In my social studies class this trimester our project was to research a particular topic, present it in 15 minutes, and discuss it in the class for about 1-2 hours. The topic we discussed today was about the war in Iraq. We talked about some of the lesser-known issues involving the reason behind going to war, and we talked about what the US should do now, and whether other countries should be involved in helping resolve conflicts and if their involvement would help ease Iraqi’s view towards the western world.
Our teacher brought two books to class, one is called Rogue Nation by Clyde Prestowitz, and the other is called The U.N. Exposed by Eric Shawn. Rogue Nation is about America’s abandonment of the ideals we had been promoting for the past thirty some years, and the U.N. Exposed is… well, it’s about the flaws of the United Nations.
I’ve only started reading Rogue Nation today, but there was one quote that I really agreed with and thought I’d share. The quote is by former the former EU Ambassador to the United States Hugo Paemen, and goes like:
Domestically you [the United States] have the wonderful system of checks and balances, but in foreign policy you are completely unpredictable, and your pendulum can swing from one side to the other very quickly, while those of us who may be deeply affected have no opportunity even to make our voice heard, let alone to have any influence. This is really worrying because while your intentions are usually good, your actions are frequently informed by ignorance, ideology, or special interests and can have very damaging consequences for the rest of us.
I think what Paemen says here is a really good point, especially in today’s world where every country is more interconnected then ever before. It’d be great to know what others think, so feel free to leave a response 
November 15th, 2007 at 8:22 AM
What if we had a foreign policy council? I’m hesitant about letting people vote for their country’s foreign policy, because frankly that’s stupid, but I’d love to be involved in helping to craft it. I mean, what harm can suggestions do?
But that quote is really right on target. Nice find!
November 16th, 2007 at 8:30 PM
Well, what I meant was that the President shouldn’t have as much power as the position does now regarding foreign policy. There should be some other checks and balances in place to make sure that the decisions made aren’t related to a personal agenda. (I’d also be hesitant about letting people vote for their country’s foreign policy, the process would be too slow and sometimes Americans can be oblivious to some of the realities in th real world)