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Durban II Precedent Engagement or Disengagement?
President Obama’s decision to cancel American participation in the World Conference Against Racism, also known as Durban II, is the right one.
"A Bottom-up Approach to Peace" Project on Middle East Democracy
Natan Sharansky writes that the Israeli elections are affirmation of a wide dissolution with Oslo and any potential quick fixes. Sharansky believes that only a bottom-up approach which focuses on building a peaceful Palestinian society can bring forth true peace. Benyamin Netanyahu has expressed his belief that what is needed for the Palestinians is extraordinary economic development. Sharansky expresses optimism that President Obama will also see that a bottom up approach has the potential for real change, as it’s a true departure from the failed attempts at peace which have dominated for so long. For Sharansky, the elections have provided a possibility for a realistic path forward.
"Can Bibi and Obama get along?" The Telegraph ,JTA
Natan Sharansky, who generally opposes Israeli concessions, and the Israel Policy Forum's M.J. Rosenberg, a defender of the land-for-peace formulam, can be counted on to disagree about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But, ahead of Likud's projected win in next week's Israeli elections, both men are poopooing the idea that President Obama and Benjamin Netayahu are set for a major confrontation.
"Obama will not focus on ME democracy" The Jerusalem Post
The Obama administration is unlikely to continue the press for democracy and freedom in the Middle East that was a mainstay of the Bush administration's policy in the region, a former senior US administration official said on Sunday.
"Israeli Election Watch: Where's the beef? Who is the Kahane candidate? So what if Livni's a woman?" The Telegraph-JTA News
Former lawmaker and current think-tanker Natan Sharansky tells The Jerusalem Post that Benjamin Netanyahu will not clash with current U.S. President Barack Obama. Sharansky also says he has no plans to reenter politics.
"Sharansky: Netanyahu won't clash with Obama" The Jerusalem Post
Former minister Natan Sharansky, who has been a frequent guest at the White House in recent years, has rejected allegations from Kadima that if elected prime minister, Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu would not get along with the administration of US President Barack Obama. He met with Obama a year ago and discussed the bottom-up theory of solving the Middle East conflict that Sharansky has been talking about for years and which has become the basis of Netanyahu's "economic peace" diplomatic plan.
"The Orange Way Editorial-Weely Roundup" The Orange Way
Even more important than their ideological disdain for our nation, America serves as the foil for Iran's crumbling economic and social state. Iran's leaders maintain power by projecting America as the enemy and cause for any of their ills. This works to unify citizens against a common enemy, while they enduring additional hardships in the name of the greater cause. (Natan Sharansky's The Case for Democracy makes this argument much better than I can.) As a result, Iran will never make genuine peace with America with its current leaders in place.
"Talking Softly About Democracy Promotion" NYTimes.com
Here is one thing on which democracy experts agree: When Barack Obama took the oath of office last Tuesday, he did more in one instant, as a minority candidate, to promote the American ideal of democracy to the outside world than any of his predecessors ever could.
"Obama's inaugural speech, personal history suggest consistent, but nuanced support for democracy assistance" Democracy Digest
Obama's campaign has contributed to a democratic awakening in sub-Saharan Africa, they contend, "since it was the most closely followed democratic competition ever and has raised expectations of citizens around the world about what they want from their governments in terms of democratic performance and respect for basic rights… [and] raised expectations about the kind of support such aspirations should receive from the United States."
"President-elect Barack Obama Found His Voice" NYTimes.com
Mr. Obama tends to take a magpie approach to reading — ruminating upon writers’ ideas and picking and choosing those that flesh out his vision of the world or open promising new avenues of inquiry. His predecessor, George W. Bush, in contrast, tended to race through books in competitions with Karl Rove (who recently boasted that he beat the president by reading 110 books to Mr. Bush’s 95 in 2006), or passionately embrace an author’s thesis as an idée fixe. Mr. Bush and many of his aides favored prescriptive books such as Natan Sharansky’s “Case for Democracy,” which pressed the case for promoting democracy around the world.
"Promoting democracy: a principled, pragmatic approach?" Democracy Digest
The inconsistencies and setbacks of George W. Bush’s Freedom Agenda should not lead the incoming Obama administration to ditch democracy promotion as a foreign policy objective, argues Gideon Rachman. “No Western governments should be comfortable about shaking hands with autocrats who torture and imprison their political opponents,” he writes in the latest Washington Quarterly.
"Engage authoritarians to open closed societies" Democracy Digest
Engaging closed societies is the best way to foster democratic change," argues Larry Diamond, co -director of the International Forum for Democratic Studies. Writing in Newsweek, he suggests that the incoming U.S. administration must fashion a "more subtle and sophisticated approach" to promoting democracy in the likes of Cuba, Burma, Iran and Syria.
Obama Wins; The World Responds: Interview with Natan Sharansky on NPR
Talk of the Nation becomes Talk of the World as listeners from around the globe weigh in on Barack Obama's historic victory in the 2008 presidential election.\n\nGuests:\n\nDesmond Tutu, South-African cleric and anti-apartheid activist; winner of the 1984 Nob
Remembrance in Spacetime: § Presidents Lincoln (16), Bush (43), and Obama (44)
“That Barack Obama is the antithesis of George W. Bush is by now axiomatic. The President-elect is expected to change everything, from the prevailing ideology to the government's order of priorities to the partisan atmosphere in Washington to even the mood in America. Amid all these differences, however, there could be an important point of convergence between Bush and Obama: supporting democracy by personally meeting with and acting on behalf of democratic dissidents.
President Bush set a good example for President Obama - TwinCities.com
President-elect Barack Obama should continue supporting democracy by personally meeting with and acting on behalf of democratic dissidents.
Sharansky on Supporting Dissidents
In the LA Times, Natan Sharansky writes of one policy he hopes Barack Obama will adopt from President Bush: personally meeting with and supporting democratic dissidents around the world.
Sharanksy: Bush used 'weight of the Oval Office' to back dissidents
Natan Sharansky, leading human rights activist and former Soviet dissident, praised President Bush's activities to support democratic dissidents all over the world. President-elect Obama should do the same.
The dissident choice - Los Angeles Times
Former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky writes that Obama should continue Bush's practice of meeting with and acting on behalf of democratic dissidents from repressive countries.
The Return of Natan Sharansky
Natan Sharansky fights to save democracy promotion from the wreck of the Bush administration. Sharansky argues that Palestinian society needs wholesale economic and political reform before it is ready for more democracy or a peace deal with Israel.
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