What chance of progress in tackling Iran’s nuclear programme?
“This week’s IAEA report seems to set Iran and the West up for continued confrontation, with the usual suspects at the UN—Russia and China—working hard to limit the bite of sanctions on the country. As the rhetoric gets tougher this year, with elections looming in both America and Iran, politicians in neither country can afford to be seen to be soft on the other…”
California legalises gay marriage; how will the rest of America respond?
“The gay-marriage decision in California may also stoke debate on the broader issue of courts setting public policy. John McCain gave a recent speech decrying “activist judges”, conservative code for judges inventing rights (gay rights, the right to abortion and the like) that are not spelled out in plain language in the laws and the constitution. But Mr McCain did not mention abortion or gay marriage by name. He may now be tempted to throw the “God didn’t create Adam and Steve” crowd some red meat by criticising the Californian court’s decision. But he cannot support a federal marriage amendment without appearing to be a flip-flopper…”
I moderated a great discussion on two new books between Bill Overholt (Asia, America, and the Transformation of Geopolitics) and Parag Khanna (The Second World: Empires and Influence in the New Global Order) at the Asia Society last Thursday. The audio is here.
