This week, most of the American press has focused on President Bush's European "charm offensive" and his prospects to "mend fences" with our NATO allies. But lost in the stories of Chirac the "good cowboy", "ridiculous" plans for Iran, and scolding Putin is the overriding issue of trans-Atlantic relations today: The Bush administration fundamentally does […]

Kicking off his European tour in Brussels, President Bush took Russian President Vladimir Putin to task for his steps away from democratic reform. Bush bluntly asserted that in order to take its place among the trans-Atlantic community, Russia "must renew a commitment to democracy and the rule of law." Clearly, Bush sent his friend a […]

On the same day that the North Korean announcement of its nuclear weaponry put the Bush administration on the defensive, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice got a double-dose of blowback from her 9/11 dissembling. First, the release of a previously classified report by the National Archives shows that the FAA had been warned repeatedly of […]

Once in a rare while, tectonic historical change occurs with the span of only few days. The dramatic fall of the Berlin Wall heralding the sudden collapse of the Soviet Union, was one of those watershed moments. And for many Americans, the events of the last 10 days of January, with the Rice confirmation, the […]

With President Bush's 2005 State of the Union approaching, my 2004 SOTU-eve critique of Bush's so-called Ownership Society still stands. State of Disunion Even with his shaky State of the Union address and dipping approval ratings, President Bush unfortunately remains in a strong position for the 2004 election. Saddam is captured, GDP is surging, and […]

In the aftermath of President Bush' second inauguration, there is a widespread consensus that taken literally, his address would commit the United States to a global campaign of democratic proselytization. American friends and foes, puppets and pawns, the wistful and the wary, all are understandably concerned. Before starting a panic over the President's apparent Wilsonian […]

In the wake of the devastating tsunami that killed thousands and threatens hundreds of thousands more across Asia, much of the coverage and debate in the United States has centered around whether or not the initial U.S. $35 million aid package is, in the words of U.N emergency coordinator Jan Egeland, "stingy." Lost in the […]

Speaking of cognitive dissonance, the Bush administration continues to merrily amble forward as the situation in Iraq degrades and the stench of American abuse of prisoners grows. Earlier today, President Bush blandly stated that "free elections will proceed as planned." . At the same time he was issuing this pablum, the New York Times and […]

President Bush's "reaching out" visit to Canada is getting a chilly reception from our neighbors in the Great White North. Protesters holding signs simply stating "please leave" bring back memories of the Chretien cabinet minister who called Bush "a moron." It wasn't always this way. Before the current sad state of affairs, then candidate Bush […]

With his resignation today, Secretary of State Colin Powell is being warmly remembered as a voice of moderation within an increasingly immoderate Bush administration, a calm and subtle diplomat seeking to build consensus and coalition. Compared to the arrogance of Rumsfeld, the incompetence of Rice and the hubris of the President, these tributes seem fitting. […]