Modern, Moderate and Democratic?

The title of this post……it describes the ideal country, right? Modern infrastructure and economy. Moderate politics and foreign policy. Democratic institutions that help the people. In an interview with Anderson Cooper of CNN, the leader-in-waiting, Mohamed ElBaradei, proclaimed these to be his goals if he were to lead the country.

What a refreshing take on what is important to a country and what its leaders should fight to achieve. Is this Egypt today? Hardly. While Hosni Mubarak has brought security and limited economic progress, he has left a cesspool of discontent, economic malaise, and political upheaval in his wake.

For that reason, he must go. As of this writing, Mr. Mubarak seems to have received the message and does not plan on running for office again in September. Good riddance, say many in Egypt, but not fast enough. They want him gone now. On the other hand, there is a core group of constituents in Egypt which proclaims strong allegiance to Mr. Mubarak and will not be happy to see him go. Their voices have not been loudly heard, but expect to hear them shortly.

So will we see an Egypt which portrays ElBaradei’s hope? Will Egypt continue to remain a member of the list of stable countries throughout the world? Might this be another Iran? Might it be a Turkey? Do we really know?

We in the United States have a very particular vision of how this should evolve, and we likely share Mr. ElBaradei’s vision. However, are we ready for something that is different? Will we get a modern, moderate and democratic country?

What’s great about all of this? American political junkies now have a September 2011 election upon which to focus. Good practice for 2012!

Political Justice?

This happened on Friday, December 10, 2010, not in 1999….

 

 

 

A Positive Perspective on Wikileaks and American Diplomacy

Message? Our diplomats are smart and working hard. That’s a good thing because the world needs it! We may not always be positive influences, but our current administration is on the right track.

NYTimes: From WikiLemons, Clinton Tries to Make Lemonade http://nyti.ms/fMn5U3

See commentary from Fareed Zakaria on this topic: http://m.cnn.com/primary/_uxtUny-idjLdz6DDo

WikiLeaks Archive — Cables Uncloak U.S. Diplomacy

Maybe I am getting too old, but the “transparency” that WikiLeaks supposedly promotes seems to be a bit traitorous. What kind of world does this promote? While we have always heard that the Internet is the forum for unfettered information and open democracy, simply leaking this information for the sake of leaking makes no sense. If there was criminal activity, that is one thing, but undermining legitimate attempts to use diplomacy throughout the world is unfairly damaging to US interests.

Now, should the NY Times cover this story? What part does the news media play in simply justifying the leaks in the first place? Here is some of a defense from the paper itself: Sharing Secrets. In response to that, here are some of the readers’ comments.

For the latest cache of leaks, see full story:  WikiLeaks Archive — Cables Uncloak U.S. Diplomacy.

For a great, positive perspective on what the leaks show, see Fareed Zakaria.