At the Republican National Convention, GOP foreign-policy men made recommendations to whomever will be the next American president, on the most pressing issues abroad. Their advice:

Brent Scowcroft (National-security adviser to George H.W. Bush): "The first thing to deal with is Iraq."

Richard Burt (Former ambassador to East Germany): "Don't wait, as your two predecessors did, to work on Israel and Palestine."

John Lehman (Former Navy secretary and 9/11 Commission member): "Get appointees in the top-100 national-security slots as soon as possible. Bush had only 30 percent of the key slots filled on 9/11."

Richard Williamson (Special envoy to Sudan): "Listen to a variety of perspectives, not just [of those in] government."