U.S. & DemocracyA growing number of countries, from Russia to Ethiopia, are closing a once-open door to Western democracy promotion programs. In a new
Foreign Affairs article (
The Backlash Against Democracy Promotion), the Carnegie Endowment's Thomas Carothers analyzes this backlash against democracy building, tracing its roots in the Western role in the recent "color revolutions" as well as to President Bush's "Freedom Agenda."
U.S. & Iran"The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations on Sunday told an influential pro-Israel lobbying group there is an urgent need to confront Iran's 'clear and unrelenting drive' for a nuclear weapons program," according to the Associated Press (
Newsday - Bolton: World Must Confront Iran). In "
Dubious Assumptions about Iran," Ted Galen Carpenter, Cato Institute's vice president for defense and foreign policy studies, writes:
A consensus is gradually emerging in the United States that Washington and its allies must take whatever action is necessary to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power. Various options are advocated, from U.N.-mandated economic sanctions to air strikes on suspected nuclear installations to active subversion of the mullah-controlled regime in Tehran.
I wonder why the old
MAD doctrine of nuclear deterrence is no longer an option?
