Thursday, January 31, 2013

he quasi-populist NYT Tom Friedman and new Sec. of State John Kerry **************** John Kerry has been confirmed as the new Sec. of State. Best of luck to him. The world, in many ways, is a mess; and very dangerous. The Muslim Middle-East is a mess, with Egypt disintegrating; Syria in civil war; Iraq on the verge of a renewed Sunni/Shiite civil war; and Iran as opaque as ever. Israel faces its’ most severe existential threat to its’ existence. China believes its’ authoritarian top-down one party, crony capitalist state is the future. And its’ latest moves has made Japan, and the Philippines nervous. And then there is Russia’s Putin. And the possible collapse of the European Union. Kerry will be very busy. Mr. Kerry is well liked in the Senate, but he is an aloof elitist. He also was a somewhat marginal player as Senate Foreign Affairs comt. chair. George Bush could have, and should have, been defeated in 2004. But Kerry’s elitism damped down the furor of the traditional Dem. party coalition. The NYT’s Tom Friedman wants Kerry to transform into a populist, circumventing the world’s leaders and dealing with the people in the street, so to speak. LOL. That will not happen. *********** Friedman:” So what’s a secretary of state to do? I’d suggest trying something radically new: creating the conditions for diplomacy where they do not now exist by going around leaders and directly to the people. And I’d start with Iran, Israel and Palestine. We live in an age of social networks in which every leader outside of North Korea today is now forced to engage in a two-way conversation with their citizens. There’s no more just top-down. People everywhere are finding their voices and leaders are terrified. We need to turn this to our advantage to gain leverage in diplomacy. Let’s break all the rules…” http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/23/opinion/friedman-break-all-the-rules.html?ref=thomaslfriedman&_r=0

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