home > campaign 2008 > op-eds
December 8, 2008
The Daily Beast
Peter Beinart believes that by electing Barack Obama the American people are ridding "the anti-intellectualism that has dominated politics for 50 years."
See more in U.S. Election 2008
December 8, 2008
Time Magazine
Peter Beinart writes that "Obama understands that foreign policy is, in international-relations-speak, a two-sided game."
See more in U.S. Election 2008
December 5, 2008
The Washington Post
Michael Gerson writes that "there is a lesson here for Barack Obama's administration: Sometimes power must be lightly held to be effectively employed."
See more in India, U.S. Strategy and Politics, U.S. Election 2008
December 5, 2008
The Australian
Don't write off capitalism; it has thrived on crises for the past 300 years, contends Walter Russell Mead.
See more in Economics, U.S. Election 2008
December 4, 2008
Washington Post
Sebastian Mallaby writes that the end-of-capitalism talk is bunk. It distracts us from the debate we should be having on how to manage the necessary shift in the balance of our mixed economy.
See more in Economics, U.S. Election 2008
November 30, 2008
The New York Times Magazine
Noah Feldman writes that "the time for change is now, lest Afghanistan become the quagmire that Iraq was once said to be."
See more in Afghanistan, Iraq, U.S. Election 2008
November 29, 2008
Wall Street Journal
In this Wall Street Journal op-ed, Amity Shlaes responds to the claim that the trouble with the New Deal was that it didn't spend enough. Instead, she argues that massive government spending takes away jobs in the private sector.
See more in Economics, U.S. Election 2008
November 27, 2008
Washington Times
Shannon K. O'Neil and Sebastian Chaskel write that "the U.S. can improve Colombia's human rights situation by bolstering economic opportunities through the FTA."
November 24, 2008
Washington Post
Sebastian Mallaby says that desperate times demand creative remedies. Fortunately, Obama has chosen to surround himself with experienced technocrats-pragmatists who excel at imaginative improvisation.
See more in Economics, U.S. Election 2008
November 23, 2008
Washington Post
In this Washington Post op-ed, Edward Alden writes that current immigration policy "was built in the wake of 9/11, but it will have to be reformed in the shadow of the economic crisis."
See more in Border and Ports, U.S. Election 2008
November 23, 2008
The Daily Beast
Peter Beinart says that filling the Obama administration with former Clintonites "gives Democrats a better chance at dramatic change than they've had in 75 years."
See more in U.S. Election 2008
November 21, 2008
Washington Post
Michael Gerson writes that "administration officials believe they have taken precautions that will encourage Iraqi nationalism over a destructive pan-Shiism."
See more in Iraq, U.S. Strategy and Politics, U.S. Election 2008
November 19, 2008
Asia Foundation
Scott Snyder writes that "on the list of potential crises that the Obama administration will inherit come January 20th will be the task of achieving the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula."
See more in North Korea, U.S. Election 2008
November 19, 2008
Bloomberg.com
In this Bloomberg op-ed, Amity Shlaes argues that President-elect Obama should not use Keynesian solutions to address the economic crisis. She points out that the Great Society of the mid-1960s, which was the ultimate Keynesian experiment, did not work very well.
See more in U.S. Election 2008
November 17, 2008
International Herald Tribune
Daniel Markey writes that "the new Obama team will need to step forward quickly to determine whether Karzai is a minimally capable partner."
See more in Afghanistan, U.S. Strategy and Politics, U.S. Election 2008
November 17, 2008
New York Post
In this New York Post op-ed, Amity Shlaes says that the Democratic Party is widening the definition of 'change' by the hour, using the financial crisis as a pretext to advance old social agendas. But government health care and ‘card check' legislation don't have much to do with mortgage crises.
See more in U.S. Strategy and Politics, U.S. Election 2008
November 15, 2008
The Daily Beast
Peter Beinart writes that "if Barack pops the question, Hillary should suggest Colin Powell instead."
See more in U.S. Election 2008
November 15, 2008
Washington Post
Michael Gerson writes that "Obama will also need to be aware of certain issues-certain tripwires-that could trigger explosive controversy."
See more in U.S. Strategy and Politics, U.S. Election 2008
November 14, 2008
Washington Post
Michael Gerson discusses the problems that arise at the beginning of every presidency.
See more in U.S. Election 2008
November 12, 2008
Washington Post
Michael Gerson suggests where President-elect Barack Obama should stay centrist and where he should be bold.
See more in U.S. Election 2008
We welcome your views on the foreign policy issues in the presidential transition. Join the discussion and post your comments on the The New Administration blog, or send us an email at letters@cfr.org.
Copyright 2009 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.