Tag: Barack Obama

  • VIDEO: President’s first prime time press conference

    VIDEO: President’s first prime time press conference

    Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2009 19:38:22 -0500

    From: [email protected]

    Last night, President Obama gave his first-ever prime time press conference to call for immediate action on his economic recovery plan.

    Today, the Senate voted to pass the President’s plan. But there’s another round of voting in both houses of Congress before the president can sign it into law.

    Make sure that your voice is heard in this process.

    Watch the video and share your economic crisis story. If you’ve already shared your story, talk to a friend, neighbor, or family member and record their story.

    Thank you,

    Mitch

    Mitch Stewart
    Director
    Organizing for America

  • AMERICAN ERMENIAN DİASPORA STARTED FULL SCALE ATTACK ON OBAMA

    AMERICAN ERMENIAN DİASPORA STARTED FULL SCALE ATTACK ON OBAMA

    Biz ne yapıyoruz? Bütün ülke mışıl mışıl uyuyoruz, uyutuluyoruz.

    Bütün siyasi ve diğer kurumlar dahil.

    Tatlı rüyalar dilerim

    Şükrü S. Aya

    TURK ERMENILERI WEB SITESINDEN ALINTI:


    We Wonder If Turks Has Produced Anything Substantial At All?


    · Many Newly Built Armenian Diaspora WebSites Like:

    • People Mobilising Ideas Like:
    • Documents Like Obama’s Letter To Condoleezza Rice:

    • Commentaries Like: “Obameter” Keeps Track of President’s Campaign Promise on Armenian Genocide

    By Harut Sassounian,
    Those interested in finding out whether Pres. Barack Obama is keeping the . .
    . . hundreds of promises he made during the presidential campaign, including the one on the Armenian Genocide, now have a simple tool to keep track of all of them.
    A group of journalists, headed by Bill Adair, Washington Bureau Chief of the St. Petersburg Times of Florida, have set up a website –www.politifact.com — that tracks down the promises made by various politicians during their campaigns.
    Politifact.com has received widespread media attention from scores of newspapers and various TV networks, including CNN. Such public scrutiny makes it more difficult for politicians to evade their pledges to the voters.
    The website promises to “provide an up-to-the-minute report card” on how Pres. Obama is faring with his agenda of change. Visitors to the website can find out the status of his campaign promises by checking the “Obameter” which is divided into three categories: No Action, In the Works, or Stalled. After action is taken by the President on a particular issue, it is rated as either Promise Kept or Compromise or Promise Broken. The website’s scorecard indicates that in his first three weeks in office, Pres. Obama has already kept 7 promises, compromised on 1, broke 1, stalled on 1, 18 are in the works, and no actionis yet taken on the remaining 482.
    Two weeks ago, when I first checked the website’s “Obameter,” it had a list of 510 Obama promises, everything from “requiring large employers to contribute to a national health plan” to “directing military leaders to end war in Iraq.” But there was no trace of Pres. Obama’s campaign promise to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide.
    I immediately sent an e-mail to the administrator of Politifact.com, alerting him that Pres. Obama’s pledge on the Armenian Genocide was missing from the website. Staff writer Angie Holan quickly responded, acknowledging that this particular promise was not in their database. She thanked me for bringing this matter to her attention and promised to add it to the website as soon as possible. To expedite matters, I provided to Ms. Holan the text of various statements made by Senator Obama on the Armenian Genocide during his presidential campaign.
    A few days later, I received an e-mail from Ms. Holan, informing me that Pres. Obama’s promise on the Armenian Genocide was added to the Politifact.com website, under the following link: .
    By clicking on the above link, one can find Pres. Obama’s promise number 511 on the Armenian Genocide which the website describes as follows:
    “Barack Obama Campaign Promise No. 511:
    Recognize the Armenian genocide “‘Two years ago, I criticized the Secretary of State for the firing of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, after he properly used the term ‘genocide’ to describe Turkey’s slaughter of thousands of Armenians starting in 1915.=80¦As President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide.’
    Source:
    “Barack Obama on the Importance of US-Armenia Relations” We add promise on the Armenian genocide
    Updated: Wednesday, January 28th, 2009 | By Angie Drobnic Holan
    When we started looking for President Obama’s campaign promises, we knew we might not find all of them, and we hoped our readers would alert us to promises we had missed. Today we are adding our first promise based on reader feedback: Obama’s pledge to recognize the Armenian genocide. The issue has been a hot-button issue on the world stage because the government of Turkey has objected to the use of the term ‘genocide’ as inaccurate and inflammatory.
    A 2007 resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives said the Armenian genocide was carried out by the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923, and resulted in the deaths of 1.5 million. The resolution failed in the face of Bush administration concerns that it would alienate Turkey, which borders Iraq. So we add this promise to our database as promise No. 511 .
    Sources:
    Los Angeles Times: House delays Armenian genocide vote, Oct. 26, 2007;
    House Resolution on the Armenian genocide, 2007;
    BBC News: Q&A: Armenian genocide dispute, July 10, 2008.”
    This website is yet another reminder to Pres. Obama and his White House aides that the President has a promise to keep on the Armenian Genocide and that both the media and the public will judge his credibility by his actions rather than words.

  • The Honorable Barack H. Obama  President of the United States

    The Honorable Barack H. Obama President of the United States

    From: Pulat Tacar
    Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 10:26 AM
    To: [email protected]

    Subject: Bir Amerikalinin Obama’ya mektubu…


    Dear Friends,

    The following letter (in English and Turkish) has been written
    to Mr. Obama, by an American, about the facts of Turkey..

    This letter is, in my opinion, the most realistic assessment about
    Turkish affairs, written by a westerner, so far I have ever read…

    Hope this letter reaches Mr. Obama and he finds time to read it.

    It seems, to understand Turkish affairs, one should live in Turkey
    for sometimes, let’s say some nine years!!!…

    Best regards,
    *****

    Cem Ryan, Ph.D. Istanbul, Turkey

    [email protected]


    20 January 2009

    The Honorable Barack H. Obama  President of the United States
    The White House  1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW  Washington, DC 20500  USA

    Dear Mr. President:

    I write this letter to you, Mr. President, with my highest and warmest regards, best wishes, and my hope for a better, more just world. I have fond memories of this particular day, 20 January, your day of inauguration as president. Forty-eight years ago—six months before you were born—I, along with my fellow West Point cadets, marched down Pennsylvania Avenue to salute the newly sworn president, John F. Kennedy. Next to graduating from West Point, it was the highlight of my life. January 20, 1961—it had snowed heavily the night before and the day dawned windy with arctic temperatures. It was perfect, a memory crystal buried deep. How young we were, so enthusiastic about confronting a dangerous world with our young president. But while euphoria is grand, it is also dangerous, Mr. President. It didn’t take long for reality to take hold. And so time goes. I have now lived in Istanbul, Turkey for nine years. Over these years a “reality” has set in regarding our beloved country, America. And so I write to you today, Mr. President, to warn you about conditions in Turkey. “The world,” wrote Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, “is an arena of trials.” And the Bush policy of making Turkey a “moderate Islamic republic” has been, and continues to be, an arena of disasters. Mr. President, time is of the essence to correct this. And you need to know more about Turkey to do so.

    Accordingly, I have enclosed two books: one a biography, Ataturk, by Andrew Mango, the other, a copy of The Great Speech by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (Nutuk in Turkish). The latter epic work flowed from the pen of Ataturk, a 36-hour speech delivered over six days in October 1927. Therein, he recounts the Turkish War of Independence and the founding of the Turkish Republic. It is an astounding document.

    “I have tried to show, in these accounts, how a great people, whose national course was considered as finished, reconquered its independence; how it created a national and modern state founded on the latest results of science. The result we have today is the fruit of teachings which arose from centuries of suffering,and the price of streams of blood which have drenched every foot of the ground of our beloved homeland. This holy treasure I lay in the hands of the youth of Turkey. Turkish youth! Your primary duty is ever to preserve and defend the national independence of the Turkish Republic. “(Ataturk, The Great Speech, 715)

    By reading this book, Mr. President, you will immediately understand the enormous genius of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. You will see how the forces of religious fundamentalism didn’t magically vanish after Ataturk ended the sultanate and abolished the caliphate. Instead, they continued to subvert his revolutionary reforms from the very beginning. This is the nature of religious fundamentalism here in Turkey. It never stops. It is vital that you understand this, Mr. President. Turkey has always been a target for these dark-minded forces. And now these ignorant minds run the country. Reading the words of Mustafa Kemal will also help you marshal your own significant resources and talents, for you seem to be blessed with a capacious mind much like Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s. Decisive, informed leadership is needed today by the president of the United States. These were defining characteristics of Ataturk, along with his great personal integrity. May you learn well from him, Mr. President, a man who fought a war against religious terrorists for his entire life.

    Now the democratic, secular, social state of the Republic of Turkey, governed under the rule of law, is under siege, both from without and within. I know this, Mr. President, I live here, and what I know is not sanitized by political niceties and outright propaganda. The undoing of this nation, created in Ataturk’s mind as a young army officer, has been long underway. But now the day is here. The black-minded ignorance of religious fundamentalism becomes more apparent every minute. Alcohol bans, women shoved under politically symbolic headscarves at the behest of duplicitous politicians, a compliant, subverted media. Here, so-called “liberals” work in compliance with outside forces (your CIA, for example, Mr. President). And the corruption of the religious ruling party is stunning and stinks to the high heavens from theft, rampant bribery, and election fraud. Currently, a scam called Ergenekon purges the left-wing opposition rivals (all adherents of the enlightened principles of Ataturk). To further contaminate his work, a smattering of outright criminals is added to the list of detainees. All this and more has brought democratic Turkey near its knees. And Mustafa Kemal Ataturk never knelt for anyone, ever. As a child he even refused to play leapfrog.

    European Union members, who never read him, wonder why so much fuss is made about Ataturk. Of similar traitorous stripe as the “entente liberals” of Ataturk’s day who conspired with the British occupiers for a mandate over Turkey, today’s “liberal” Turks (libos) fall over themselves subverting secular Turkey and the principles of Ataturk, in the name of democracy. The ruling party works its religious agenda demeaning the integrity of women at every turn, debasing the liberation of women by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. And the United States of America, our country Mr. President, directly aids and abets these subversive forces. This is shameful.

    Mr. President, most Americans remain ignorant about Turkey and, amazingly, even more so about Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Without knowing this man one knows nothing about this country. The enclosed books are my attempt to prevent you learning about Turkey solely by reading sterile briefing books, self-serving CIA studies, State Department policy papers, memoranda from your national security advisors, and, most particularly, reports from the western press. Most of the Turkish press, and, in particular, the current Turkish government are similarly ever-willing purveyors of self-interested propaganda. Beware, Mr. President, for you will receive regurgitations of superficial, stale, and even incorrect information, like the Bushian nonsense that Turkey is a “moderate Islamic nation.” Via the headscarf issue—the “ocular proof” of piety for western consumption—this ill-conceived initiative, without any Koranic justification, has created a gigantic, violent, societal schism in Turkey. Mr. President, is America a moderate Christian nation? I mean, should Americans wear visible crucifixes? Please reconsider this nonsensical policy, Mr. President. (Again, read The Great Speech to see how religious subversions beset Ataturk at every turn.)

    “One will be able to imagine how necessary the carrying through of these measures was, in order to prove that our nation as a whole was no primitive nation, filled with superstitions and prejudices. Could a civilized nation tolerate a mass of people who let themselves be led by the nose by a herd of seyhs, Dedes,Seyyits, celebis, Babas, and Emirs, who entrusted their destiny and their lives to palm readers, magicians, dice-throwers and amulet sellers? Ought one to preserve in the Turkish State, in the Turkish Republic, elements and institutions such as those which had for centuries given the nation the appearance of being other than it really was?” (Ataturk, The Great Speech, 714)

    Mr. President, even worse than misinformation, you will be regaled with assertions and protestations that the current religious-rooted government is representative and similar to the majority of Turkish people. Mr. President, it is extremely dangerous for you, and for the United States, to be deceived in this manner. Indeed this must sound strange to you, Mr. President, but it is true. There is a great muffling happening in Turkey today. So I caution you, to become truly aware of the situation in Turkey, you must first meet Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in depth. You must come to enlightenment about Turkey on your own recognizance, Mr. President, and not rely on the misinformed, the flatterers, and the deceivers, of whom there are legion.

    While you may think you are different, Mr. President, be forewarned that, despite your access to the bright minds of the CIA, the State Department, and your White House staff, you will not get a true idea of the essence of Turkey, the nation. You may learn about this Turkish government, but that’s not learning about the Turkish nation. And you will certainly not learn anything from members of the present Turkish government about the nation’s soul.
    The essence of the modern Turkish soul reposes in the materials I have sent, in a word, Ataturk. His accomplishments—military, political, social, educational, creative—represent a quest for justice for the collective life of his people, and in no small regard, for the world. “Peace at home, peace in the world,” he famously said. He possessed, as I suspect you do as well, Mr. President, what Reinhold Niebuhr called the “sublime madness in the soul,” saved from excessiveness by unusually astute powers of reason. So armed, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk battled against the powers of darkness and spiritual corruption in high places. So armed, he rescued his people from the debris of the Ottoman Empire. Today, his thoughts and deeds define the existential principles of the Turkish nation. But, Mr. President, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk is now under attack from outside Turkey and within.

    Nevertheless, his principles still inspire tens of millions of proudly secular Turks who long for the truly democratic nation he established. Believe me Mr. President, the “secular elite” described by the disgracefully biased and ill-informed writings of Sabrina Tavernise of The New York Times as “an immensely powerful coterie of generals and judges” is nonsense. Millions of us—yes, Mr. President, I too am a citizen of Turkey—took to the streets in the spring of 2007 against the policies of the U.S.-backed Erdogan government. And matters have become even more dire since. Mr. President, perhaps you don’t know what’s going on with this government.

    In the name of democracy, the ruling party, the AKP (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi, Justice and Development Party) has made a shambles of Turkey’s founding principles. In the name of democracy there is vast bribing of the AKP electorate, predominantly poor and uneducated, with coal and appliances. Higher court deliberations on suits against the ruling party are regularly attacked by the ruling party, particularly by the prime minister, and literal targets (complete with crosshairs) are made of individual judges in the religious press.
    In the name of democracy and social justice and legal egalitarianism, an enormous purge of hundreds of alleged opponents of the ruling party is taking place in a “fishing expedition” called Ergenekon. A literal witch hunt, so-called suspect members of a military-coup conspiracy ring are held without benefit of writs of habeas corpus; they have been held in jail—some for over 18 months—without being charged and later prejudicially tried in jail. Writers, journalists, university presidents, labor union leaders, lawyers, retired army officers, leftists all, are caught up in this disgrace of a dragnet. (As mentioned earlier, some ordinary criminals are mixed in for pollution purposes.) Mr. President, I write to you on their behalf, the educated, western-thinking intelligentia, now imprisoned in a Turkish gulag called Silivri, the largest prison in Turkey, and in Europe. And that’s where they are tried! In the prison! So you, Mr. President, as an attorney, undoubtedly instantly understand the extremely prejudicial nature of this trumped-up case.

    Mass arrests typically happen immediately after the ruling party suffers a legal or corruption setback. For example, consider its trial in early 2008 where the AKP was found guilty of being the center of anti-secular activity in Turkey. A second roundup occurred as a result of a German charitable foundation called Deniz Feneri, “lighthouse” in English. Organized by Turks in both Germany and Turkey, Deniz Feneri stole 41 million euros from pious Turks in Germany and transferred 17 million of it to Turkey, some to media companies friendly to the ruling party. The AKP manager, Zahid Akman, of the Turkish government’s televison and radio system (RTuK), was identified by the court as the bagman. He remains in his position, dutifully protecting the nation’s morals by blurring televised images of smoking and the consumption of alcohol. The German prosecutor stated that links of the Deniz Feneri embezzlement were traced to the office of the prime ministery.

    The movement of Turkey toward sharia continues. Vast areas of the nation have been made alcohol-free. Swimsuit advertisements are banned in Istanbul. The Ataturk Cultural Center, located in prime space in downtown Istanbul, has been closed. No details are given regarding its status. Consequently, the Istanbul symphony, opera, and ballet, all state sponsored, have been sent packing. They are rumored to perform occasionally, somewhere. So much for cultural enlightenment. Oddly enough, Istanbul has been selected to be the European Capital of Culture in 2010; this is known as political lip service.

    Mr. President, for too long a time America has attempted to efface the Turkish soul, to reshape this country, to include it in the American hegemony. All this subversion has been to, in effect, lobotomize the Turkish brain, ridding it of the noble thoughts of Ataturk, making it a congenial dolt, bowing and scraping to America’s wishes. Internally, this has been the primary responsibility of the ruling party. And it has done its job very well, almost bringing the once proud nation of Ataturk to its knees. Once, after a waiter dropped a heavily laden tray at a state dinner, Mustafa Kemal turned to his foreign guests and said, “As you can see I have taught my people to do everything but serve.” How ironic, how angering to the followers of Ataturk is the current servile, US-installed government. Consider this, Mr. President. Banned from running from office, without any legal credentials whatsoever, Recep Tayyip Erdogan was welcomed to the White House by George W. Bush as de facto head of the Turkish government. How outrageous! No wonder Erdogan, habitually a dour, scowling man, beamed broadly whenever he visited Bush. Do not be deceived Mr. President, this government neither serves you, nor the Turkish people. In the name of so-called democracy, it serves itself. It has long been at its destructive work, this imperialism. You know this personally, Mr. President. Why your very roots—one foot in Hawaii, the other in Kenya, your days of youth in Indonesia—all these highly personal experiences have surely informed your persona. Surely they speak to you of the same issue that so afflicts Turkey. Imperialism. Internal subversion. Corruption.

    When Mustafa Kemal Ataturk rescued Turkey from the ruins of the Ottoman five hundred year reign, he established a new way for the Turkish people to live their lives. It was the way of enlightenment, the western way. I hope that you can now begin to see how the west, for its own ill-reasoned self-interest, has encouraged the sabotaging of the enlightened principles of Ataturk. Most importantly, I hope that this whets your reading appetite to learn more about this incomparable man.

    Mr. President, I am confident that you will adopt your policies, both within America, and without, in the spirit of those stirring words you wrote in Dreams from My Father about a different kind of politics:
    “That politics will need to reflect our lives as they are actually lived.”

    The majority of Turkish people want the very same thing. And if the United States can get out of their way, they can have it.

    Sincerely yours,

    James (Cem) Ryan

    Enclosures:
    Ataturk. Andrew Mango. John Murray Publishers, London, 2004.
    The Great Speech (Nutuk). Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Ataturk Research Center, Ankara, 2005.
    Posted by Cem Ryan, Ph.D. Istanbul, Turkey godotawaits@gmail.com

    for turkısh versıon please go to turkısh pages

    Türkçe www.turkishnews.com/tr/content

    0000000000000000000000000000000000000000

    James (Cem) Ryan

    [email protected]

    James (Cem)Ryan is a writer living in Istanbul, Turkey. A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, he holds a Ph.D. in literature. His historical novel, Natural Affinities, about New York City during World War I, was published in 2004 by (www.trafford.com/robots/03-1783.html).

    5 Articles

    Sunday, February 1, 2009
    Erdogan Does Davos
    (1 comments) By his courageous stand ErdoGan has unified a badly divided nation. We shall soon see the degree to which he is an equally passionate advocate for human rights in his own country.

    Sunday, January 25, 2009
    Letter to President Obama: Turkey in an Arena of Trials
    I have now lived in Istanbul, Turkey for nine years. Over these years a “reality” has set in regarding our beloved country, America. I write to you today, Mr. President, to warn you about conditions in Turkey. “The world,” wrote Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, “is an arena of trials.” And the Bush policy of making Turkey a “moderate Islamic republic” has been an arena of disasters. Mr. President.

    Monday, January 12, 2009
    THE ISRAELI-AMERICAN KILLING MACHINE
    (3 comments) The tentacles of God’s bloody instruction have been embraced as a political policy by the ancient Israelites, the papacy in Rome, the new world colonizing countries, the early government of the United States, and the current governments of the United States and its favorite strategic partner-in-crime, Israel. It reaches back four thousand years. It has been a disgraceful, bloor-ridden legacy.

    Wednesday, December 24, 2008
    Forget Armenia, Turks Should Condemn American Indian Genocide
    (2 comments) It is high time that Turkey takes the offensive on the matter of genocide. In this day of widespread destruction, it is high time to remind America, Americans, and their government, that they are up to their ancestral elbows in the blood of the American Indians. The Turkish government must condemn the American Indian Genocide, or itself be condemned.

    Sunday, April 13, 2008
    Turkey!s “Undemocratic” Constitution
    The furor regarding the case accepted by Turkey’s highest court that could result in the banishment of the AKP ruling party makes me laugh out loud. Never forget that in the name of democracy, the institution that brought the Bush regime to power was none other than the Supreme Court of the United States. A judicial coup? Don’t make me laugh harder. No one said a word about that.

  • BARRACK OBAMA AND ARMENIAN ALLEGATIONS

    BARRACK OBAMA AND ARMENIAN ALLEGATIONS

    Barack Obama on the Importance of US-Armenia Relations

    | January 19, 2008

    I am proud of my strong record on issues of concern to the one and a half million Americans of Armenian heritage in the United States. I warmly welcome the support of this vibrant and politically active community as we change how our government works here at home, and restore American leadership abroad.

    I am a strong supporter of a U.S.-Armenian relationship that advances our common security and strengthens Armenian democracy. As President, I will maintain our assistance to Armenia, which has been a reliable partner in the fight against terrorism and extremism. I will promote Armenian security by seeking an end to the Turkish and Azerbaijani blockades, and by working for a lasting and durable settlement of the Nagorno Karabagh conflict that is agreeable to all parties, and based upon America’s founding commitment to the principles of democracy and self determination. And my Administration will help foster Armenia’s growth and development through expanded trade and targeted aid, and by strengthening the commercial, political, military, developmental, and cultural relationships between the U.S. and Armenian governments.

    I also share with Armenian Americans – so many of whom are descended from genocide survivors – a principled commitment to commemorating and ending genocide. That starts with acknowledging the tragic instances of genocide in world history. As a U.S. Senator, I have stood with the Armenian American community in calling for Turkey’s acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide. Two years ago, I criticized the Secretary of State for the firing of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, after he properly used the term “genocide” to describe Turkey’s slaughter of thousands of Armenians starting in 1915. I shared with Secretary Rice my firmly held conviction that the Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence. The facts are undeniable. An official policy that calls on diplomats to distort the historical facts is an untenable policy. As a senator, I strongly support passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution (H.Res.106 and S.Res.106), and as President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide.

    Genocide, sadly, persists to this day, and threatens our common security and common humanity. Tragically, we are witnessing in Sudan many of the same brutal tactics – displacement, starvation, and mass slaughter – that were used by the Ottoman authorities against defenseless Armenians back in 1915. I have visited Darfurian refugee camps, pushed for the deployment of a robust multinational force for Darfur, and urged divestment from companies doing business in Sudan. America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian Genocide and responds forcefully to all genocides. I intend to be that President.

    I look forward, as President, to continuing my active engagement with Armenian American leaders on the full range of issues of concern to the Armenian American community. Together, we will build, in new and exciting ways, upon the enduring ties and shared values that have bound together the American and Armenian peoples for more than a century.

  • The Foreign Policy Team of Obama

    The Foreign Policy Team of Obama

    Shifting horizons

    By Gideon Rachman

    Published: February 5 2009 20:39 | Financial Times

    February 6, 2009 10:32am 

    European policymakers will this weekend be able to have their first close look at the foreign policy team of President Barack Obama. The American delegation to the annual Munich security conference will be led by Joe Biden, US vice-president, and will include General James Jones, Mr Obama’s new national security adviser.

    But for those searching for clues to the new administration’s approach to the rest of the world, there is a treasure trove of evidence that has been little examined – the writings of the people who will shape foreign policy.

    Several are prolific authors. Many are moving across Washington, from venerable think-tanks such as the Brookings Institution on Massachusetts Avenue, into offices in the state department or at the White House. Others are arriving from universities including Harvard, Princeton and Stanford.

    It would be naive to assume that ideas floated in journal articles will be translated directly into US foreign policy. The real world is too messy for that. But the writings of the appointees and those likely to serve alongside them at least illustrate the intellectual climate and help identify some of their underlying assumptions.

    Out goes the “war on terror”, which the new brood sees as an ideological rather than a military struggle. In comes a need to reappraise both America’s power and its vulnerabilities. Back are a belief in the importance of the United Nations, of diplomacy in general – with a new stress on broad-based regional initiatives – and of relations with allies in western Europe.

    Since the “war on terror” was the organising principle of the foreign policy of George W. Bush, it is not surprising that the Obama team is urging a re-think. The early decision to close the prison at Guantánamo Bay reflected a belief that the struggle with terrorism is as much about ideas and principles as it is about military force. Daniel Benjamin, a Brookings scholar who is expected to take up a senior state department position dealing with counter­terrorism, has argued that terrorism is never likely to be definitely vanquished. Rather it is a threat that needs to “managed and reduced”.

    Daniel Benjamin

    Brookings scholar expected to take up a state department counter-­terrorism position

    In the same vein, Philip Gordon – also of Brookings and expected to take up the post of assistant secretary of state for Europe – argues that “the battle against Islamist terrorism will be won when the ideology that underpins it loses its appeal”.

    This rethinking of the war on terror reflects a broader reassessment, both of American power and of US national security. Rather than putting military power at the centre of US foreign policy, the Obama team wants to rehabilitate America’s “soft power” – diplomacy, persuasion, cultural influence, development aid and the power of example. Indeed, the man who coined the phrase “soft power” – Joseph Nye, a Harvard professor – is tipped to be US ambassador to Japan or China.

    Philip Gordon

    Brookings scholar expected to take up the post of assistant secretary of state for Europe

    Anne-Marie Slaughter, a Princeton academic, is expected to be appointed head of policy planning at the state department – a job once held by George Kennan, architect of the policy of containment of the Soviet Union. Ms Slaughter is keen to get away from the militarised and Manichean world view of the Bush years. In a recent article, she suggests that the US “need not see itself as locked in a global struggle with other great powers; rather it should view itself as a central player in an integrated world”. In her view, American power is as much to do with a dense web of cultural and economic connections with the rest of the world as it is to do with the number of aircraft carriers possessed by the navy.

    Anne-Marie Slaughter

    Academic tipped as head of policy planning at the state department

    But while the thinkers around Mr Obama have played down traditional threats to national security, they are keen that the administration should take a new generation of threats much more seriously. Kurt Campbell, expected to become assistant secretary of state for Asia, argues that “unchecked climate change will come to represent perhaps the single greatest risk to our national security”. Susan Rice, the new ambassador to the UN, thinks extreme poverty leads to state failure and, therefore: “We ignore or obscure the implications of global poverty for global security at our peril.”

    Kurt Campbell

    Likely assistant secretary of state for Asia; sees climate change as a security threat

    Some of Mr Obama’s early statements suggest that the Bush administration’s occasionally Messianic view of “democracy promotion” as a central priority of US foreign policy, may now be quietly shelved (see below). But this is one area in which there is likely to be considerable debate and disagreement within the Obama camp. Some of the new president’s appointees can sound just as ardent about democracy promotion as any neo-conservative.

    Susan Rice

    The new ambassador to the UN; thinks extreme poverty leads to state failure

    Michael McFaul, a Stanford academic who is expected to be in charge of the Russia desk at the National Security Council, for example argued in Policy Review in 2002: “The US must once again become a revisionist power … The ultimate purpose of American power is the creation of an international community of democratic states that encompasses every region of the planet.”

    Although the idea of creating a League of Democracies as an alternative source of legitimacy to the UN became closely associated with John McCain’s Republican presidential campaign, it is also a notion with which some Obama advisers have played around. Ivo Daalder, who is likely to become US ambassador to Nato, has proposed the formation of a “Global Nato” – an idea that might raise a few eyebrows among fellow ambassadors in Brussels. Mr Daalder’s argument is that because the alliance now takes on global missions, most obviously in Afghanistan, it should “open its membership to any democratic state in the world that is willing and able to contribute to the fulfilment of Nato’s new responsibilities”.

    Ivo Daalder

    Expected to be the US ambassador to Nato; has proposed the formation of a ‘Global Nato’

    Although Mr Obama opposed the Iraq war, members of his foreign policy team are not against the expansive use of American power. Samantha Power, who is expected to take a top position in the National Security Council, came to Mr Obama’s attention when he read her book, A Problem from Hell, which criticised American passivity in the face of genocide, from Cambodia to Rwanda. She is a firm believer in the use of US power to achieve humanitarian aims and stop future genocides.

    A belief in liberal interventionism and the promotion of democracy is not at odds with the neo-conservative world view. Where the Obama camp often departs decisively from the Bush years is in the belief in the importance of the UN. Ms Power’s second book, Chasing the Flame, was an admiring biography of a UN official killed in a terrorist attack in Iraq. The book’s belief in the world body as a force for good is a departure from the hostility and scepticism of the Bush years.

    Samantha Power

    Author of A Problem from Hell, tipped for a top position at National Security Council

    At the NSC, Ms Power is expected to be given a portfolio dealing with global governance. Her counterpart at the state department will probably be Carlos Pascual of the Brookings Institution, another firm supporter of the UN. He has argued for beefing up its peacekeeping capabilities.

    Many of these arguments are in the realm of grand theory. But Mr Obama’s people have also written extensively about the knotty diplomatic problems that they are already confronting. Richard Holbrooke, who has been appointed special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, has made it clear that he favours a broad regional approach to the problem. In a recent article for Foreign Affairs, he argued that Afghanistan should be seen as part of an “arc of crisis” stretching from Turkey through Iraq, Iran and Pakistan.

    Richard Holbrooke

    Special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan; favours a broad regional approach

    The Obama team’s preference for a regional approach may also be demonstrated in the Middle East, where the Israeli-Palestinian question is likely to be tackled as part of a package of linked problems including countries such as Syria, Lebanon and Iran.

    The voluminous writings of team Obama give some indication of how the appointees will approach things. But there are also cultural nuances that are not captured in journal articles or conference speeches. While many of the Bush team hailed from the south and the Midwest, many Obama appointees have cultural ties to Europe.

    Several – including Ms Rice and Mr McFaul – studied at Oxford as Rhodes scholars. Mr Daalder was born in the Netherlands and Ms Power in Ireland. Mr Gordon was the official translator of French president Nicolas Sarkozy’s biography; Ms Slaughter has a Belgian mother. The pièce de résistance: Gen Jones, the new national security adviser, speaks fluent French, having gone to high school in France. Old Europe is likely to receive a cordial welcome in Mr Obama’s Washington.

  • Russia rattles sabres in Obama’s direction

    Russia rattles sabres in Obama’s direction

    By Quentin Peel

    Published: February 6 2009 17:20 | Last updated: February 6 2009 17:20

    Russia may face a grim economic downturn but one would scarcely think so to judge by the sound of sabre-rattling emerging from the Kremlin. Unless, of course, it is intended as a domestic distraction from the gathering gloom.

    The double-act of Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin has come up with a series of security initiatives that seem designed to provoke, or at least irritate, the new administration in Washington. Without even waiting to hear how President Barack Obama intends to conduct his relations with Moscow – something that Joe Biden, his vice-president, may well address on Saturday at the annual Munich Security Conference – the Russian leaders have thrown down the gauntlet.

    First, they leaked details of naval and air bases to be established on the shores of the Black Sea in the breakaway Georgian province of Abkhazia, whose independence is recognised by Moscow alone. Then they signed an air defence treaty with the former Soviet republic of Belarus, apparently paving the way for an anti-missile defence system to counter one planned by the previous US administration across the border in Poland. Moscow appears to have persuaded the Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan to oust the US from its air base at Manas, outside Bishkek, in exchange for $2bn (€1.6bn, £1.4bn) in loans, and $150m in financial aid.

    Russia and the former Soviet republics of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – the so-called Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) – have agreed to form a “rapid reaction force” which is intended to be just as good as the equivalent force operated by the Nato alliance, according to President Medvedev.

    Outside analysts are sceptical whether any of these moves amounts to a particularly effective military gesture but they are certainly intended to suggest that Russia is not rushing to embrace the new US administration.

    The air defence deal with Belarus is on a par with Mr Medvedev’s announcement, on the day Mr Obama was elected, that Russian Iskander missiles would be sited in the Kaliningrad enclave to counter the US missile defence system. It appears to negate a subsequent conciliatory gesture from Moscow, saying those missiles would not be deployed if the US also held back.

    As for the Abkhaz naval base, it may be intended as an insurance policy for the day when, or if, Russia is forced to vacate the existing base for its Black Sea fleet at Sevastopol in the Crimea, which is leased from Ukraine until 2017. Oksana Antonenko, senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London, believes all the actions are part of a pattern, intended to provoke a US reaction, and give Russia more bargaining chips in negotiating a new relationship with Washington. “In Russia there has never been any euphoria about Obama as there has been in the rest of Europe,” she says. “Russia is still very mistrustful of the US, and Putin profoundly so.

    “But there is an overwhelming view in Moscow now that the Americans are in decline and will be forced to negotiate with Russia from a position of weakness. They seem to expect all the concessions to come from Obama. It is very unrealistic.”

    The response from Washington has been muted. Russia is simply not a high priority for the new president. Western analysts believe Russia’s production of Iskander missiles is not enough to base any significant numbers in Belarus as well as on its southern borders. As for the rapid reaction force, it is regarded with wry amusement in Brussels. None of Russia’s would-be allies wants to be used as a pawn in some muscle-flexing contest with Washington. Even Abkhazia is unhappy about becoming a vast military base for its neighbour.

    So perhaps the entire operation is for domestic purposes. That way it might at least make sense.

    Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009