Analysis of Obama's foreign policy

worth a read if you are interested in real foreign policy discussions. If you prefer emotional ranting please feel free to indicate so with a suitable reply. ;)


America’s Extended Hand: Assessing the Obama Administration’s Global Engagement Strategy


Edit: fixed link I hope.

But thanks for the report.

;-)

"We examine, first, the administration’s overall philosophy regarding public engagement and show how it both differs from those of previous administrations and demonstrates striking continuity with the last years of the Bush administration."

It is this observation that starts alot of the emotional ranting.

Established in 2007, the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) is widely considered one of the Barack Obama administration’s key outside think tanks on national security and defense policy. CNAS describes itself as an “independent and nonpartisan research institution” that aims to engage “policymakers, experts, and the public with innovative fact-based research, ideas, and analysis to shape and elevate the national security debate.” <1>

CNAS’s leading role in Obama-era policy-making was confirmed when in 2009 the organization’s cofounders—Michele Flournoy and Kurt Campbell—and several other CNAS scholars were tapped to serve in the administration. <2> Flournoy became the undersecretary of defense for policy, the same post held by the controversial neoconservative figure Douglas Feith during the first George W. Bush administration. Campbell was tapped to serve as the State Department’s lead Asia expert. <3>

Several CNAS principals were also named to the Defense Policy Board, <4> the in-house Pentagon advisory board which, under the leadership of former chair Richard Perle, played a role in promoting an expansive “war on terror” during the Bush administration. <5>

A largely centrist think tank with liberal-hawk tendencies, <6> CNAS leadership as of mid-2009 included a range of moderate Democratic and Republican leaders, as well as several high profile corporate leaders and policy wonks. John Nagl, who replaced Flournoy as CNAS president, is a retired army officer who specializes in counterinsurgency (COIN) strategy. The Inter Press Service described Nagl as “a poster boy for COIN enthusiasts, including influential neoconservatives who featured Nagl at the March kick-off of their newest think tank, the Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI).” <7>

http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/center_for_a_new_american_security