Foreign Experts Offer Advice to Obama | Newsweek International Edition

POLITICS
Hillary Clinton, U.S. Secretary Of State Nominee
12/1/2008 12:00:00 AM
Hillary Clinton's selection to serve as Barack Obama's secretary of State follows her strong race for the 2008 Democratic Party presidential nomination against him. Clinton was among a number of top national security officials named by Obama on December 1. Obama said he would nominate Robert M. Gates to remain as defense secretary, and nominated Gen. James L. Jones, a retired Marine commandant, for national security adviser, Eric H. Holder Jr. for attorney general, Susan Rice as ambassador the UN, and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano for homeland security secretary.
WORLD AFFAIRS
Israel’s Dissident
Kevin Peraino 11/22/2008 12:00:00 AM
It's hard to think of a foreign leader whose public image is more closely tied to George W. Bush's than Natan Sharansky. A former Soviet dissident turned Israeli politician, his 2004 book, "The Case for Democracy," has been credited with serving as the intellectual underpinning for Bush's discredited "freedom agenda." The 43rd U.S. president once referred to Sharansky in a private letter as his "soul mate," and the 60-year-old Israeli keeps a cartoon on his office wall showing him and Bush exchanging a high-five.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Obama’s First Priority Should Be The Economy
Bernard Gwertzman, Council On Foreign Relations 11/7/2008 12:00:00 AM
CFR President Richard N. Haass, who worked on previous presidential transitions, says that given the current world situation, he believes the first priority for President-elect Barack Obama lies in "the financial and economic side," and that "the near-term foreign policy challenges are probably Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, [and] a little bit of Iraq." He says that ironically, the sharp drop in the price of oil has created "significant economic problems for the Iranian government. It means the financial sanctions are having a lot more traction, and it's possible that this will create an environment in which a new diplomatic initiative could have some promise."
Opening A Door In Tehran?
Mark Hosenball 11/6/2008 12:00:00 AM
With barely two months left in office, the Bush administration is moving toward restoring partial diplomatic relations with Iran—a country President Bush once denounced as a part of the "Axis of Evil."
INTERNATIONAL
Who Cares Where Spain Is?
Richard N. Haass 9/20/2008 12:00:00 AM
Consider the inbox of the 44th president of the United States. He will face ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan; a Pakistani government that is unable or unwilling to take on the terrorists who have set up shop in the country's western reaches; and an Iran apparently intent on developing nuclear weapons. Beyond the greater Middle East, there are the challenges of a more assertive Russia, a rising China, a warming planet and a cooling world economy.
Obama Won’t Meet Everybody’s Expectations
Adam B. Kushner
America's allies got the candidate they overwhelmingly preferred, but that doesn't necessarily mean America's relationships with the globe will warm instantly. In fact, history is strewn with rock-star presidents whose first years were terrific disappointments for U.S. allies.