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roachboy · 01-18-2009, 08:22 AM

well, what i think will happen---and this is speculative of course--is that the bush administration's degenerate policies toward israel in particular, added to the consequences of their various other disasters in the world, will result in the americans becoming less central to the game in the region. i think the quartet will become far more important in mediating relations, with the result that the americans will find themselves a partner amongst others working with the shared goal of reaching some kind of equitable settlement in the region.

i don't have any expectation that the obama administration will in itself represent a hard break with the post-67 logic, particuarly after hearing clinton talking in the context of her confirmation hearing.

what i do see is a change in the overall situation and what, from a neo-con perspective would be a signficant loss of power on the part of the united states--from a position consistent with this "smart power" meme that is central to the overall foreign policy logic outlined in the clinton hearings, i think that this shift in position will probably be welcomed--or at least will be understood as necessary and functional.

btw---i know many many people who supported obama for president, from a wide range of political positions---and not one of them is seeing obama as anything like this "messiah" nonsense, which owes far more to that ludicrous youtube advert campaign mounted by the imploding mc-cain campaign than to anything to do with reality. most people have been watching the hearings of obama's various nominees to see what the administration might actually look like, and get a sense of what it is in fact considering as policy logics/objectives. while it might be reassuring for conservatives to imagine something simple-minded about the people who supported obama (particularly in that it manages to enable some conservatives to pretend to themselves that the record of the bush administration is other than it is), it's mostly fantasy.

01-18-2009, 08:22 AM	#9 (permalink)
roachboy Super Moderator Location: essex ma	well, what i think will happen---and this is speculative of course--is that the bush administration's degenerate policies toward israel in particular, added to the consequences of their various other disasters in the world, will result in the americans becoming less central to the game in the region. i think the quartet will become far more important in mediating relations, with the result that the americans will find themselves a partner amongst others working with the shared goal of reaching some kind of equitable settlement in the region. i don't have any expectation that the obama administration will in itself represent a hard break with the post-67 logic, particuarly after hearing clinton talking in the context of her confirmation hearing. what i do see is a change in the overall situation and what, from a neo-con perspective would be a signficant loss of power on the part of the united states--from a position consistent with this "smart power" meme that is central to the overall foreign policy logic outlined in the clinton hearings, i think that this shift in position will probably be welcomed--or at least will be understood as necessary and functional. btw---i know many many people who supported obama for president, from a wide range of political positions---and not one of them is seeing obama as anything like this "messiah" nonsense, which owes far more to that ludicrous youtube advert campaign mounted by the imploding mc-cain campaign than to anything to do with reality. most people have been watching the hearings of obama's various nominees to see what the administration might actually look like, and get a sense of what it is in fact considering as policy logics/objectives. while it might be reassuring for conservatives to imagine something simple-minded about the people who supported obama (particularly in that it manages to enable some conservatives to pretend to themselves that the record of the bush administration is other than it is), it's mostly fantasy. __________________ a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear it make you sick. -kamau brathwaite