washingtonpost.com - Jim Hoagland (washingtonpost.com)

Rice's Not-Quite-Shining Moment

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

It is hard not to root for Condoleezza Rice to succeed. After all, if this intelligent, personable African American woman excels as the nation's top diplomat, America's interests and reputation are advanced throughout the world.

A Measured Response To Putin

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Russia's brutal and calculated invasion of Georgia raises the curtain on a dangerously volatile period in world politics. Further miscalculation and posturing by Russian, American and European leaders could damage the prospects of global peace for years to come.

A Deal At Hand In Iraq

Jim Hoagland — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

U.S. and Iraqi negotiators are days away from agreeing on an "aspirational" date for withdrawing American combat troops from Iraq. Barack Obama and John McCain will find language in the accord to allow each to take credit on the campaign trail for shaping that outcome.

Calling China's Human Rights Bluff

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Every aspect of life under totalitarian governments is political, from sports to culture to business. President Bush and other world leaders attending the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics this week should stop pretending otherwise, especially to the Chinese people.

A Change Election Abroad, Too

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EDT

John McCain's prisoner-of-war experience is a strong selling point for him in this American election. But it is a powerful drag on his popularity in Europe, where past U.S. involvement in Vietnam still generates intensely negative feelings.

Pakistan's Enduring Illusions

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The exposure of illusions does not automatically cause them to be abandoned. They become even more necessary when other alternatives look riskier.

Jitters Over Iran

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EDT

At the strong urging of the Bush administration, Israel has pulled back from threatening to bomb Iran's nuclear enrichment program and has joined the U.S.-led effort to give coercive diplomacy with Tehran a (time-limited) chance.

Bloc-Buster Idea: Make It The G-3

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EDT

LONDON -- John McCain would kick Russia out of the Group of Eight economic powers that meet in Japan this week. But this is no time to think small. The G-8 leaders themselves should declare surrender and disband their high-profile huddle on the state of the world.

Enough Rope for Russia

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT

MOSCOW -- Vladimir Putin's switch from running Russia as its president to running Russia as its prime minister has changed traffic patterns here but little else.

France's Whirlwind of Change

Jim Hoagland — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT

PARIS -- Remember this, Mr. President of the United States of America: You may have regrets about things you were not able to finish in office. But only winners, like you and like me, ever get the chance to change their nations.

The Unvetted Vetter

Jim Hoagland — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Say this for Sen. Barack Obama: He is a lot quicker in these post-Jeremiah Wright days to walk away from controversy caused him by others. By the time he finished distancing himself from Jim Johnson, his former vice presidential vetter, Johnson must have felt like he was on Mars.

A Return to Wooing America

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT

VENICE -- Firmly back in power after a two-year hiatus, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will welcome President Bush to Rome this week by extending him a helping hand on Afghanistan and Iraq. But the conservative Italian leader will also be peering over his departing friend's shoulder at who, and what, will come next from Washington.

The Orthodoxy of Hope

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Journalists hate quoting journalists. It seems so dÃ©classÃ©. But a fellow scribe recently helped crystallize the biggest problem I have with Barack Obama's foreign policy ideas. So a tip of the hat to Fidel Castro of Havana's Granma newspaper.

Hope in the Trouble Spots

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 25 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Standing observantly on the sidelines has never been George W. Bush's intent or forte. But the president needs to master the skill for his twilight months in power.

In Burma, A Price for 'Stability'

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 18 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

TOKYO -- Quiet Asian diplomacy is proving as ineffective as Western bluster and U.N. moralizing in getting comprehensive aid to the victims of Burma's cyclone. They are being left to die in the tens of thousands by a world that promised but failed to develop the tools of humanitarian intervention.

New Allies In Asia?

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 11 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

TOKYO -- China and Japan have been reliable enemies for a thousand years. Their leaders have always been able to count on each other to stir nationalist anger and distract their followers from other problems by trading insults, threats or at times blows.

Bush's Rescuers

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 04 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Democratic leaders in Congress are riding to the rescue of an unlikely beneficiary: the reputation of George W. Bush. They seem determined to exacerbate problems that he has created or long ignored.

Try 'Pakistan First'

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama offer the same beguiling Democratic version of the global war on terrorism: Get out of Iraq and put more U.S. forces into Afghanistan to win that conflict decisively. Republicans are also increasingly urging President Bush to adopt an Afghanistan-first policy.

Best-Selling Global Fictions

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Iraq is a sovereign country that makes its own decisions. Zimbabwe's dictator will be brought into line -- by someone else. Protests over Tibet mar the noble ideals of the Olympics. And only a few poorly chosen words by Barack Obama about bitterness in Pennsylvania give the misleading impression that he and his supporters are elitist.

War at the Pentagon

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The most intense arguments over U.S. involvement in Iraq do not flare at this point on Capitol Hill or on the campaign trail. Those rhetorical battles pale in comparison to the high-stakes struggle being waged behind closed doors at the Pentagon.

No Cushion Against Hubris

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EDT

"The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the second is war."

NATO's Middling Agenda

Jim Hoagland — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EDT

A divided NATO will not extend a blueprint for eventual membership to Ukraine and Georgia at the alliance's summit in Bucharest next week. Instead, that gathering will focus on increasing European troop totals in Afghanistan and discussing a bold proposal by President Bush to link U.S., NATO and Russian missile defense systems within a single cooperative network.

Obama's Promise -- And Its Limits

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Barack Obama's worldview is anchored in both his DNA and his experiences. This is a historical optimist at work: He believes that people and nations can change themselves, for the better -- and that they will be moved to do so even more by their differences than by their similarities.

Needed: Honesty on Iraq

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Iraq is the moral quagmire of the past quarter-century for American presidents and politicians. Every attempt by our leaders to ignore, manipulate or resolve with brute force that country's deep conflicts has quickly come back to haunt its architect with unanticipated consequences and new, agonizing choices.

How to Make an Exit

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EST

"I'm rather clever at appearing," said the Cheshire Cat grinning at Alice and the White King, "and I'm even better at disappearing."

Long Winter for the Media

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EST

It is an unsettling time to be a journalist. You are either on the edge of extinction or in charge of the universe.

A Russian Moderate?

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EST

Vladimir Putin will offer the next American president a frail olive branch in the person of Dmitry Medvedev next Sunday when Russian voters dutifully go to the polls to ratify Medvedev as Putin's chosen successor.

Candidates on Message

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EST

MUNICH -- Karl Wendl, an Austrian journalist and author and my neighbor at this Bavarian capital's annual conference on global security, gets a lot of fun out of the American election campaign for a mere $30 plus online charges.

Promises They Can't Keep

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EST

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama share a problem as they move deeper into the primary season: They have both issued promises to withdraw from Iraq that are impossibly vague, unrealistic or worse. They must now rectify this -- for the good of their campaigns and the nation.

A Pair of Allies, Self-Destructing

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EST

The presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan fiddle furiously as the fires of terrorist violence burn across their nations.

Bush Hits a Wall in the Mideast

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST

Watching Nancy Pelosi, John Boehner and other congressional leaders craft a stimulus package to calm the turbulent economy is like watching President Bush pursue his equally implausible and belated Middle East peace initiative. In each case, the challenges are so much larger than the means suddenly being brought to bear that you don't know whether to laugh or to cry.

An Establishment Teeters, in Kenya and Beyond

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST

Other people's violence is not a deep concern for most of us, particularly if it occurs in remote Africa or overpopulated Asia. But the outbreak of tribal killings and widespread rioting in Kenya hits me where I live.

A Global Fervor

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EST

Americans should broaden their primary-season debate about religion and politics. This debate is not just about Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, and it is not limited to our shores. Religion has again become, for better and for worse, a far more visible driving force in world affairs.

Poppies vs. Power in Afghanistan

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EST

The power to destroy does not carry within it the power to control. A century of failed colonial rule and the American misadventure in Vietnam etched that lesson on global consciousness for a time. It has taken the huge problems that affluent, nuclear-armed nations are encountering in the miserable ruins of Afghanistan and Iraq to drive it home anew.

A Gates-Style Thaw

Jim Hoagland — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EST

"We are going to do something terrible to you," one Kremlin insider frequently told Americans in the 1980s as the Soviet Union was crumbling before the unbelieving eyes of U.S. intelligence. "We are going to deprive you of an enemy."