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Leadership Lessons from Gaza
12 June 2010
In a recent post I gave some prominence to Barbara Tuchman’s book, “March of Folly: from Troy to Vietnam”. If we are to believe their public comments, in the wake of the fate of the flotilla heading to Gaza, a solid majority of “Western” thought leaders are now accepting that Israeli actions against Gaza have been counter-productive to Western goals (although not necessarily to those of Israel) and are “unsustainable”. There has been a “march of folly” on Gaza. Hamas is as strong as ever, radicalism has been promoted, Barak Obama has lost much credibility in the Muslim world, and – possibly most importantly from a (narrow minded self-interested ) Western perspective – Turkey has become very angry.
Sheridan is intellectually slow on Turkey
2 June 2010
Greg Sheridan, foreign editor of “The Australian”, has obviously been slow to understand the emerging power shifts in the Middle East and—as he now writes—“global strategic order”. Following the recent attack on ships heading to Gaza, Sheridan has written that “it is in Ankara and Istanbul, and on the vast Anatolian plains, that we may be witnessing a profound reshaping of the Middle East strategic order, and therefore the global strategic order. It’s too early to call it definitively”. Contrary to the intellectually slow Sheridan, the emerging change has been obvious for some time. And, it is not “too early to call it definitively”. It is definite!
FIFA World Cup, Gaza, Israel and Australia’s Frank Lowy
21 May 2010
Frank Lowy, paymaster of Australian foreign policy when it comes to Israel, is leading Australia’s bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Lowy’s strong pro-Israel views seem to be in accordance with the anti-Palestinian and anti-Islamic attitudes of most of Australia’s political leaders. In this view, Muslims are not quite “people” (just as the Nazis thought Jews not quite just people).
Transforming large complex systems is full of dangers
17 May 2010
Whether it be a taxation system, a whole economic system, a political system within one country, or even a regional grouping of countries, the same caution should be applied. Policies aimed at massive transformation should be thoroughly debated over a non-rushed period of time, and enthusiastic proponents should be recognized as prone to exaggeration (and, sometimes dishonesty). There is a lot happening in the world debate at the present time – financial reform, EU rules and expansion, climate change, Iran and nuclear disarmament, NATOs role in the world, Afghanistan etc – but the same basic analytical cautions should be taken in all. I am not suggesting that major transformational changes are undesirable; I am only suggesting more intelligent thought.
Obama and Medvedev: psychological peas in a pod
12 March 2010
The accession to power of both Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev led to hopes among “liberals” that they would make some significant changes to their respective country’s foreign and domestic policies. It was probably the case that the biggest hopes in the US were for a change in foreign policy that was less aggressive, and the biggest hopes in Russia were for a change in domestic policy that was less restrictive. But both Obama and Medvedev have disappointed large numbers of their supporters. Of course, to some degree this was inevitable. However, in my view, it is also the case that Obama and Medvedev were not particularly suited to accede to the presidencies. They also let themselves be surrounded by too many “experienced” people who have tended to dampen insightful liberal impulses. The overall result is still, I think, that both are better presidents than their predecessors – but, both could also have been better. Indeed, I expect that both will become better.