The Chinese cnetral government in Beijing has ruled that only persons nominated by it will be allowed to run in the Hong Kong elections of 2017. The decision was met by protests from dissidents who identify as “Occupy Central” who believe that civil nominations should be allowed to allow greater freedom of choice. The decision, however, was hailed by the Central government which claimed that “the step is a sharp contrast to the past 156 years when there was no democracy for Hong Kong people under British rule.”
Israel has expropriated almost 1000 acres (400 Hectares) of land in the West Bank to build more settlements. The Israeli government claims that the expropriation is in retaliation for the murder of three Israeli teenagers earlier in the year. It is a substantial expropriation and will undoubtedly complicate any possible negotiations for a negotiated peace between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Israel has moved almost 550,000 settlers into the West Bank and East Jerusalem in which 2.4 million Palestinians live.
Peter Beinart is an analyst worth reading. He has parsed President Obama’s foreign policy and come up with an explanation for his limited but aggressive engagement with the world. Beinart calls it a minimalist foreign policy, but it resonates strongly with a realist approach–Obama only intervenes when he is convinced that American lives are at stake. That approach contrasts sharply with the more open-ended approach suggested by both George W. Bush and Hillary Clinton.
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I’m very concerned for America’s safety based on this Minimalist Foreign Policy of President Obama. ISIL is not slowing down and the world absent of America’s Leadership is a World filled with violence and terror. My daughter lives in NYC and with our complete lack of leadership in the White House I believe the people of NY and other great US cities are at risk of another 9/11 type attack. Isn’t our governments major responsibility to protect America’s safety? Am i making more of this threat than i should be at this time?
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It’s hard to say whether you’re more worried than you should be–we really don’t know at this time what IS’s capabilities are. And it is only one of a number of groups that seek to launch a terrorist attack against the US. We should all assume that the homeland is at risk.
The real question is what we should do about it. The US engaged in two very costly and expensive wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and it is hard to say that we are safer now then we were on 10 September 2001. Large scale military operations against terror cells most likely are ineffective. Obama’s approach (drone warfare, special operation forces against Osama bin Laden, and limited air strikes) certainly is no less effective, and one might plausibly argue that it is more cost/effective. What worries me most is how attractive IS seems to be to so many young people; I think that we ought to add that element into Obama’s minimalist approach. The more disaffected people are, the less attractive are America’s true strengths.
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Large scale military operations may be ineffective but I believe that a military response is needed and possibly long over due. The world is a fast changing place. Because we’ve fought two wars already, I hope our leadership will make current and future safety decisions based on what is the correct action now and not allow “politics at its worst” to drive inaction. Do you believe in your heart that we should allow the past wars to dictate our current situation? That would be making a safety decision completely political.
I agree your concern over disaffected people is most troubling. That is why the longer we allow this group to grow without any serious military threat the worst the problem will be for the USA and the world; when we finally have no choice but to confront them with our Military. ISOL is not going away and from what I know about this ideology, force is our only weapon to defeat them and to protect our citizens. My college son is a big fan of yours and I’m glad he introduced me to your blog. My daughter lives in NYC and I fear that with a President who appears to either be completely disengaged or over his head in all ways is putting the lives of Americans at risk. I’ve always believed that the President of the USA first duty is to protect its citizens.
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