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Saturday, January 26, 2008
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Really, it sounds much cooler in German
Nine months ago a German think tank commissioned your humble blogger to sketch out the contours of U.S. foreign policy beginning in 2009. The result is that I have an English-language article in the latest issue of Internationale Politik und Gesellschaft ("International Politics and Society") modestly entitled "The Future of U.S. Foreign Policy." The article is a wee bit out of date (it was submitted in October), as it starts off with John McCain's tumble from frontrunner status. Nevertheless, I think the rest of it holds up reasonably well. The closing paragraph: For Europe, American foreign policy in 2009 will clearly be an improvement on its current incarnation. Regardless of who wins the presidential election, there will likely be a reaching out to Europe as a means of demonstrating a decisive shift from the Bush administration’s diplomatic style. This does not mean, however, that the major irritants to the transatlantic relationship will disappear. On several issues, such as GMOs or the Boeing–Airbus dispute, the status quo will persist. On deeper questions, such as the use of force and the use of multilateralism, American foreign policy will shift, but not as far as Europeans would like. When George W. Bush leaves office, neo-conservatism will go with him. This does not mean, however, that Europeans will altogether agree with the foreign policy that replaces it.Go check it out. posted by Dan on 01.26.08 at 04:26 PM Comments: I'm curious about the source on your US public attitudes on the ICC. Since they sound paradoxical, perhaps they reflect confusion among respondents about the nature of the institution. No surprise given the misinformation sown by ICC opponents in this country. posted by: Diodotus on 01.26.08 at 04:26 PM [permalink]I'm curious about the source on your US public attitudes on the ICC. Since they sound paradoxical, perhaps they reflect confusion among respondents about the nature of the institution. No surprise given the misinformation sown by ICC opponents in this country. posted by: Diodotus on 01.26.08 at 04:26 PM [permalink]I think that any sour relations brought about by our "unilateralism" were due largely to the fact that the President had the political capital to be unilateral in the wake of 9/11 and the runup to OIF. Such political capital is rare and thus such overt unilateralism is rare. Continued smoothing over - which ANY new President will help to bring about, simply because the hard feelings toward Bush will get some closure - will be a byproduct of time and a passing of the torch, not due to any significant change in leadership style by whomever gets elected. In the long run, we will have good relations with the world by wisely pushing along the world economy and patching up the Islamic world as best we can. That has nothing to do with how cordial the new President is. It has everything to do with how strong of a leader he is. posted by: Joseph Sixpack on 01.26.08 at 04:26 PM [permalink]I don't have anything intelligent to say, other than I enjoyed the article you wrote. posted by: Klug on 01.26.08 at 04:26 PM [permalink]Post a Comment: |
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