According to diplomatic correspondent Natalie Nougayrede of France’s Le Monde newspaper, President Barack Obama isn’t the only NATO leader going through contortions over Afghanistan. And in the case of President Nicolas Sarkozy of France there is a paradox: “after exhibiting the most spectacular gestures toward the United States at the end of the Bush era, he seemed to lose enthusiasm after...

Did we in fact dodge the ‘Depression bullet,’ or have the events of the past few months proven that in fact, the human race at the present time is incapable of reordering the global economic system? According to the Financial Times Deutschland ‘s chief economist Thomas Frick, most of the transactions that banks were and continue to conduct are not only unproductive – they are downright...

If there was a high school yearbook category Person Most Likely to Stand in Front of a Tank To Stop It, I’d be the winner hands down. And yet, there’s no way I would support a complete withdrawal from Afghanistan post-haste. This blog entry, A Commitment Strategy to Afghanistan, by Lorelei Kelly offers a great explanation but here’s the crux for me (I recommend reading the whole column though): The...

http://worldmeets.us/images/obama.hope.afghanistan_hojemacau.gif Now that the decision has been made to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, few seem either pleased or optimistic. That would include columnist Francois Sergent of France’s Liberation, who writes in part: “He can no longer attribute everything to the disastrous heritage of his predecessor. From Jerusalem to Islamabad, the...

“Did you notice,” E.J. Dionne asks, “that the president did not choose to quote any of his party’s own giants…? Instead, he quoted a Republican, Dwight D. Eisenhower.” For those who doubt that Barack Obama has anything in common with Ike, herewith the story of a memorable evening with the nation’s 34th president: In the summer of 1964 I fell in love with the man I had voted...

Cyrus the Great, who ruled Persia as the Roman Republic was just getting off the ground – and after the Jewish people had been ejected from Judea and exiled to Babylon. Why do Westerners, Jews and particularly Israelis mistrust Iran so? That seems to be the question that this historical defense of Iranian morality and behavior seeks to address. From Iran’s state-run Kayhan newspaper, Kian Mokhtari...

From what can be gleaned from editorials coming out of Pakistan today, President Obama’s long-awaited speech on his Afghanistan strategy has been anything but well received. Chief among Islamabad’s concerns is that more U.S. troops in Afghanistan mean more militants will flee into Pakistan – particularly from Afghanistan’s Helmand Province, where British forces will soon get a big...

In his most recent editorial, Newsweek’s Editor Jon Meacham poses “Why Dick Cheney should run in 2012.” After dismissing the expected “rolling of their eyes dismissively” and warning Liberals not to spit out their lattes, Meacham explains that he is serious about a Dick Cheney bid for the presidential nomination in 2012, as such a run would be “good for Republicans and...

As the world awaits the President’s new Afghanistan strategy, the government of Pakistan appears to be throwing down the gauntlet in the event of an Obama “surge.” This editorial from Pakistan’s The Nation warns that a buildup of U.S. troops along the Pakistan border would be bad for the United States, bad for Afghanistan, and nearly catastrophic for Pakistan. The Nation editorial...

To those worried about President Obama using military regalia tonight to enhance his military/macho image when addressing the nation on Afghanistan from West Point: Relax. The Washington Post, has some good news for you: President Obama will not be wearing a flight suit when he addresses the cadets at West Point on Tuesday night. Nor will he wear a bomber jacket with the presidential seal on the chest, nor...

ALONG WITH WOULD-BE ASSASSIN, IRAQI SOLDIERS LAUGH UNDER SIGN THAT SAYS: ‘Assassination attempt against journalist Al Abadi is an assassination attempt against democracy’ The intricacy of America’s role in post-war Iraq has yet to be understood, but a few indications can be discerned by editorials like this one. In the process of toppling Saddam, a startling independent media has emerged. Now...

It’s one of the most perplexing paradoxes of the human condition: Why do people formed to worship a perfect, loving, omniscient, omnipresent god continue to murder one another in that very god’s name, millenia after millenia? Shaming his mostly Muslim and Christian readers with a global exposition of this madness, Nagib Aoun of Lebanon’s L’Orient Le Jour points out the real casualty...

Much to the consternation of Brazilian Jews and many of Brazil’s Western allies, Brazilian President Lula has been hosting the much-reviled Iranian President Ahmadinejad according to the theory that he’ll be able to get his holocaust-denying counterpart to change his nation’s nuclear course. According to this article by Sergio Malbergier of Brazil’s Folha newspaper, “Lula’s...

On behalf of all of the people of WORLDMEETS.US, I want to wish everyone who works on or visits the Moderate Voice a very Happy Thanksgiving. It’s a venue that would have to be invented if it didn’t already exist. But Thanksgiving or no, world news rolls relentlessly on. Somewhat overshadowed by other major news stories, the trouble between Venezuela and Colombia, exacerbated by the impending opening...

I still continue to visit art galleries and museums in New Delhi and Chandigarh (or wherever I am in the world) as a matter of habit. I am one of those ‘art for art’s sake’ type. I am neither an art expert or a buyer. But I do discover vibrational links with certain works/creations of art, and feel very comfortable in the company of artists. So the following information about art/commerce/recession...

The battle for Kashmir: While it remains one of the most enigmatic and misunderstood conflicts on the planet, it is also one of the most dangerous and unpredictable – and a major threat to the battle against al-Qaeda and the Taliban. This editorial from Pakistan’s Frontier Post, a newspaper published near the Afghan border in Quetta, shows that while people were all smiles last evening at the White...

I enjoy emotional music.  In fact, I’m a sucker for a good soundtrack.  The plot, acting, and special effects might stink to high heaven, but if the movie is scored by John Williams I’ll let it slide.  My cynicism is no match for an evocative weepy violin crescendo.  Consequently, I’ve teared up at the climax of some really awful films. My wife enjoys exploiting this weakness in me for her own bemusement. ...

A Jane Goodall Thanksgiving by Michael Winship Give thanks. Because this isn’t one of those Thanksgiving lists of things for which we should be grateful — although health, family,friends, laughter, etc., would certainly all be on mine. And Jane Goodall. Yes, that Jane Goodall, the woman we all grew up with watching those National Geographic specials on TV as she communed with the chimpanzees...

In the realm of getting the job done – principle be damned – how is President Obama doing? According to columnist Zbigniew Parafianowicz of Poland’s Dziennik newspaper, the brass tacks deal-making Barack Obama has been pursuing shows that he’s adjusting well to the inevitable compromises of power. For Poland’s Dziennik, Zbigniew Parafianowicz writes in part: “Sunday: a meeting...

OBAMA, HU JINTAO AND NEWLY-APPOINTED E.U. PRESIDENT, HERMAN VAN ROMPUY Continuing with our theme tonight about whether the ‘China Model’ is a sound replacement for one that marries political and economic freedom, this article by the editor in chief of France’s La Tribune is skeptical of Beijing’s chances. Contrary to the Saudi article we posted earlier headlined ‘China Model’...

Perhaps it was inevitable. If so, the inevitable has happened. Countries that have either an authoritarian streak or are outright totalitarian are beginning to talk of a new model of development to replace what’s known as the “Washington Consensus.” In other words, state-controlled economics divorced from pluralism and political freedom. A case in point is this article from the Kingdom of...

I’ve been waiting, not so patiently, since the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force released new recommendations for breast cancer screening, to know what Bernadine Healy thinks. Now we know: she says we should ignore them. From Fox News Sunday: [CHRIS WALLACE]: What would you tell a woman patient with no particular history of breast cancer what she should do about getting mammograms? DR. BERNADINE HEALY,...

Somehow I missed Sarah Palin’s proclamation, in an interview with Barbara Walters last week, that Jews are flocking to Israel, right now.  Here’s the transcript for the relevant section: Barbara Walters: Governor, let’s talk about some issues. The Middle East. The Obama administration does not want Israel to build any more settlements on what they consider “Palestinian territory.”...

Now that we’ve gotten some of the Chinese reaction to president Obama’s trip, it’s time to start sampling the reaction of the rest of the world. This article by the great Thomas Klau of Germany’s Financial Times Deutschland is not encouraging – and points out that without the U.S. able to exercise effective leadership, it’s time to grapple seriously with stronger global...

What is the significance of President Obama’s habit of bowing to foreign royalty? Continuing with our coverage of China’s reaction to president Obama’s Asia tour, Diguo Zhunjiang for China’s state-controlled Global Geographic Times asserts that while this results in a great loss of face for the United States, he warns his readers not to be lulled into a sense of complacency by Obama’s...