The New Arab World Requires New Public Diplomacy

This article was written by CCLP Faculty Fellow Phil Seib. DOHA — My conversation with two North African friends ranged widely, from the role of satellite television in the Arab world to the prospects for electoral reform in the region. Then we came to how other nations would deal with the new dynamics of Arab politics. One of my friends said, "In the past, diplomacy has been with the leaders, but now it must be with the people." In other words, public diplomacy will now be of unprecedented importance for governments, such as that of the United States, that want……

The Revenge of God

NEW YORK–It was in the spring of 1966 that Time magazine shocked a lot of readers with a black cover with the white question: "Is God Dead?" The article, much debated, defined a new and more secular world. Wrong! It turned out he was only resting. And not for long. In the 1970s came "La Revanche de Dieu"–"The Revenge of God"–the title of a book by a French political scientist, Gilles Kepel. Kepel, whose work was published in 1991 and translated into English three years later, began by chronicling the events of the 1970s, a decade many of us remember……

There Are No Easy Choices in Libya

LOS ANGELES — Adam Zyglis, the editorial cartoonist of The Buffalo News, did a portrait of President Obama sitting on an oil drum in the classic chin-on-hand pose of Auguste Rodin's "The Thinker." Behind him, war raged in the Middle East and "Freedom" was under a tank and rubble. Zyglis' caption was "The Overthinker." Well, although Obama may be a touch too thoughtful to be a president in the decisive mold of a Harry Truman, he does have a lot to think about. I count at least 11 options in Libya, all of them risky…….