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Good News
Matthew Yglesias —
Well here’s a story that certainly brought a smile to my face:
Yet all three of his choices — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton as the rival turned secretary of state; Gen. James L. Jones, the former NATO commander, as national security adviser, and Robert M. Gates, the current and future defense secretary — were selected in large part because they have embraced a sweeping shift of resources in the national security arena.
The shift, which would come partly out of the military’s huge budget, would create a greatly expanded corps of diplomats and ...
Shifting Resources
Political Animal —
Shifting Resources From the NYT : "When President-elect Barack Obama introduces his national security team on Monday, it will include two veteran cold warriors and a political rival whose records are all more hawkish than that of the new president who will face them in the White House Situation Room. Yet all three of his choices -- Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton as the rival turned secretary of state; Gen. James L. Jones, the former NATO commander, as national security adviser, and Robert M. Gates, the current and future defense secretary -- were selected in large part because ...
A Handpicked Team for a Foreign Policy Shift
Democratic Underground Latest Breaking News —
... Obama started talking about in the summer of 2007, when his candidacy was a long shot at best will be the great foreign policy experiment of the Obama presidency, one of his senior advisers said recently. The adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said the three have all embraced a rebalancing of Americas national security portfolio after a huge investment in new combat capabilities during the Bush years. Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/01/us/politics/01policy.... The Bush regime seemed to think, as ...
Shifting Resources
Obsidian Wings —
... by hilzoy
From the NYT:
"When President-elect Barack Obama introduces his national security team on Monday, it will include two veteran cold warriors and a political rival whose records are all more hawkish than that of the new president who will face them in the White House Situation Room.
Yet all three of his choices -- Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton as the rival turned secretary of state; Gen. James L. Jones, the former NATO commander, as national security adviser, and Robert M. Gates, the current and ...
Centrist Like a Fox
Obsidian Wings —
... ), I too was encouraged by the NYT report that Obama’s national security team wants to shift resources away from the bloated military budget to fund other diplomatic initiatives. It’s encouraging not merely for its own sake, but because it reassures skeptics like me that Clinton and Gates will prove good choices. ...
Morning Roundup: Around the Web Dodging Shoppers
The Latest on Air America —
If you had a problem with all the Clintonistas joining ranks with Obama (for the record we are not), you're really going to lose it today. Clinton, Gates? Team of rivals or flock of hawks? You decide. (New York Times) The Washington Post 's Marie Arana points out something we've been saying for a while (entre nous): Obama is not black. Do unprecedented door-buster sales and increased numbers of shoppers mean that Black Friday was not a complete disaster? That is the question. (Wall Street Journal) While the true hearts of the left observed By Nothing Day on Friday, others went to Walmart. One man actually died ...
Change we can believe in
Political Animal —
CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN.... Hilzoy mentioned this overnight, but it's worth re-emphasizing, since it's likely to be today's big story. At 10:40 a.m., the president-elect will introduce the leaders of his national security team, and while they come from disparate political backgrounds, they agree on where the country needs to go . [A]ll three of his choices -- Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton as the rival turned secretary of state; Gen. James L. Jones, the former NATO commander, as national security adviser, and Robert M. Gates, the current and future defense secretary -- have embraced a sweeping shift of priorities and resources in the ...
Officially Madam Secretary
Real Clear Politics - TIME.com —
... whether this will turn out to be a pitch-perfect partnership or a match made in hell. Whether one takes the former or latter view appears to depend on what one thinks of Hillary Clinton's motivations, and her ability to keep her ego and her husband's penchant for drama in check. Substantively, it's clear that Clinton's foreign policy instincts are slightly to the right of her new boss, as is the case with most of the national security team he will be announcing today. Yet, as David Sanger writes this morning, all appear to be on board with the ...
The Early Word: Foreign Policy Rollout
The Caucus —
... , the three appointees will form the nucleus of the Obama administration’s efforts in the international arena. The Times’s David E. Sanger reports that they “have embraced a sweeping shift of priorities and resources in the national security arena.” He writes: The shift would create a greatly expanded corps of diplomats and aid workers that, in the vision of the incoming Obama administration, would be engaged in projects around the world aimed at preventing conflicts and rebuilding failed states. However, it is unclear whether the financing would be shifted from ...
MORNING READ
News —
MORNING READ With President-elect Barack Obama set to announce his national security team this morning, bloggers debate whether national security will look much different under the new administration. Others, meanwhile, debate President Bush's potential legacy as Iraq's liberator. A sea change in national security policy is on the way with Obama's new team, Political Animal's Steve Benen asserts, citing a report in today's New York Times. The new team, which reportedly will include Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, will recommit the U.S. to diplomacy, emphasize prevention, and cut back ...
Live Blog: Presenting the National Security Team
The Caucus —
... , when Mr. Obama was asked how his administration would differ from Bill Clinton’s administration if he planned to appoint so many Clinton advisers. Senator Hillary Clinton, who was off screen, piped up with a laugh: “I want to hear that!” “Well, Hillary,” Mr. Obama responded coolly, “I’m looking forward to you advising me, as well.” It was a brilliant comeback, but few saw it as prescient. But here we are, less than a year later, with President-elect Obama about to name his former rival as his Secretary of State, a position in which she will indeed be advising him and ...
Obama's Foreign Policy Team Signals Change
Newshoggers.com —
By Cernig
Today, to much fanfare and absolutely no surprise, Obama announced his foreign policy team. I've already commented on his overall thinking as revealed by this team, so today I won't repeat myself. But here's what some notable others are saying. Most pundits seem to be honing in on one key concept - transformation ...
12/1: Turning Skeptics Into Believers
Blogometer —
... . Lefty bloggers also have qualms about Obama's decision to tap two non-Democrats -- Def. Sec. Robert Gates and Gen. James Jones -- as his Def. Sec. and Nat'l Security Adviser (respectively). However, liberal bloggers are feeling a bit better about Obama's picks following a New York Times report that Clinton, Gates, and Jones have all "embraced a sweeping shift of priorities and resources in the national security arena," including "a greatly expanded corps of diplomats and aid workers." Lefty bloggers share Obama's desire to place more emphasis on diplomacy and less ...
Obama and Defense Spending
Open Left - Front Page —
Defense spending will be one of the most important, if not the most important, budgetary fight during Obama's first term. As such, this paragraph from Obama's press conference today is receiving a lot of play (emphasis mine):
"We will also ensure that we have the strategy -- and resources -- to succeed against al Qaeda and the Taliban," Obama told a news conference. "And going forward, we will continue to make the investments necessary to strengthen our military and increase our ground forces to defeat the threats of the 21st century."
Since we are still in the transition phase rather than the governing phase, ...
Soft Power
Firedoglake —
In the comments to this thread, we discussed the possibility that Obama would execute a long overdue shift in emphasis in our foreign policy, emphasizing the State Department and soft power over DOD and military power (and, even, soft power implmented by the military). See, especially, this nadezhda comment.
That appears to be the plan: ...
No Soup for You! (Please)
Obsidian Wings —
... from such allocations. In that previous post, I excerpted the following passage from Travis Sharp's piece: The United States could take some current funding away from expensive high-tech weaponry, which may be useless in future Iraq-style conflicts, and redirect it toward enhanced intelligence, diplomacy, counterinsurgency training, language competency, humanitarian assistance, and nuclear nonproliferation programs. A recent article by David Sanger (which Hilzoy and Publius touched on) suggests that just such a ...
Tim Shorrock and Frank Naif: Top Intelligence Picks a No-Win for Obama
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com —
The Obama transition team's highly anticipated announcement of its new national security lineup has telling omissions: there's no Director of National Intelligence or CIA Director.
The Obama administration faces a daunting task in choosing new intelligence chiefs. Nearly any credible candidate for senior intelligence leadership appointments is likely to come with baggage, such as past involvement in questionable intelligence activities and/or the growing network of secretive intelligence contractors.
Obama's presumptive top contender for an intelligence leadership post exited the stage last week. John Brennan--CIA veteran, ...
The Pentagon budget
Political Animal —
THE PENTAGON BUDGET.... If policymakers are looking at the federal budget, looking for areas to trim spending, the Pentagon may be one of the first areas to draw extra scrutiny. We know Barack Obama's incoming national security team supports renewed fiscal discipline ...
