OP-EDS
AP Photo
October 9, 2009
"Whatever He Decides, Afghanistan Will Hurt Obama"
The Providence Journal
By Aaron Rapport, Research Fellow, International Security Program
"...Obama is unlikely to decrease his commitment to Afghanistan, even if assessments of the situation there grow increasingly dire. Instead he will probably opt to push the day of reckoning down the road. This is not just cynical politics on Obama's part. Powerful, success-oriented individuals tend to believe they can find solutions to even the most intractable problems if they are given enough time. As a result, they underestimate the long-term risks and costs of their actions."
October 8, 2009
"A Better Way to Health Reform"
Washington Post
By Martin Feldstein, George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University
"The American health-care system suffers from three serious problems: Health-care costs are rising much faster than our incomes. More than 15 percent of the population has neither private nor public insurance. And the high cost of health care can lead to personal bankruptcy, even for families that do have health insurance," says Martin Feldstein, member of the board at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center.
AP Photo
October 7, 2009
"Business Sense and Maturity Could Save Us All a Pretty Penny"
The Scotsman
By Azeem Ibrahim, Research Fellow, International Security Program
All too often, we are governed by politicians who either do not have the experience to match their responsibility or the abilities to match their power....Over the past 20 years, MPs have got younger and younger. Of course, it is important for MPs to be in touch with the electorate, but this needs balance. Less experience of life and work outside politics means less experience of the society they represent. That has not led to better governance."
AP Images
October 6, 2009
"In Praise of Meetings"
On Leadership at washingtonpost.com
By Ben Heineman, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
"Properly conceived and run, meetings are not air, but action, not a nettlesome diversion but an important instrument. They are also vital after decisions are made."
AP Photo
October 5, 2009
"Keeping a Lid on Homegrown Terror"
Boston Globe
By Lorenzo Vidino, Research Fellow, Initiative on Religion in International Affairs/International Security Program
"...[A]ggressive counterterrorism tactics and improved intelligence sharing have allowed US authorities to dismantle cells and keep the country safe. At the same time, though, the United States seems to be lacking a long-term strategy to confront the threat. Authorities have been unable to conceive a policy that would preemptively tackle the issue of radicalization, preventing young American Muslims from embracing extremist ideas in the first place."
AP Images
October 2, 2009
"Corruption--The Afghan Wild Card"
The Atlantic Monthly
By Ben Heineman, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
"But-- and here it becomes vexatious-- how can this be done by a weak, corrupt government during a dangerous insurgency, especially after a contested election marked by serious fraud? And, if corruption is not effectively addressed in a short time frame, does this undermine -indeed checkmate--- the ultimate military mission as expressed by President Obama earlier this year to disrupt, dismantle and eventually defeat al Qaeda and prevent their return to Afghanistan by defeating the Taliban insurgency."
AP Photo
October 1, 2009
Obama’s opportunity in Iran
Boston Globe
By R. Nicholas Burns, Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics
The Obama administration faces a daunting set of barriers to diplomatic progress today as the United States holds the first serious talks between Washington and Tehran in 30 years.
AP Photo
September 30, 2009
Iran Sanctions: Who Really Wins?
The Brookings Institution
By Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, Research Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
US and Iranian representatives meet this week at a time when trust between the two countries is at a low ebb following the revelation last week of a previously undisclosed Iranian nuclear facility under construction and the test firing of Iran's long-range missiles on September 28. Meanwhile, the Obama administration's policy of engagement with Iran has emerged as little more than the old policy of "carrots and sticks."
September 30, 2009
Partnering for Progress in the Middle East
Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, The Dubai Initiative
BEIRUT -- At almost every international or regional gathering these days on how to fix the assorted problems and deficiencies in the Middle East, a common theme keeps popping up: What is the most effective and legitimate way for foreign parties -- governments, international agencies, non-governmental organizations, universities or companies -- to help achieve advances in areas like human rights, economic growth, social protection, democratization, or technological advancement?
AP Image
September 29, 2009
"A Budapest B-School Teaches Leadership at the Crossroads"
Harvard Business Review
By Ben Heineman, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
"In this era of upheaval, CEU Business School's aspiration - to merge teaching and research on business and society with traditional commercial subjects to train leaders for markets in transition - applies to all nations, developing and developed."
