represent a staggering windfall for us. In fact, we could buy France with the savings. I don't think that word (windfall) means what you think it means. That the French and their ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 8, 2009 16:37
Health Care Debate’s Ecological Fallacy
Kevin Drum argues, correctly I think, that British- and Canadian-style socialized medicine is not on the table in the United States and that we should therefore frame the debate in terms of a French- or Dutch-style mixed system. He further cites Jonathan Cohn's argument that these systems are quite good. But in the course of a few dozen lengthy interviews, not ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 7, 2009 12:45
EU Elections: Good Night for the Right
I begin my New Atlanticist roundup essay "European Parliament Moves Right" with, "The weekend's European Parliament produced good news for the center-right parties, bad news for the center-left, and good news for radical parties of all stripes." I plan other posts today on the implications for the major governments and smaller states in Europe. This post, though, focuses on the general ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 8, 2009 12:14
Let France Do It
Presumably invigorated by our resounding successes in nation-building in Iraq and Afghanistan, the editors of the Washington Post have come down in favor of U. S.-led nation-building as the solution for piracy in Somalia: Last week's crisis offers the Obama administration an opportunity to avoid perpetuating past errors. No, we aren't advocating another massive U.N. intervention in the country backed by ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on April 14, 2009 12:38
France Defies US on NATO
Who would ever have guessed that France's reentry into the NATO military command would cause headaches for the United States? French defense minister Herve Morin signaled that his country will attempt to be a counterweight to the United States now that it rejoined the NATO military command. In addition to reiterating that France will not send more troops to Afghanistan, it ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on March 19, 2009 10:45
New Iron Curtain?
The political financial crisis came to a head yesterday in Europe, with Hungary begging for help from its fellow EU members under the peril of a new "iron curtain" dividing the Continent and getting matter-of-factly rejected. My New Atlanticist piece on the controversy, "Economic 'Iron Curtain' Dividing Europe?" concludes: The present crisis has had the salutory effect of splashing a bit ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on March 2, 2009 10:27
No Additional French Troops for Afghanistan
The French Defense Minister has ruled out sending additional French troops to Afghanistan: PARIS (AP) — France's defense minister is ruling out for now increasing the country's military presence in Afghanistan. Herve Morin told France-Inter radio Sunday that France has "already made a considerable effort" toward stabilizing the troubled country. He said "there's no question for the moment of sending additional troops." U.S. ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on February 8, 2009 21:52
NATO Head Tells Europe Leadership and Burdens Go Together
You've probably never heard of Jaap de Hoop Scheffer but he's my new hero. He's secretary general of NATO and he's got a message: Europe Must 'Share the Heavy Lifting' in Afghanistan. He says it's great that Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy want a greater voice in Alliance decision-making. But he says that comes with a price: Taking an equal ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on February 7, 2009 07:31
Chirac Mauled by Poodle
They say that "dog bites man" is not news. Au contraire: "Chirac Mauled by Clinically Depressed Poodle."Posted in Outside The Beltway on January 22, 2009 11:46
Referendum by Riot
In a New Atlanticist essay, "Sarkozy Delays University Reforms, Feared Greek-Style Riots," I wonder if France isn't setting itself up for a vicious cycle by acceding to student protests: It's perfectly legitimate for shopkeepers to lobby to be spared reforms that would hurt their business, even if it's good for France. Rent seeking is a fact of modern political life. Not ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on December 16, 2008 11:50
