Book review: The Killing of Osama bin Laden

Seymour M. Hersh is a careful investigative journalist that, among others, created the debate about Abu Ghraib prisons. His investigations are based on high-level sources and very often he brings out to life truths the establishment want it hidden. This is part of the check-and-balances game, that should be fully functional in order to have a healthy democracy. Even if the journalists may make mistakes and can be biased in their evaluations, or even manipulated by their sources, the democratic institutions should do their work and give an answer to the issues raised by the media. 

A collection of articles covering the killing of Osama bin Laden and some aspects of the US involvement in Syria, this book echoes Hersh disappointment with Obama's incapacity to really offer a different perspective on US politics after Bush administration. Disappointment is a feeling, but sometimes it does not offer the right tool of evaluation of politics. While wathing the promises made by Obama during the first presidential campaign I wondered often how someone can really think - belief is a different side of the story - that one can, just overnight, stop many of the politics started by the Bush administration, the result of planning and involving budgets and various layers of the administration. But it seems that enthusiasm is over too. 

Hersh is particularly unhappy with the maintenance of the politics of relying on special operations, especially in the case of Osama's killing, as well as on the persistence of the Cold War rhetorics regarding Russia and China, especially in the case of the war in Syria. If in the first case, there may be some omissions and confusions  and inaccuracies regarding the public stories delivered - such as the impossible to believe that in fact Pakistan did not have any involvement in the success of the operation - in the second case, the reality may be a bit complex. In the last 8 years, America is lacking a coherent foreign policy - in terms of politics not symbolic gestures - offering willingly the floor to global stakeholders who were waiting for a long time to outline their presence. Woke up from his mediatic beauty sleep, Obama is using the old Cold War language because he does not have any other perpective on his own to use.

If you ignore the very frequent name dropping, Hersh offers a lot of snipets of information about the behind the curtain connections during the Syrian war, to be taken as such or compared with other official and even media reports - an approach strongly recommended in the case of the sarin gas debate, with more than one report contradicting Hersh assumptions. After all, journalists can be also the victims of their own informants, not only presidents. 

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher via NetGalley.com in exchange of an honest review.

Machiavelli's advice to citizens for the coming American Elections

The coming American elections are an inspiration not only for journalists and power brokers, but also for political scientists. Maurizio Viroli is an Italian expert in Machiavelli whose writings are given a different spin than the usual focus on the leader: the electing citizens. Not extremely appreciated in the US and rarely associated with open and transparent democracy, the author of the Prince is now given an enriched interpretation. 

One of the most important assets of a real leader is to be voted by citizens involved in the everyday life of the Republic. Peacefully, they have to use the public meetings, rallies and debates for expressing their opinions about government and leadership in general and getting to know the candidates. With the democratic republic preferable to any other forms of government, Machiavelli's advice to the voters in Viroli's interpretation is to 'judge by the hands, not by the eyes'. In other words, to avoid evaluating politicians by their appearance. Although, we have to remember that one of the features outlined by the author of the Prince is eloquence but in this interpretation it is the role of the citizens to put facts and words together. 'Machiavelli's advice to citizens' is to choose that leader able to understand when the common good prevails over particular interests and able to adapt its politics to the changing context. Equally, they have to be careful with candidates that promise to achieve bold gigantesque political projects. Also, first priority of a president of a democracy is to promote peace and avoid war. Separation between state and church and religion in general is recommended for a democracy, as well as the need to have leaders knowledgeable about history and admiring 'the right people'. In the opinion of the author: 'The USA is the most successful example of a republic that has a strong civic religion, is acceptably tolerant and has been able to preserve a good separation between state and church'. Citizens should intend to limit the power of their leaders and avoid keeping them in power because power is a source of corruption and Machiavelli is not the only one to have outlined that.

An important asset of the book is also relying on various examples from the US history, offering a practical perspective on the political science texts.  

The book is expected to be published the 26th of April.

Disclaimer: I was offered the book by the publisher via NetGalley.com, but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Book Review: The King of Oil

In the world of the big businesses, the rules are different, the measures are different and the consequences, obviously, of another level.

The book is a careful and balanced account - for me, the first one, so I am not able to draw a detailed comparison with other works - of the adventurous life of Marc Rich. But, thinking about other similar stories of big names of the resources business, his story is having a high degree of plausibility. Love stories, dangerous places, illegal or not in accordance with the generally accepted rules, state controversies and subsequent hunting, political risks. In addition, Rich went involved in philanthropic activities, not only for the sake of fame and success.

I was reading the book with the same curiosity shared for a crime and spy story. Was wondering what the next move will be in order to avoid the long arm of the US Marshals, even I knew very well that he was not harmed and escaped miraculously the various attempts to be brought in the States. 

It is a luck of the hunted rich people? And suddenly I was thinking about the strange fate of Khodorkovsky. I don't believe in conspiration theories, as I am convinced that many attacks against Rich were deeply Anti-Semitic (and in many places in the world, ridiculous dwarfs are using his name as a self-sufficient explanation of their hate against Jews). If it is was possible to pardon him - whatever the risk - I am inclined to believe that, in fact, the whole story was having at least a very slim political substratum. Because after reading this book I am almost perfectly convinced that in this kind of businesses, it's no place for angels, but sometimes, it is worthy a prayer.

Related articles

• Specter: Marc Rich will be issue (politico.com)
• Zug's Secrets: Switzerland's Corporate Hideaway (time.com)

Book Review: Understanding Arabs

With the whole discussions from the last two months, in the media and in the public space, about the Middle East - not exclusively focused, as usual, on the Israeli-Palestinian issue - a book explaining simply what are the main traits and cultural habits of the Arabs is extremely useful. 

And the term "Guide", from the intertitle is expressing exactly what this book it is about: an introduction in the culture, society, language, customs, religion, tradition and raily life. The examples took from the daily life are offering authenticity and direct insights. The references are mostly cultural, with basic information that need further bibliography.

But if you want to move or travel to one of the countries from the region and need more than the indications from the usual guides or if you want to start your intellectual journey across the region, this book is a good start.

A year in books: 2010

I had a look this morning over the list of the best books sold and recommended by Amazon. And, not surprisingly, I found a couple of books covering exclusively or partially aspects related to foreign affairs and international politics.

From the category "Biographies and Memoirs", you have, in this order of preference: Laura Hillebrand (1) - Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption; Laura Bush (3) - Spoken from the Heart (useful for understanding the mentality basis of the Bush family); Karl Rove (15) - Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight; George W. Bush (18) - Decision Points (Laura took it all in the family, apparently), Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices (24) (the only one from the list I've read and which, in my opinion, is full of stereotypes and who benefited of an undiserved - from the qualitative point of view - advertising), Andrew Young (26) - The Politician. An Insider's Account of John Edward's Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal that Brought him down.

From the category "Thriller and Fiction", on the 6th place you will find Glenn Beck's The Overton Window (the expression means a "window" in the range of public reactions to ideas in public discourse, from a spectrum of all possible options on a particular issue). I don't like nothing about Glenn Beck, but I would be curious to read his book, as part of my usual documentation about politics and people who want to be part of them.

The politics are represented in the category of "Literature and Fiction" with Karl Marlante's Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War, on the 1st place, Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen (3) and David Grossman (7) To the End of Land. (the last two books are on my shelves, waiting to be open very very soon).

Maybe today will be a day dedicated exclusively to reading and more and more writing to be posted very very soon.

Book review: Longitudes and attitudes

Image via Wikipedia/Thomas Friedman

At the very beginning of my career in the domain of foreign affairs, reading Thomas Friedman's opinions was part of my daily introductory lessons. The same role was played by his books, From Beirut to Jerusalem or The World is Flat. 
Beyond the careful explanation of various global and regional contexts and their specific problems, what I was admiring at him was what I called the meaningful way of selecting ideas and the ways in which he was putting into balance various pro and con arguments. Every affirmation was offering the potential for a change of the current situation and aqt the end of his 700-word opinion, I was acquiring a different perception. 

I met again some of those short lessons reading Longitudes and Attitudes. Exploring the World before and after September 11 -  – a collection of articles dedicated to the US security, the Middle East and the American life post 9/11.

But my eyes and understanding are completely different. I continue to read his analysis with a lot of envy for the style and vocabulary, but I feel very often the desire of the journalist aiming to be considered too as a potential power-broker. And very often he, as other media stars from the US are playing this role. The question is what are the consequences of such a shift for the journalism. 
In his case, is the idea of insisting over and over again the same ideas - the main messages from the politicians' discourses - even the situations are changing as well as the actors. Plus, this is the idea of not risking to assume points of view agains the main waves of the opinion. As it is the case for the situation of the settlements in Jerusalem: this is the general trend, to accuse the Israeli governments for this. But, are we talking about the same situation from a year to another? And, in fact, what is the context? The journalism for the masses is tempted to avoid going into too much details, following the pattern familiar to the politicians.
But there are in this book a couple of ideas that deserve to be developed and discussed over and over again: as the fact that September 11 was an attack against the multicultural society of America and not a failure of intelligence but of imagination; the lack of a Manhattan project aimed to destroy terrorism; the lack of any society project from the part of terrorists as Bin Laden; the need for encouraging the discussion within Islam and to create the prospects for a deep reform of some Arab/Muslim states (mostly in the Saudi Arabia); US security dilemmas  after 11/9. In some pieces the world of foreign affairs and security is the pretext for a healthy laugh to tears - as it is the case of the idea of the Naked Air company, whose passengers would fly naked and will not give any chance to religious fundamentalists to put into practice their evil plans (pp. 96-97).

A very interesting information I forgot about was the relative support that US had in some Iranian circles shortly after 11/9 and the missed opportunity of the George W. Bush administration. 

The book it is an interesting diary of the foreign affairs world and a good reference for those aspiring for being good writers in the domain of the international relations. But, beyond your admiration, you have to continue using your brain and to be able to offer your own arguments and points of view.

Related articles

• Maureen Dowd and Thomas Friedman Play Make-Believe [Fifth Columnists] (gawker.com)

Policies of aid

Recently, UN opened a website aiming to allow a better follow-up of the ways in which the aid for Haiti is directed and used. A good initiative, but it is only a start in order to offer a bigger transparency and, finally accountabiliy of the ways in which the financial support for countries in need is used - and, sometimes, abused.

The current policies of aid is often in center of debates contesting the lack of efficiency and the contribution in increasing corruption and poverty. The critiques are mostly referring to Africa, and one of the last references I´ve read recently is the book of Dambissa Moyo, Dead Aid. Why is not working and how there is another way for Africa.

There are many food for thought information and data regarding the desperate situation from Africa and the lack of consistency of the sustained Western effort in delivering lots of aids and financial incentives to the continent. And, very important, that you need to have a serious support and background in these efforts coming from the region, as the local ownership might be an incentive in creating responsibilities and increasing the efficiency in using the money. In other words, an "anti-colonialistic" and "anti-orientalistic" frame in reconsidering the Western perspectives on Africa, beyond the more or less "entertainement" frame where pop stars are promoting their social profiles using the poverty from the region as a paravan.

Some paradoxes, confirmed by the data used in the book, are rising various questions regarding the lack of efficiency of the last decades efforts directed to Africa - in comparison, for example, with the post-WWII Marshall Plan, for example. For example, between 1970 and 1998, when the aid flows to Africa were at their peak, the poverty rate rose from 11 to 66%. The continent became fully depend on the foreign aid: "Presenty, Africa receives development assistance worth almost 15% of its GDP - or more than four times the Marshall Plan at its high. Given Africa´s poor economic performance in the past fifty years,while billions of dollars of aid have poured in, it is hard to grasp how another swathe of billions will somehow turn Africa´s aid experience into one of success" (p.36). In addition, the system disfunctionalities apparently were nurtured by the foreign financial support, with rampant corruption, political instability and institutional vulnerabilities.

The books do not provide solution(s) and it is rather a general evaluation of the situation, focusing more on general examples than on a case-by-case analysis of the situation. In many respects, I felt the need of more information and reports and economic references. An interesting solution outlined, but not too much developed further is to use the policy of bond market, which I find a creative alternative, but in order to emit bonds, you need a reliable market, a case not very sure for many African countries. The final pledge for more creativity is welcomed, but in the case of political science, you need more stable elements in order to create long term perspectives for institutional and, not less important, economic development.

In fact, my feeling after reading this book was that I agreed with many ideas regarding the failure of the policies of aid and I had more insights about the scale of the lack of achievements, but I am still moving around understanding how it is possible to go beyond the current level of underdevelopment. Maybe an approach based on investigative journalism skills will reveal more about the scale of lack of success and, by identifyng clearly - and not only rhetorically - the main actors - will be possible to build up further reliable scripts for new perspective(s).

The air as a battlespace: a manual

I had recently the occasion to follow a very interesting webinar on the newly released Manual on International Law Applicable to Air and Missile Warfare. The proceedings and theoretical discussions - a purely academic exercise - lasted for almost six years, and the outcome, the manual, is not intending to be legally binding, but to offer a source of inspiration for those involved in the issue.

The approach itself is very interesting, as being purely the result of a peer-reviewed work of experts - who are addressing very complicate and problematic practical issues. One of them is, for example, the issue of voluntary human shields and the question how much and when those should be considered direct participants in hostilities. Shortly, the air warfare is implying very practical and direct actions, often took on a case by case basis, not always directly inspired by the academic debate.

A reproach made by some of the participants to the webinar was that the equilibrum of the manual is doubtful, as long as you do not have authors from the "bombed" countries. Nobody asked, the limits of politically corectness respected, what is the stage of the specific theoretical discussion on these issues in these "bombed" countries.

The issue of air security is very actual, but focus mostly of the aspects related to the terrorist threats and the direct impact on the life of civilians. Countering the current vulnerabilities cannot be avoided, independently of the political campaigns rhetorics. Cases in which, the limits between public and private, imposing or limiting the state intervention are very unclear and lacking a theoretical strong and universally available argumentation.

The discussion is open. Despite the relative high frequency of discussions on this issue, the solution is far of being clear. And, in fact, our world is too complicate and complex to be solved through one solution.

We and our states

The legal, moral and political problems following September 11 terrorist attacks represented the inspiration of various political and artistic standpoints. Music, literature, arts, pros cons, debates from various perspectives. In the center: how much our freedom is/will be threaten by the legislation allowing the state to enter and access our privacy.

Most part of these statements, in my opinion, are lacking exactly the wider perspective assumed from the very beginning, by not stressing the problem of what is, in fact, the essence and content of this freedom? And, even less, the ways in order to stop or at least diminish the causes provoking this reaction from the part of the states.

The German journalist Heribert Prantl is outlining the German example, but in a very rhetorical way. Page after page, he is gathering more arguments for a public requisitorium of a more intrusive state. With roots back in the past of the German experience in facing the Rote Armee Fraktion and other terrorist threats in the 70s. Ironically enough, but not so logically unexpectedly as Prantl let us believe, one of the promoters of the strict German legislation was the social-democrat Otto Schilly, former Federal Minister of the Interior between 1998 and 2005, during Gerhard Schröder. In the 70s, the same Schilly was defending the Rot Armee Faktion members and, late in the 80s, was one of the founding member of the Green Party.

The rhetoric is continuing, but without a single line of arguments devoted to understanding the whole landscape: the causes of this situation, the alternatives and the options - how, in fact, the state ought to defend its citizens of terrorism, of being innocent victims of fanatics, the possibilities to counter such situations and to play a game with win/win outcome.

It is very easy to outline all these issues and to complain and accuse an invisible and (assumed) mighty power of the state(s), the temptation to control our privacy - doubtful, given the eagerness we, all of us, we are sharing our information and privacies online, via social networking sites, without being requested - the tighter limits to our freedom. As in the case of the Middle East, it is very easy to express an opinion, as a proof of our freedom to think, accuse, evaluate. But, in order to provide a wiser outline of the landscape, more than rhetorics are needed. For example, a critical anaylsis, going beyond the public acclaimed statements. Otherwise, we are getting trapped in the common places of the self-delivered ideas.

Dick Cheney, the writer

of his memoirs, to be published in 2011. For me, it was a mistery his absence from the public space in the last two years of the second W. Bush's administration.

As for the Republican Party, nothing good to hear about by now. Maybe the discussion about the health-care reform will change something.

What to Read on the Middle East Peace Process

a recommendation of Foreign Affairs.

The list is extremely limited, even it is about thousand of pages. The diplomatic insights are valuable, because are offering the background and explanation for many failures and differences of rhythms, from an American administration to another.

Trying to find or think about solutions to a conflict is foremost a matter of knowledge. And, in order to understand you need to build a certain familiarity with the issue: to know the history or the histories of the place - when it is about a conflict, it is often "my history" vs. "your history" - the biographies of the main actors, in order to have an insight of their decisions, to read the documents and of course, to have a direct contact with the people from the area, those directly affected by wars and political decisions.