This short paper is worth reading; there are some good thoughts here on some hard problems.

Increasingly, I find a certain confluence between the uninspired laziness of the American mass[ively] media^hocre and the weak-spiritedness of our public diplomacy.

Care should be taken in the labeling of adversaries so as not unintentionally to disparage those to whom the United States is trying to appeal. Whether there are circumstances in which intentional disparagement may be warranted remains an open issue.

The vituperative rhetoric of pre-prison Nelson Mandela stands in stark contrast to the modulated discourse of Martin Luther King.

Perhaps Mandela in his pre-imprisonment phase considered attaining the support of moderates to be so unlikely that the way to move forward was not through internal change, but through a greater polarization to galvanize the situation to crisis levels and thereby compel action from the international community.

The Middle East must be Born Again!