IN THE NEWS: Warming Globally, Acting Locally At least a few American news publications have dubbed President Bush the modern day Nero for his inattentiveness to global warming and his obstructionism at the U.N. Conference on Climate Change in Montreal. But such a characterization cannot be extended to the United States as a nation; as President Bush plays the fiddl...

IN THE NEWS: What You Can Do Today By Charles J. BrownNovember 30, 2005 Newsletter I’m not much of a reader of poetry – prose is more my thing. But I recently ran across a passage from the great American poet, Wallace Stevens, that I really liked: He must say yes because Beneath every no Lay a passion for yes That has never been broken. I can’t thin...

IN THE NEWS: The UN: Pay As You Like It? As promised, John Bolton is pulling no punches as U.S. Ambassador to the UN. Don Kraus of Citizens for Global Solutions looks at the latest row over his proposal to alter the UN budget process. In Mr. Bolton’s view, member states would pay only for programs they support. Will that speed up reform — or will it further isol...

IN THE NEWS: Courting Ill WIll EditorialLos Angeles TimesNovember 25, 2005 Given the current political climate in Washington, President Bush doesn't have much capital to spend on the two issues perhaps most important to Latin America: agricultural subsidies and immigration. But by restoring money to help Latin American nations fight drugs and corruption, he can s...

IN THE NEWS: Criminal Arrogance At the risk of stating the obvious: This is a rough time for U.S. public diplomacy. Recent studies have shown that over the last four years the world’s perception of the United States—although slightly improving—has remained disconcertingly negative. In fact, a June 2005 Pew Research Center Poll revealed that the populations of ...

IN THE NEWS: Trick or Treat By Charles J. Brown Newsletter, Fall 2005 When Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc along the Gulf Coast, the world responded brilliantly: more than one hundred countries pledged more than $1 billion in aid, fuel and medicine. The donors included not only the world’s wealthiest nations, but also those who had little to spare – countries li...

IN THE NEWS: Roberts' Rules of War In the first few days of Judge John Roberts’ hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, most senators focused their questions on his views of privacy, precedent and free speech. So far, only Sen. Russ Feingold has asked Roberts about his views on national security and civil liberties. Because Roberts is the first Supreme Cour...

IN THE NEWS: Venezuela, Guatemala vie for U.N. Council Seat WASHINGTON - Elections to seats on the United Nations Security Council are usually drab affairs, beyond the diplomatic chatter and a sense of international respect for the winners. But not this year. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is challenging U.S.-backed Guatemala for a seat, triggering what many an...

IN THE NEWS: The Battle of Turtle Bay Now that President George W. Bush has bypassed the Senate and recess appointed John Bolton to the post of U.N. ambassador, a new battle is underway. The fight for who will represent the United States at the United Nations is over, and the extremely complicated struggle to determine how the United Nations can be retooled into an effe...

IN THE NEWS: Winners, Losers, Lessons By Charles J. BrownTheWashingtonNote.comJuly 31, 2005 President Bush's decision to appoint Bolton this morning only denies those fighting the nomination closure - but not much else. We may have lost the Bolton battle, but it sure looks like we won the war. The events of the past five months, taken together, represent a big victor...