October 27, 2007
THE DISTAFF W:
What Became of the Realist?: A close observer traces the rise and fall of Condi Rice's star: THE CONFIDANTE: Condoleezza Rice and the Creation of The Bush Legacy By Glenn Kessler (Rich Lowry, October 28, 2007, Washington Post)
Long a foreign policy "realist," Rice wrote an article for Foreign Affairs in 2000 calling for clear-eyed pursuit of the national interest. "To be sure, there is nothing wrong with doing something that benefits all humanity," she wrote, "but that is, in a sense, a second-order effect."After Sept. 11, 2001, however, Rice bought fully into Bush's freedom agenda. Kessler engages in some unconvincing psychologizing to explain her transformation, suggesting she had reached into her deep, Calvinist faith in a moment of crisis. But the terror attack alone seems sufficient cause to explain her change. It convinced her, as she likes to say, that the United States had pursued stability in the Middle East at the expense of democracy, and achieved neither.
She didn't even need to reach very deep. Her faith is central to her being, which is why she disappointed the Left so badly. It makes her she's an idealist not a Realist, not black enough and not a lesbian. Posted by Orrin Judd at October 27, 2007 7:50 AM
Condi appears to be turning into a State Dept. apparatchik. Of course, if the upcoming "conference" in Annapolis is more than just another broken promise, she could change that opinion. If she announces that Assad will be killed in order to guarantee the agreement, great.
But everything points towards her becoming another Madeleine Albright. Or worse, Bill Clinton.
Posted by: jim hamlen at October 27, 2007 4:55 PMRice's central argument to the Israelis is that they need to get a deal now while there are moderate Palestinians to deal with. Rice's central argument to the Arabs is that they must drop their maximalist demands and accept Israel's right to exist, because Israel isn't going anywhere.
The Annapolis Meeting isn't going anywhere because the Saudi's aren't willing to budge off the "right of return", Abbas can't budge off of that lest Hamas assassinate him, and for their part, the Israelis are using their press allies in the U.S. to undermine Rice within the Republican Party and the Administration so Olmert, probably the most incompetent Prime Minister since the founding of the State, can be relieved of the obligation of having to make any hard choices.
If there's no meeting, there's no choosing.
Not that the Pallies have given the Israelis anything to negotiate with. Their politics have trended towards the fascist, given the rise of Hamas and the unwillingness of the Saudis to confront them.
I give Condi an "A" for effort, but things will have to wait until a Giuliani Administration.
Posted by: section9 at October 27, 2007 10:49 PMIf Abbas can't sign a deal (just like Arafat), then let Israel deal with Hamas or whoever has the cards for the Palis. Isn't that part of OJ's argument on this issue?
One thing the US needs to do is cut the Saudis, the Syrians, and the Iranians off at the door.
Waiting for a nearby Islamic nuclear weapon is not much of a strategy, but it appears to be what some of them are doing.
Also, Israel is not going to fight the next "war" like it did last summer. If Assad, Hamas, and the Hezbos think it will, they are mistaken.
Posted by: jim hamlen at October 28, 2007 12:35 AMIsrael supports all those regimes. They're Realist.
Posted by: oj at October 28, 2007 9:02 AMHamas will run the new state. They're the popular party. The "fascists" are the ones trying to impose PLO rule on them.
Everyone recognizes Israel's right to exist, at least as long as Jews are the majority within what will necessarily be a shrinking territory called Israel.
Posted by: oj at October 28, 2007 9:10 AMBy everyone, I presume you mean diplomats and the like. The gangsters and terror-lovers most certainly do not. However, they have been unable to do anything about it since the 1920s. Given what happened last summer, and with the potential of a wider war to follow (should some combination of Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Al-Qaeda, Iran, and Syria) decide to fight, there may be another test for Israel soon. If Condi's conference fails, something will happen afterwards - the vacuum is always filled.
Posted by: jim hamlen at October 28, 2007 3:13 PMIsrael failed the test. They gave in on the issue of statehood years ago. It's a demographic inevitability.
Posted by: oj at October 28, 2007 5:49 PM