MB Civic

Although Foreign Policy magazine is online, they require a subscription in order to access articles. And even then, the company that runs their website has made it as difficult as possible to do anything but read it online.

That said, I very highly recommend two articles in the Nov/Dec 2008 issue. The first is called “America’s Hard Sell.” It is what some Civic editors refer to as a “must-read.” The other is called “Power to the People,” and has the pull-quote: “Why it’s the poor – not the experts – who can best solve the food crisis.” [N.B. There are also two excellent book reviews, one by James Traub on Conor Foley’s book on the truth behind humanitarian aid, and one by Bob Silverman on a groundbreaking book by an Arab that is sympathetic to Israel.]

A third interesting article, called “The Dream Team,” is summarized below.

In “The Dream Team,” the magazine asked a panel of “top thinkers” (whatever that means) to suggest people for five top positions in the Obama administration. The panel included Robert Gallucci, Dean of the Edmund A. Walsh School at Georgetown University; Christoph Bertram, former director of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Gideon Rachman, Chief foreign affairs columnist for the Financial Times; Katrina Vanden Heuvel, Editor of The Nation; Shashi Tharoor, former U.N. under secretary general for communications and public information; Kishore Mahbubani, Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School at the National University of Singapore; Cesare Merlini, Executive Vice President at the Council for the United States and Italy; Robert Baer, author and former CIA case officer assign to the Middle East; Grover Norquist, Founder and President of Americans for Tax Reform; and Leslie Gelb, Board Senior Fellow and president emeritus, Council on Foreign Relations.

The list is by position. The letters in parentheses indicate who made that choice. The first five positions were required choices; the remainder were optional offerings by the panel.

It is interesting (and very sad) to note how small a pool of names this represents, since so many of the same names appear in numerous positions – though there are admittedly a handful of good, even (dare I say it?) maverick choices among them.

Secretary of State: Strobe Talbott (RG, KM), James Baker (CB), Richard Lugar (GR), Bill Bradley (KVH), Bill Clinton (ST), Robert Zoellick (CM), Sam Nunn (RB), Chuck Hagel (GN), Richard Holbrooke (LG)

Secretary of Defense: Robert Gates (RG, GR, RB, GN, LG), Robert Zoellick (CB), Lawrence Korb (KVH), Richard Lugar (ST), Sam Nunn (KM), Chuck Hagel (CM)

Secretary of the Treasury: David Lipton (RG), Hillary Clinton (CB), Warren Buffett (GR, RB), James Galbraith (KVH), Michael Bloomberg (ST), Mohamed El-Erian (KM), Indra Nooyi (CM), Steve Forbes (GN), Roger Altman (LG)

Director of National Intelligence: Marc Grossman (RG), James Steinberg (CB), Richard Holbrooke (GR, CM), James Bamford (KVH), Jane Harman (ST), Brent Snowcroft (KM), John Abizaid (RB), David Norquist (GN), Jamie Gorelick (LG)

National Security Advisor: Jessica Mathews (RG), Richard Hass (CB), James Steinberg (GR), Andrew Bacevich (KVH), Wesley Clark (ST), Fareed Zakaria (KM), Strobe Talbott (CM), Dov Zakheim (GN), Dennis Ross (LG)

Ambassador to the U.N.: Susan Rice (RG, LG), Anne-Marie Slaughter (KM), Jessica Mathews (CM)

Secretary for Energy & the Environment: Arnold Schwarzenegger (CB)

Energy Security Council Co-Chairs: Al Gore and Van Jones (KVH)

U.S. Trade Representative: Indra Nooyi (ST), Robert Zoellick (GN)

Secretary of Energy: T. Boone Pickens (RB)

U.S. Ambassador to Russia: Sarah Palin (GR) [N.B. This was meant in jest: “The governor’s taste for hunting, plain-spoken talk, and foxy boots – not to mention long years of staring at Russia from Alaska – ensure a special relationship with Putin.”]