BEST NEWS NUGGETS OF THE WEEK!!
1. The Restoration Doctrine (Richard Haas) from the American Interest"More broadly, 21st-century international relations will be characterized by nonpolarity: a world dominated not by one, two or even several states but rather by dozens of states and other actors possessing and exercising military, economic, diplomatic and cultural power. This is not your father’s world dominated by the United States, Western Europe and Japan. Nor is it a world dominated by two superpowers, as it was during the Cold War, or by one, as it was for a brief moment in the aftermath of the Cold War. Power will increasingly be found in many hands in many places. The result will be a world where power diffuses, not concentrates."
2. Next Year, in Review (David Rothkopf) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"From the fall of Ahmadinejad, Assad, Castro, and Chavez to the rise of cyberattacks -- the top 13 stories that could dominate the headlines in 2012."
3. Iraq Syndrome (Leonard Pitts) from the Chicago Tribune
"...there's little doubt we lost this war -- by every rational measure. ... Whatever "syndrome" does coalesce around this disastrous mistake must develop an intelligence that transcends the machinations that brought it on. For this to happen, we must stare deeply into the heart of the war's consequences."
4. What's Up in China: Hint, It's Not War With the U.S. (James Fallows) from the Atlantic
"The outright rebellion that has erupted in the southern coastal town of Wukan is a powerful illustration of the economic, political, environmental, and social tensions that have built up inside China during the recent boom decade -- and that, if anything, may intensify as the boom slows down."
5. A New World Order for India (Minhaz Merchant) from the Times of India [in English]
"India needs to think and act like a major power. It must fix governance at home, build a strategic foreign policy and leverage its demographic and economic assets. In the emerging world order, the India-US partnership will be as pivotal as the Anglo-US axis was for most of the 20th century. China will play the role of the old Soviet Union with economic satellites in an arc curving down from central Asia to Africa where China is now the world's biggest investor."
6. Why Do So Few Blacks Study the Civil War? (Ta-Nehisi Coates) from the Atlantic
"The belief that the Civil War wasn’t for us was the result of the country’s long search for a narrative that could reconcile white people with each other, one that avoided what professional historians now know to be true: that one group of Americans attempted to raise a country wholly premised on property in Negroes, and that another group of Americans, including many Negroes, stopped them."
7. Rick Perry's Bay of Pigs Moment (Peter Beinart) from the Daily Beast
"For the Texas governor, it seems, even defeat in war is better than no war at all. Peter Beinart on the clueless call for a new ‘Monroe Doctrine’ for Latin America."
8. Rick Perry’s Presidential Candidacy a Bitter Pill for Texans (Evan Smith) from the Daily Beast
"All the governor’s “oops” moments have again saddled his state with unwanted stereotypes, says Evan Smith."
9. Blocks, a Tiny Racecar, and a Flying Shark: Five of the Most Innovative Toys of 2011 from Slate
"I’m going to focus on the year’s five most innovative items—the toys I thought offered new twists on old forms of play. If you’re shopping for kids this year, you won’t go wrong with any of these."
10. Dancer in a Hideous Festive Jumper Takes Gleeful Spin Around Mall to Mariah Carey on his iPod (VIDEO) from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"The expression 'dance like no one is watching' could have been written for him. But frankly everyone was after this young man's interpretative dance video to Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas Is You went viral on YouTube, receiving almost 800,000 hits."
Now -- back to our regular nuggets!!
Iraq, a War Obama Didn’t Want, Shaped His Foreign Policy (Mark Landler) from the New York Times
"The war that Mr. Obama never wanted to fight has weighed on internal debates, dictated priorities and often narrowed options for the United States, according to current and former administration officials."
Without Iraq 'Arab Spring May Have Broken Out Earlier' (Editorial) from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"The US has officially declared the war in Iraq to be over with a flag-casing ceremony in Baghdad. President Barack Obama said that America was leaving behind a "sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq." On Friday, German commentators take a look at the end of the Iraq war."
The Anxious Generation ((Ronald Brownstein) from the National Journal
"Stressed-out Americans over 50 wonder if they’re ever going to be able to retire. They worry that the Great Recession will have a lasting impact on their security."
The Republican Whitewash of the Iraq War to Come (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast
"No one may yet be bold enough to call the just-concluded war a win now, but wait a few years for a big book from a conservative publisher calling Iraq a victory—for Bush, of course, not Obama, says Michael Tomasky."
LOOK FOR IT! The sad truth is, over the long term, Americans DON'T learn from big-time military misadventures. Just ask yourself, what were the big cautionary take-aways from the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War of 1845-46, or the Spanish-American War of 1897-1898 (particularly the five-year insurgency to quell the Filipinos that lasted until 1903)? The only reason cautionary lessons seem to resonate for the Korean and Vietnam Wars is because there are still so many people who lived through them. Ah, but wait. Once these conflicts drift into a past laid out largely in history books, they will sit themselves down next to these nineteenth century conflicts notable largely for their lack of any meaning whatsoever to the average person.
Let's Face It: It's the Radical Right, Not Islam, that is the Greatest Threat to the American Way (Ahmed Rehab) from the Huffington Post
"Imagine if a major American advertiser were to pull its ads off of Jersey Shore because they received objections that the show while portraying a group of Italian-Americans, made the glaring error of excluding Mafiosi."
Public Doesn't Buy 'False Equivalency' in Blame for Economy, Gridlock (J.P. Greene) from the Democratic Strategist
"Timothy Noah's "Poll: It Isn't Both Sides' Fault" at The New Republic provides a strong validation Of James Vega's December 5 TDS post about the folly and fraud of 'false equivalence' in assigning blame to both political parties for legislative gridlock and economic decline."
For GOP Presidential Candidates, Rules to Love By from the Washington Post
"What we accept from our politicians in their personal lives is inconsistent with how our own personal lives work. The contradictions reflect our difficulty in coming to terms with the great changes in sex and marriage since our parents’ and grandparents’ generations. We value marriage, but we also value the right to pursue personal happiness."
A VERY interesting list!
Republican Presidential Primaries: Iowa No GOP Crystal Ball (Mark McKinnon) from the Daily Beast
"Newt Gingrich has peaked, Ron Paul is surging. Is it showtime for Jon Huntsman? Mark McKinnon and George Caudill on the jumble that's likely to come after the caucuses."
Apologizer and Chief?: The Truth Squad Reports On The GOP Debates (Bill Adair & Scott Simon) from NPR's Morning Edition Saturday
One to keep in your wallet for future reference!
"Romney: 'A few minutes into office, Obama travelled around the globe to apologize for America. He went around the world and apologized for America.'.... Truth-checkers: ... we've rated it pants on fire. And we did that after doing some very thorough research. We read Romney's book and we went to the specific speeches that he was referring to. And Obama wasn't apologizing. What Obama was doing, when you really look at the text, he was explaining what his foreign policy would be like and how it would be different from President Bush's. He never said I'm sorry. There was nothing that could be considered an apology. And we showed this to experts, including someone who has written a book about apologies. And the conclusion was he was not apologizing."
Self-Adoration Reaches Newt Heights (Frank Bruni) from the New York Times
"MARVELING over a presidential candidate’s arrogance is like noting that a hockey player wears skates. It states not just the obvious but the necessary. ... But what flavor? And what measure? That’s where candidates — and the presidents that some of them become — differ, in ways that shape the sorts of messes they’re likely to make. And that’s where Newt Gingrich provokes real concern. "
VOLCANO PHOTO NUGGET!!
The Year in Volcanic Activity (PHOTOS) from the Atlantic
"Out of an estimated 1,500 active volcanoes around the world, 50 or so erupt every year, spewing steam, ash, toxic gases, and lava. ... Collected below are scenes from the wide variety of volcanic activity on Earth over the past year. "
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