Foeign Policy’s Blake Hounshell has some thoughts about the Bush administration’s approach to diplomacy, in particular with regard to Russia, that are worth a read. The Bush administration has rejected the traditional give-and-take method of balancing demands on some issues with concessions on others in favor of arguing each case independently on its merits. It’s a classic case of values vs. interests, but the problem is that interests have a way of influencing how values are perceived. That and the fact that Russia is no longer in a position where it can’t really defend its interests.
This CFR interview with Charles Kupchan is about as good a rundown of last week’s NATO summit and the subsequent meeting between Presidents Bush and Putin as any I’ve read. Both the summit and bi-lateral meeting were mixed bags: not enough failure to resemble disaster, but not enough enthusiasm to resemble success. Despite the alliance’s high-profile rebuke of Bush on MAP’s for Ukraine and Georgia, Kupchan observed that Bush has actually done a good job of repairing relations with France and Germany. But in that he’s been helped by a changing of the guard in both countries, as well as [...]
TRAVELS WITH JOE — Sen. Joe Lieberman told Italian guests at a recent American Embassy dinner in Rome that Barack Obama would, in his view, be the Democratic presidential candidate, but that John McCain would win the November presidential election. Embassy staffers speculated to one guest that if McCain does get the White House, Lieberman would be his Secretary of Defense. Lieberman made a side trip to Rome while traveling with McCain in Europe and the Middle East. He said he had met Vatican officials and discussed Iraq. Pope Benedict XVI is deeply concerned over the plight of Iraq’s Christians [...]
