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Disagrees with Samuel P. Huntington's thesis

Interesting new development. It seems that the US and NATO have been pursuing peace much more seriously than previously thought. Also, the Taliban denies that any peace talks have been taking place.

This recent development is a clear indicator of the difference between Bush-era foreign policy and that of the Obama administration. It remains unclear whether this new approach to Middle East peace will prove effective, but given the failures of the last administration, it will be interesting to see where such discussions with the enemy, who we have long considered to be a terrorist group, will lead. President Obama has made significant strides in terms of the conflicts in the Middle East, withdrawing combat troops from Iraq, but the effectiveness of these actions have yet to be proven; what distinguishes this strategy, and perhaps leads to the optimism surrounding it, is that a renewed effort to negotiate peace and draw down American presence in the Middle East is so radically different than before: different, yes; effective, maybe; we will have to wait and see.

Federal Railroad Administration-Home of various reports on High Speed Rail from 1997, 2009.

The Trump administration is reducing funding funding the Palestinian refugee support group of the U.N. (Unrwa), which could exacerbate the refugee crisis in the Middle East

Meeting on Wed. Oct 18th from 7-9pm in Lafayette with Obama's administrator of Medicare and Medicade

The US Secretary of Health visited Taiwan a couple of weeks ago and praised their coronavirus response, where despite being so close to China, only had around 480 cases and 7 deaths, in contrast with the US's over 5 million cases and over 180,000 deaths. China was not pleased with this visit, as it considers Taiwan as part of China, even though Taiwan is a completely democratically-run country. This visit from a top US official represents the growing tension between the US and China, which has become especially prominent during the Trump Administration.

I find it really interesting how the Trump administration is using their trip to Taiwan as a distraction so people don't focus on how poorly they dealt with coronavirus, and instead focus on how good Taiwan is doing now that America has ties with them again. It is also amazing how Taiwan was able to handle coronavirus with such a large population and many high density cities.

It's odd that the Biden administration is reaching this far South to prevent immigration.

This situation reflects on Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations" in an interesting way. It appears that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad prioritized Syria's relationship with Iran, what some might call a civilizational tie, over the political interests of Syria as an individual state in his decision to turn down a deal with Israel that would have returned the Golan Heights to Syria's control. The discussion of the influence of upcoming elections in Israel and the US on the release of this news also adds an interesting dimension. Is it the Obama administration that is manipulating the facts about these peace talks so as to appear more effective in Middle East policy? Or is it Netanyahu who is misrepresenting his involvement in an effort to appear strong and unyielding towards the rest of the Arab world in an election year?

Interesting!

The Iranian national currency, the rial has been in steady decline for months, and the only method that the government has used to combat the issue is to print more money-- not the best plan of action.

I agree with what Alexander said. I think it would be interesting to investigate whether or not the Obama administration has considered applying economic pressure to Iran in order to achieve diplomatic means. With Iran in such an unstable economic state (which I am surprised isn't covered more by American news media), why would the US government even consider using military force against Iran if the Ahmadinejad regime could be destabilized in another way. We'll see how Obama and Romney treat this issue in the foreign policy debate, as Obama could use an argument based on Iran's economic instability in going against Romney's position on using military force against Iran.

yes!

There's debate in the Obama administration about how to respond to the hacks targeting Democratic Party organizations and increasing evidence that Russian hackers also were behind attacks on election registration websites. FBI and Justice Department officials believe there's strong evidence to warrant publicly naming Russia as responsible for the political organization attacks, law enforcement and intelligence officials briefed on the investigation say.

The Republican National Convention took an uncharacteristic turn toward foreign policy on Wednesday night, as two prominent speakers lashed out at President Barack Obama's leadership in world affairs. "Unfortunately, for four years, we've drifted away from our proudest traditions of global leadership, traditions that are truly bipartisan," said Sen.

Very interesting. I like this quote from the article: "Rice oversaw U.S. foreign policy during a time when many citizens have come to feel the United States overextended itself abroad, entering into two wars that continued well into the Obama administration (and one, Afghanistan, that continues to this day). Perhaps in a nod to that legacy, Rice acknowledged that "there is a weariness -- I know that it feels as if we have carried these burdens long enough." But, she continued, "One of two things will happen if we don't lead: No one will lead and there will be chaos, or someone will fill the vacuum who does not share our values. My fellow Americans, we do not have a choice: We cannot be reluctant to lead, and you cannot lead from behind." For us to discuss: what IS the United States' foreign policy role today? How might it be changing?

"Earlier in the day, Rice had offered some specific criticisms of Obama's handling of the uprising in Syria, accusing the president of waffling and "muting" America's voice."

The Iraqi military announced Sunday that it had agreed to share intelligence about the Islamic State with Russia, the Syrian government and Iran, an agreement that caught the Obama administration off guard. The Iraqi military said in a statement that the new agreement was necessary because thousands of volunteers who have joined the Islamic State have come from Russia.

This article cites a few surveys taken since President Obama took office. It is interesting to look at this in comparison to the article we read from 2006 about Chavez and his disapproval of the Bush administration.