Drezburt and the G-20

Mon, 09/28/2009 - 10:46pm

No, that's not the name of my new band -- though, man, that would be a geekily awesome name for a band -- but a cue for my latest bloggingheads diavlog with NSN's Heather Hurlburt.  Topics include Iran, the G-20 summit, and multilateralism more generally:

 

One follow-up note -- I've been amused to read the reactions to the G-20 summit, which range from (justifiably) mocking the communique to complaining that the summit failed to develop a cure for cancer to worries about a new oppressive global governance mechanism.

I believe that I might be the only blogger who thinks that the G-20 solved the Goldilocks problem of not being meaningless without being so binding that there's no wiggle room.  The peer review mechanism is the best enforcement arrangement that's possible given the heterogeneous cluster of countries involved, and I give the Obama administration full marks for setting its agenda on macroeconomic imbalances. 

That is all

Daniel W. Drezner | Permalink | | Comments? Login or register
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Hurlburt is one of those

by blue13326 on Tue, 09/29/2009 - 11:51am

Hurlburt is one of those analysts who has been shown to be wrong 99% of the time, but still manages to convey a slightly-condescending note in her voice when she talks about foreign policy, as if that's her main qualification. I guess you could call it the Joe Biden school of foreign policy: Who cares if Joe's been wrong about every major foreign policy issue in the last 30 years, as long as he has that condescending tone when he speaks?

Hurlburt's contentions in your talk are laughable: This was some kind of brilliant set-up by Obama? That's just absurd. Obama looked so weak Sarkozy was openly mocking him at the UN Security Council. When the French are emasculating you, that aint smart power. The world is united behind Obama? Ridiculous. Russia and China have already said no to further sanctions. Iran feels alone, isolated? Iran was mocking Obama and was test launching missiles this weekend. Rockets that's oh, by the way may be able to reach Europe a week after Obama said they didn't need a missile shield from Iran. And that's the response of a chastised Iran??? Boy, Obama's really put them on notice!

I look forward to further Hurlburt analysis on such issues as how North Korea' next nuclear test means Obama's strategy there is going brilliantly, and how Chavez getting nukes means Obama's South America strategy is really winning over hearts and minds, and then ext time Russia bullies one of its neighbors or blocks Iran sanctions means Obama's missile defense move is really paying off, or how China push for a new reserve currency really validates Obama's economic strategy, etc.

As long as Hurlburt's got that smug tone we'll really believe she knows what she's talking about....