Global Archive

After reading this AFP piece about “State Department 2.0,” (which I found via Twitter), I’m now following the department’s Twitter feed. The article, which was published on Saturday, pointed out that the dipnote feed (which goes by the same name as the State Department blog), “only” had 1,770 followers at press time, comparing that total with the some 177,000 who breathlessly follow the Tweets of Britney Spears. Comparing the department’s drawing power with the lowest-common-denominator celebrity appeal of Spears is like comparing the ratings of C-SPAN and American Idol. A better comparison might be the Twitter feed of some reasonably […]

I couldn’t find true video of it, but today’s selection is one of the more beautiful songs off one of Tom Waits’ more beautiful albums. I was bitten by the vagabond bug and began dreaming of the great escape at a relatively young age. So this sort of imagery was already talking to me when I first heard it as a teenager: Planes and trains and boats and busesCharacteristically evoke a common attitude of blueUnless you have a suitcase and a ticket and a passportAnd the cargo that they’re carrying is you. I’ve argued before that citizen diplomacy is the […]

We are pleased to announce that World Politics Review’s subscription-only service has arrived! For the moment, our features will make up the bulk of our subscription content. We’ll continue to publish new feature themes every two weeks. Check out our latest theme, on “The Changing Landscape of U.S. Intelligence,” with articles by Jason Vest, Mark Lowenthal and Richard Weitz. And stay tuned for upcoming themes on the state (pun intended) of the Westphalian system and the geopolitics of water. Although most of our daily briefings and columns will remain freely accessible, we’ll also be publishing subscription-only articles in those sections […]

This is perhaps the most important change in U.S. foreign policy by the Obama administration so far. Good policy starts with a rational process, and the new system that National Security Adviser James Jones outlines in his interview with the Washington Post closely mirrors the recommendations of many of those experts who have examined how to build a better-functioning national security policymaking process. Here, for example, is our own Richard Weitz summarizing the findings of the Project on National Security Reform, a nonpartisan organization funded by Congress, foundations and the private sector: Interagency cooperation remains possible at the tactical level […]