Morning Update: Iraq, Russia, National Security
Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) was named the Democratic Party’s official presidential nominee (Reuters) Wednesday night at the Democratic National Convention. He will officially accept the nomination tonight.
Former President Bill Clinton addressed the convention Wednesday evening, praising Obama as showing “a clear grasp of foreign policy and national security challenges and a firm commitment to rebuild our badly strained military.”
Vice-presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) promised that he and Obama will “hold Russia accountable for its actions and we will help the people of Georgia rebuild.” He also said Obama was “right” in calling for additional troops in Afghanistan and for a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq. CFR.org Executive Editor Michael Moran talks with Biden’s co-author of a plan to federalize Iraq, CFR President Emeritus Leslie H. Gelb, about possible Iraq policy in an Obama-Biden administration.
A CFR hosted panel of foreign policy heavyweights Wednesday explored the immense challenges facing the next president, from globalization to the Middle East.
CFR will host several panel discussions on foreign policy issues at next week’s Republican National Convention in Minnesota.
August 28th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
As THE ECONOMIST recently corrected noted, Russia remains surprisingly sensitive to its international image despite its show of militarism and renewed isolationism. The US should lead a global effort to curtail Moscow’s access to engagement in the international organizations that are desirable to it, at the same time making it clear that it is both the West’s sincere desire, and in Russia’s practical interest, for a new Cold War to be averted.
- Nicholas J. Slabbert