Favors Don't Work in International Affairs

The Genesis of Really Bad Ideas, Newsday, April 4, 2014. "Most bad ideas in the world grow from a few seeds. And there is no seed more dangerous than the belief that we can make other places see things our way by tossing out favors like candy at Halloween."

I Am Rubber, You Are Glue

What Bounces Off Me Sticks To You, Contentions, April 13, 2011. "To date, the Obama Administration’s strategy on internet freedom has been to talk a lot, but do absolutely nothing that would alienate China. Thanks to Senator Lugar, who led the charge on this issue, the Administration has been forced to step away just slightly from their strategy. The Chinese have told us very clearly what they are afraid of, and where they think they are vulnerable. We would be foolish not to take advantage of this."

Press Freedom in Russia?

The Unrealism of the Russian Reset, Contentions, March 8, 2011. "Russia, I acknowledge, is not one of those places we can afford to dismiss diplomatically. Nuclear weapons and oil aside — and that is pretty much all Russia has going for it in the great power sweepstakes — Russia has a UN veto and an almost infinite capacity to make trouble, not least for our supply lines into Afghanistan. But it is one thing to recognize that, in the world as it is, we are sometimes going to have to work with places like Putin’s Russia, and quite another thing to kid ourselves about what they are."

A Huge Missed Opportunity

Internet Freedom, Back Again, Contentions, February 17, 2011. "It’s too soon to accept that the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions were simply caused by Facebook, Twitter, and the Internet. Technology enthusiasts naturally say such things, but theirs is the faith of the true believer. Still, the fact that these regimes tried to control the Net, and clamped down even harder when the streets started to stir, is strong evidence that they viewed online freedom as their enemy. America — with Congress playing a constructive and serious part — was set to play a leading role in advancing that freedom. That would have been the right thing to do — it is still the right thing to do — even if it meant confronting the Chinese. Instead, we did nothing, and we are still doing nothing. That is an embarrassment — almost as embarrassing as Secretary Clinton’s trotting out a supposedly revolutionary policy after a year of doing nothing about it."