AARDVARK

Everyone's been weighing in on what's happening in Iraq these days... sorry to be late to the party, but I'm guessing that most readers don't need me to recount what's happened while I've been away. Y'all read the papers. I've...

We finally got Scout’s “Big Girl” room all ready and set up yesterday. It is gorgeous. I will have to post pictures soon. Now I need to know…HOW THE HELL DO I MAKE HER STAY IN BED??????? For whatever reason, my child who is totally wild 99% of the time, never attempted to get out [...]

Did the United States have advance notice of Maliki's decision to attack Basra? In a much-blogged story this morning, The Washington Post reported that "Maliki decided to launch the offensive without consulting his U.S. allies, according to administration officials" and...

But I'm going to be making a number of guest appearances over the next couple of weeks, and for a change they are mostly public events which I can announce. Those in the DC area who might be interested, mark...

Several people have asked me for more information about the article by Tareq al-Homayed, editor of the Saudi newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat, in one of my tags this morning. I was going to translate it, but it turns out that al-Sharq...

It seems they liked my thesis on weblog applications in libraries because I easily passed my exam today and am now the proud owner of an MSc in Library and Information Science. Nice. :-)

I'm too busy and sick to write anything myself right now. But all the better to hand the platform over to my friend Colin Kahl and Shawn Brimley, who have just released a new CNAS policy brief recommending "The Case...

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Friday Jazz Night with DJ Horst @ Kantine, Porzellangasse 19, 1090 Wien Friday 28 March starts at 9pm until late

Of the package of three laws which finally made it through the Iraqi Parliament last month, the amnesty law was the one most important to the Sunni leadership. It emerged in its final form after months of haggling, and serious...

Yesterday the UAE announced that it would begin exploring the prospects for a civilian nuclear program, after signing a deal with French President Sarkozy on nuclear cooperation in January. Today, the United States announced an agreement with Bahrain to support...

I saw a fabulous idea on Elaine’s blog...and I am going to modify it a bit (since she is way more crafty than I am) and do it myself. I will perform a random act of kindness for the first three people to comment to this. This doesn’t mean that you will be the recipient…it [...]

"Of the roughly 80,000 concerned local citizens currently working alongside U.S. forces, only 25 per cent can be absorbed into the army and police. For the rest, there must be jobs, or they risk becoming disillusioned, frustrated, and perhaps returning...

Stuff White People Like This site cracks me up!

Everyone is justifiably still talking about Barack Obama's incredible speech on race yesterday, which only the fringe right failed to admit was rather extraordinary. But I was equally impressed by his outstanding speech today on Iraq and national security. I'm...

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has for months been promoting a national reconciliation conference in Baghdad to demonstrate his belief that national reconciliation has already been achieved. About 250 personalities were invited to the conference, which was carefully timed to...

Though I haven't yet had the chance to read the plan for withdrawal from Iraq put forward yesterday by 10 Democratic Congressmen, I thought it would be appropriate to post a brief memo I was asked to write for an...

The headline findings of the latest ABC/BBC/ARD/NHK public opinion survey in Iraq, conducted from February 12-20, 2008, emphasize the greater optimism and feelings of security among most Iraqis. But probing deeper into the results reveals some important caveats - above...

It hasn't received much media attention, but the Jordanian government's surprising decision to quietly release Abu Mohammed al-Maqdessi from prison a few days ago is a fascinating development. Maqdessi is one of the pivotal intellectual figures in the salafi-jihadist milieu....

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Several weeks ago, the struggle for local power between the Anbar Salvation Council and the Islamic Party seemed to be coming to a head. The ASC demanded that the councils controlled by the Islamic Party be dissolved within two weeks,...

Dear Scout, Another year and again I am amazed at how far we have come. It seems like yesterday we were celebrating your first birthday and now you are TWO. Wow…Two. You seem to be embracing two with all of your heart. Over the last year we have learned and confirmed many things about you. [...]

From yesterday's White House briefing: In addition, regarding Egypt, we are concerned by a continuing campaign of arrests in Egypt of individuals who are opponents of the current governing party and are involved in the upcoming local elections. The people...

I thought that two interesting points which came out of the last week's discussion of Presidential candidates and public diplomacy deserve more discussion. First, a number of commenters argued that I gave too much credit to McCain's public diplomacy initiatives....

I do try to stay away from domestic politics here, but this has been eating at me. So... On the eve of the Maryland primary, I said that despite my strong support for Obama I had no problem with Hillary...

This afternoon I spoke at a panel at Brookings with Daniel Levy about Islamist movements. I'm not sure what the rules of engagement were, so I won't talk about any of the content really. But I did want to share...

I'm just back from Boston and feeling awful. But fortunately, there's some excellent analysis and commentary on the question of the public diplomacy proposals of the Presidential candidates continues to appear in response to last week's post. Recent highlights of...

“Those Oriental people work like dogs. They work their hearts out. They are workers non-stop. They sleep beside their machines. That’s why they are successful in life. I’m telling you, Oriental people, they’re slowly taking over. … They’re hard, hard workers.” —Rob Ford, Ontario city council

As hoped, my post on the public diplomacy platforms of the Presidential candidates has drawn some interesting and thoughtful responses. From public diplomacy expert Patricia Kushlis: Lynch seems to have it right regarding Clinton?s lack of discussion - or even...

This morning we had to take Steve to the airport. I planned on getting up and showering before Scout got up. She planned on screwing with me. Typically Scout sleeps until 8-8:30. Today she got up at 6:30 am!! WTF? Steve was already up getting his stuff together and [...]

Idiom Shortage Leaves Nation All Sewed Up In Horse Pies

I came across something interesting while doing some research on public diplomacy for an unrelated project. Since at least the 9/11 Commission Report, almost every foreign policy blueprint or platform has for better or for worse mentioned the need to...

I had to laugh at Michael Gerson's effort in today's Post. Basically, he offers a thought experiment about President Obama's first 100 days. Obama meets with Iranian President Ahmedenejad, then Raul Castro, then suddenly announces an immediate troop withdrawal from...

The first visit of an Iranian leader to Baghdad since the Iranian Revolution, and the first full-scale state reception by post-Saddam Iraq, went down mostly as expected. Ahmedenejad met with a wide swathe of Iraqi leaders, demonstrating the depth and...