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Council Highlights
Nawaz Offers Views on Changing Pakistani Perceptions of U.S.
Shuja Nawaz, Director of the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center, was interviewed on The Takeaway morning radio news program on the Pakistan flood situation. The discussion focused on the U.S. being the single largest donor of aid, and the potential for Pakistanis to shift their perceptions of America. However, Nawaz warns of the long-term effects of America's goodwill, stating that "changing image takes a long time."
Nancy Walker Addresses U.S. Africa Command Conference
Dr. Nancy J. Walker, Director of the Ansari Africa Center, gave the keynote address at Africa Command’s Senior Leader Offsite Conference in Starnberg, Germany on August 26, 2010.
South Asia Center's Shikha Bhatnagar Spotlighted
Shikha Bhatnagar's recent appointment as Associate Director of the South Asia Center of the Atlantic Council, is yet another manifestation of a growing trend of second generation Indian Americans' advent into leading Washington, DC think tanks as senior policy analysts and associates.
Chuck Hagel Discusses START Ratification on RussiaToday
Atlantic Council Chairman Chuck Hagel was interviewed for RussiaToday on delays in ratification of the START treaty in both the U.S. and Russia.
FEATURED ISSUE
In August the sunny calm and quiet that is a Swedish summer will be shattered by the impact of Joint Direct Attack Munitions dropped by F-16CM Fighting Falcons from US Air Force Europe.
Henry Kissinger: Optimist!
James Joyner | January 16, 2009
Henry Kissinger has been called many names over the years. But Atlantic Council president and CEO may have found a new one last night after the conclusion of Kissinger's Makins Lecture: Optimist.
To be sure, the venerable diplomat is still an old school Realist, insisting on judging foreign policy by inconvenient facts and pointing out that diplomacy requires more than sitting down to chat and that our preferences are not always achievable. Further, he believes our global political and economic institutions are "out of phase" and that we won't get out of the current crisis until we realign them.
At the systemic level, however, he's incredibly bullish. If we play our cards right, we are about to "enter an extraordinarily creative period."
For the first time in living memory, we have an international great power consensus on the major goals, albeit with differences in how to go about achieving them. With respect to the global financial crisis, "no major country believes they benefit from the crisis or deliberately undermining the international system." Further, the crisis is in at least one way a blessing: with resources shrinking, "no country believes it can solve its own problems" without international cooperation. This will force states to align their priorities with others, ultimately leading to necessary restructuring of the global system.
Other problem areas have the seeds of resolution, too.
He's "hopeful" about Iraq.
While he's pessimistic about our chances of achieving our goals in Afghanistan, he believes that "we can not avoid reassessing Afghanistan" in the light of what is possible; for a Realist, that counts as optimism.
As to our potential great power rivals, he believes both Russia and China have "an enormous appetite for dialog" and that we will come to a mutually beneficial accomodation.
Related New Atlanticist Commentary:
- Kissinger in Quotes – James Joyner
- Kissinger's Formula: Goal + Capability + Staying Power – James Joyner
- Kissinger: Iran Diplomacy More Than Just Talk – James Joyner
Related Event:
James Joyner is managing editor of the Atlantic Council. Photo by Getty Images.
Comments
That might be right but I think it's an unsupportably rosy assessment. At best the Chinese are neutral on the international system. They're willing for us to bail them out of their current difficulties but wouldn't mind much if we shot ourselves in the foot while doing so.
Dave,
I think it's right in the purest sense that "the Chinese are neutral on the international system," in that they're not concerned about institutions per se. At the same time, however, it's very much in their interests that consumer states upon whom they depend for continued growth -- and, certainly, we're at or near the top of that list -- recover and continue to Buy Chinese.
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