Challenges!

Too many challenges out there, US role in the world, Iraq, Iran, Aphganistan, War on Terror, Middle East peace process, North Korea, China, 'NEW DIPLOMACY': FINANCE, CLIMATE CHANGE, ENERGY, but the most challening one will be, of course, RUSSIA.
Recent events in Georgia precipitated a crisis in relations between Russia and the West not seen since the end of the Cold War.
This encapsulated all the frustrations that have built up on both sides and raised the question of how the new administration will frame its policy towards Russia. It needs Russian help in dealing with other problems such as Iran and Darfur, where the Security Council is driving policy.

Russia's military intervention in Georgia raised the diplomatic stakes
The immediate issue is how fast to allow Georgia (and Ukraine) to advance towards the Nato membership they have been promised in principle.
Nato foreign ministers discuss this in December, and behind the scenes the Obama team will have its say. But even the Bush administration is now saying that Georgian membership is "years away", so there are opportunities here for progress with Russia.
The US anti-missile system to be installed in Poland and the Czech Republic remains a problem for Russia. Will that be slowed down?
Clues for how President-elect Obama will deal with Russia will also be seen in how he handles nuclear issues. A key one is whether the US and Russia will negotiate further reductions in nuclear weapons.
On the wider front, Barack Obama endorsed the call last year by four senior former US diplomats (including Henry Kissinger) for the US to aim for a nuclear weapons-free world, as it is supposed to be under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. How far will this be taken?

This man should have been the Secretary of State!

I'm very disappointed in Obama for picking Hillary as the Secreatary of State. First Medaline Allbright, then, Condoleeza Rice, now Hillary Clinton? Why do all the SoS have to be women? I think this was a mistake same as it was with McCain picking Palin because there are many more people who are better qualified for the job.

So who should have been the new SoS? Richard Hoolbroke, of course! Hnegotiated an end to a Balkan war, helped normalize relations with China and advanced American interests as envoy to the United Nations. He helped raise money for Obama, offered him advice, and argued his case in articles and on cable news shows. One article was headlined: "Why the Nation and the World Needs Barack Obama."

What is Barack Obama's greatest challenge now?

I expect Obama will simply bring US policies at home and abroad more in line with what it was before Bush came into office i.e more centrist. So nothing radically different. Some elements of US industry & finance is in trouble so Obama will do what any US President in the pockets of American Corporations has done before and that is listen to their concerns. The first priority of President Obami is to lead by example. His calm, abiding presence and keen intellect are only two of his positive traits. To those who view President Obama as a "threat to America" I encourage patience and respect. President Obama has been duly elected and we must honor the office.

Obama’s support of Kosovo

This whole election process to me was more than just about the America's security, economy, reputation, etc...it was also about my old country, now Republic of Kosovo. Even though it was Bill Clinton who helped us fight against a fascist state (Serbia), on this issue, McCain wanted to basically destroy Serbia.
I was very skeptical of Obama's election, however, the more he was talking about Kosovo, the more I supported him because as it turns out, the American foreign policy in Kosovo will not "CHANGE".
One Obama aide said during the election campaign that Obama supported the independence of Kosovo and its "democratic process toward full sovereignty." This was enough for Kosovo's Albanians to celebrate the night Obama became US president-elect. They would not have been unhappy even if McCain had won the election. However, Kosovo's way toward independence from Serbia was paved by President Bill Clinton, a democrat who ordered a military intervention against Serbia during the regime of Slobodan Milosevic.

Obama's pick for White House chief crushes Arabs' hope for change?

While it was very obvious that the majority of muslims and arabs supported Obama whether because of his race, his name (Barack means "blessed" in Arabic and Hussein which means "handsome one"), or his hope of change in American politics, this dream seems to have been ashort-lived fiesta with Obama's appointment as White House chief of staff of Rahm Emanuel, a tough American with Israeli roots and sympathies.

Many people worldwide, especially Arabs, who were skeptical of American democracy because even though it has a significant big minority, all of its presidents were Anglo. With the elections of Obama however, those people are now are rubbing their eyes in disbelief. People in middle east say they are fed up with colonial white faces and want to end the US presense in Iraq. I think those people who think that becuase we got a president now who is not a "white face", the US foreign policy will change are dead wrong, for very obvious reasons.

What have we learned this election?

1. Barack Obama is the first northern Democrat to win since JFK.
2. When liberal democrats have run, they all have been beaten. When centrists have run, they have run. Obama seemed to have broken this rule.
3. Senators have viable again. For the past forty years, Americans have expected their presidental candidate to have some sort of executive experience. Ronald Reagan (California), Jimmy Carter (Georgia) and Bill Clinton (Arkansas) were governors. JFK was the last sitting senator to become president. But this year, the three strongest candidates - Mr Obama, Mr McCain and Hillary Clinton - were all senators.
4. Web-based social promiscuity is definitely the way forward. Facebook and MySpace were used with devastating effect by the Obama campaign. So, too, his own beautifully-designed website. Its organisational and money-making power were extraordinary and election-changing.
5. The veteran problem. Nobody doubts John McCain's remarkable story of wartime bravery. But does it help to be a hero?
   For the fifth election running, the candidate with the more heroic or convincing war record has lost. McCain against Obama.
   Kerry and Gore against Bush. Bob Dole against Bill Clinton and Bush Sr against Clinton.
6. Like John McCain, Barry Goldwater, the GOP presidential candidate in 1964, was an Arizonan senator, a former pilot, a maverick and a straight-talker. He commandeered a plane during the 1964 convention in San Francisco to buzz the convention below.
   Arizonan senators with a love of dare devil aeronautics and devil-may-care linguistics? Don't call us, we'll call you.

I like the connection between Obama-JFK and McCain-Goldwater. The more I read about it, the more it seem that everything is predestined.

Suddenly, it may be cool to be an American again?

Things may indeed be changing for good, at least for now. If you google "Obama Change", you see thousands of articles where Americans who live and work abroad are no longer living in "hidding", they're not saying they are Canadians anymore. For once in eight years, we actually saw people take to the streets in Beirut, Paris, Buenos Aires and not burn the American flag but embrace it.
I wonder though, is there a price to pay for being too nice? During the elections, Obama has been attacked constantly for his "too soft" stand on some foreign policy issues. I guess we won't know that untill he actually takes charge but we should not give in on our interest just to please people world wide. It's getting more and more competitive in the world today, and with the rise of Eastern Superpowers, China, India, and Russia, and especially Russia who is invading sovereign countires and dividing them on ethnic lines, Obama is going to have to be very carefull on how he deals with these issues.
But untill then, thank God for this "change" and Americans finally got an opporunity once again to show their pride of being an American.

Obama Vs. McCain

McCain vs. Obama Debate

I thought this debate was very fun to watch because both candidates were smart, well-informed, and good debaters. I pretty much had an idea on where both the candidates stood on most of the issues but the part I found most intriguing was the little details they were bringing up about each other. For example, McCain talked about decreasing the size of government and cut spending. One example was the $3 million to study the DNA of bears in Montana. I’m not sure if Obama supported this or not but I’m pretty sure McCain didn’t.
One of the Obama’s points that I’m having really hard time following is to pull out the troops out of Iraq and concentrate them in Afghanistan.
I think by now, it does not really matter where you stand on whether we should have invaded Iraq or not issue. We’re already in there, and you can’t make a decision today that reflects yesterday’s issues. We went there for WMD but now the issue is terrorism.
Even thought I disagree with most of Obama’s foreign policy issues, he did raise some good questions, such as whether we should start talking with countries such as Iran and Syria. For the sake of peace and humanity, I believe all diplomatic options should be exhausted before any military strike.

Party Platforms

Issue #1 - Education

Education is really a place where you see the differences between the two parties. Of course, both parties share the same objective, to educate our people, but they differ on how to do it.
On the issue of school performance, Republicans are big supporters of letting people choose the school of their choice if the school they are assigned to is labeled as “dangerous” or “failing” schools. Democrats on the other hand, being very big critic of the No Child Left Behind Act, want to abolish this school labeling practice; they say it doesn’t solve the problem. Democrats say schools should be reworked and rebuild, not just to be labeled as “dangerous” and “failing” and be left alone.
Minorities and religion are another factor where you see the differences between Republicans and Democrats in the education field. Democrats are much friendlier to minorities than the Republicans; they encourage students to learn more languages, especially the America Native languages. Also, they tend to be very patient with students who do not speak English. Republicans on the other hand, from what I understand reading their platforms, is that the biggest objective is to learn English and little less sensitive to people who don’t speak English or foreign languages.
But of course, the biggest difference between the two parties in education lies with religion. Republicans are big supporters of classes for boys only or for girls only, equal classes for religious purpose, and of course, the right to sing The Pledge of Allegiance. Democrats didn’t even mention those issues.

Issue @2 - Territories/Regions
I know we only had to pick one issue but while reading the platforms, I came across something that I thought was quite shocking, the issue of U.S. territories. The Democratic platform talks about granting the right to self-determination and self-government to territories such as Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Hawaii, etc??? I wasn’t aware that we have been having these issues that we have territories that want to succeed from us, expect of course, the Republic of Texas. I think this is shocking! If those territories start succeeding, imagine what kind of precedent they would set? There are hundreds of frozen conflicts through out the world who want to succeed from other countries, and when they see territories in U.S. succeeding, I think this country will collapse.

Investigation On Campaign Finance

First I just want to thank professor Fairbanks for giving us those links. I don't think I would have ever found them. I found so many interesting facts about my community, the Republic of Texas, and many other intriguing people.

One interesting fact that I found on OpenSecrets.org was the fact that Oil & Gas companies donated only $6,874,230 in Texas, compared to Lawyers and Lawfirms who donated about twice as much. I think that because the off-shore drilling issue has been brought up lately, I wouldn't be suprised if the Oil & Gas contributions doubled or trippled in the coming months.

According to CommonCause.org, there are some problems with the current campaign finance laws. Both of the candidates have raised this issue, however, looks like they have postponed it for at least untill the elections is over.

McCains reaction to Russia's invasion of Republic of Georgia.

I know this is probably old news but I felt like this was definitely worth going back to. I thought McCain's reaction to Russia's invasion of Georgia was excellent. Not many people, and certainly not our current president, knew of the Russia's desire to regain its former world superpower status. But because of McCain's experience in foreign affairs, he knew that one day the Russians were going to be back demanding their status as a world superpower be reinstated, he told the Russians they were not going to have it. In fact, he condemned them and demanded that they retreat or face isolation in the world community. While our president was naive enough to think that Putin was a "good" guy, McCain never made that mistake because he knew of Putin's involvment in KGB activities, which one can take a wild guess at what they were; assasinations, murder, etc...

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