1: Pakistan. This is the critical area that has to be dealt with first. I urge people to go to Frontline.org and watch this program:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/warbriefing/">The War Briefing. It is a summation of the problems in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is
the problem of the Obama Administration in fp and it will require all the skills of VP Biden, SFRC Chair or SoS Kerry and a multitude of others to negotiate.
2: Redefining American foreign policy away from militarization:
Sec. of Defense Robert Gates
http://www.defenselink.mil/speeches/speech.aspx?speechid=1199">said this a year ago in a speech at Kansas State University:
"But, my message today is not about the defense budget or military power. My message is that if we are to meet the myriad challenges around the world in the coming decades, this country must strengthen other important elements of national power both institutionally and financially, and create the capability to integrate and apply all of the elements of national power to problems and challenges abroad. In short, based on my experience serving seven presidents, as a former Director of CIA and now as Secretary of Defense, I am here to make the case for strengthening our capacity to use “soft” power and for better integrating it with “hard” power.
One of the most important lessons of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is that military success is not sufficient to win: economic development, institution-building and the rule of law, promoting internal reconciliation, good governance, providing basic services to the people, training and equipping indigenous military and police forces, strategic communications, and more – these, along with security, are essential ingredients for long-term success. Accomplishing all of these tasks will be necessary to meet the diverse challenges I have described.
Maybe it's me, but that sounds very familiar. Current SoS Rice has been moving to this position for the last 2-3 years. (She championed clear, hold, build which was Col. McMasters successful program in Tal Afar. The
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/04/10/060410fa_fact2">New Yorker had an article about this in April of 06.) The Bush Admin and Rice, after trying everything else possible, finally stumbled into a program that has real promise and that uses diplomacy as it's base.
How can the lessons learned here be applied to the ongoing conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and so forth?
3: The two-state question and Israel and Palestine
4: Iran and North Korea and nuclear capabilities. (And Pakistan is a state on the verge of failure with nuclear weapons, btw.)
5: Global Climate change and what it means for the developing world. (What is the future of low-lying countries like Bangladesh and what happens to them if the sea takes more of their land? Where do the refugees go? Take Somalia in AFrica for another example. They are having wars over scarcer and scarcer resources. What happens to African nations if the dessertification continues? Who will feed that continent. Will permanent war be a part of the future as people battle over natural resources?
So, who has more examples? (Geez, come to think of it, who would want the job of dealing with all this stuff? God bless those who are stepping up, they're going to need it.)
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