American Foreign Policy

Abu Aardvark assesses the current state of American foreign policy execution:

"I've been mulling over a basketball analogy for Bush's foreign policy. The US is basically a very strong team, with great players and an appealing style. In the first half (Bush's first term), due to astonishingly atrocious coaching and poor execution, the team dug itself into a big hole and went into halftime trailing big. Now, the US has come out in the second half and is playing a bit better - executing more crisply, running basic plays, and is starting to score some points. It's still in a big hole, but a few minutes into the second half its fans are starting to get excited, while the other side is starting to get restive. As anyone who's ever seen this kind of game knows, things could break in a couple of ways at this point: the other team could begin to feel the pressure, the US could gather real momentum, and the big deficit could fade away so that by the ten minute mark (I'm thinking college ball here) it could be anyone's game; or the other team could buckle down, slow the game down, absorb this first flurry and then grind out a victory over its more talented rival."

Abu Aardvark is noting the probable American involvement in Egypt's move toward an open Presidential ballot. This morning, I read on al-Jazeera that the Iraqi example is moving at least some Saudi Shi'ites to the polls. For most of 2003, I said I didn't like elevating governors to the presidency because their foreign policy inexperience often led to serious first term mishaps in places like Lebanon, Somalia and the like. George W. Bush was most definitely not an exception. However, both Reagan and Clinton improved in their second term. Let's hope this President Bush does the same.