The U.S. is taking time off today to honor veterans. The Veterans Day holiday is a time to give thanks and to pause and recognize the contributions of the more than 23 million veterans who served our country. The day is also observed all over the …
The U.S. is taking time off today to honor veterans. The Veterans Day holiday is a time to give thanks and to pause and recognize the contributions of the more than 23 million veterans who served our country. The day is also observed all over the …
President Obama took a break this week from Washington D.C. drama to attend the G20 summit in France. As you can imagine, most of the debate at the summit had to do with the European debt crisis. Given that focus, it was not a summit at …
If you have followed this blog for a while you may have noticed a few posts on the subject of U.S. foreign aid (most recently: here ,
As Libyans celebrate the end of almost 42 years of dictatorial rule by Muammar al-Qaddafi you may be wondering what role the U.S. played in the dramatic final hours of Qaddafi’s life. According to most reports, as the fall of Sirte became certain, Qaddafi fled in …
As you may have heard, Steve Jobs lost his battle with cancer today. Much will be written about the life and legacy of this amazing man over the next few days and I expect his death will echo and reverberate in our media and social networks …
An article in yesterday’s New York Times caught my attention. It concerns the U.S. budget for foreign aid programs and long-time readers will know this is a subject we discuss here from time to time. Most recently I mentioned it in a
It’s no secret that representing the U.S. abroad entails both risks and rewards. Ambassadors though are rarely in the news and rightly so- they are sent to represent their country, not make a name for themselves. I’m sure most people would be hard-pressed to name any …
As you may know by now, the leadership of the Palestinian Authority have decided to seek a vote on statehood at the United Nations later this month. President Obama asked them not to pursue this path and they refused. Now, normally I like to consider weighty …
There was a lot of talk at this week’s CNN Tea Party Debate about creating jobs but not a lot about increasing global competitiveness. I thought about that when I read this report about …
I’ve been reviewing some of the 9/11 commentaries and news reports that are saturating our media as the anniversary approaches and I have to admit that many of them leave me feeling cold. This commentary by Frank Rich in the New …
As this last day of the month unfolds I think we can be forgiven for being a bit distracted as a country. An earthquake hit the East Coast, and while not unprecedented, it was certainly jarring for many people. And then Hurricane Irene battered and drenched …
In physics a quantum state is indeterminate until observed. This is known as the Heisenberg uncertainty principle and well illustrated by the famous “Schrödinger’s Cat” example in which the cat is both dead and alive at the same time. It’s very rare to find examples of …
As the civil war in Libya dominates news headlines this week, the State Department reminds us that U.S. efforts to fight famine in the Horn of Africa continue even as the media focus has shifted away. How …
We seem to have entered into a new era of the U.S. role in the world in which we take it upon ourselves to determine which world leaders are fit to serve and invite those unworthy to step down from power. We did this recently with …
President Obama traveled to Dover Air Force Base today to honor the 22 Navy SEALs, three Air Force personnel, and five-member Army air crew killed in the attack on the Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan this past weekend. As the
