Bush's Top Neocon Denies Existence of Neocons

Time for America to start flexing its muscles instead of making deals

(NEWSER) - Neoconservatives are making a comeback and it's about time, writes Bret Stephens. They're back "because Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Kim Jong Il, and Vladimir Putin never went away," Stephens writes in the Wall Street Journal, and because the world wants America to use its strength to stop Iran and North Korea's nuclear programs in light of the failure of President Obama's "shambles" of a foreign policy. More»

(NEWSER) - What does the burgeoning beef between rappers Jay-Z and The Game have in common with US foreign policy? Plenty, writes Marc Lynch in Foreign Policy. Like America, Jay-Z is a hegemon: “Nobody, but nobody, in the hip-hop world has his combination of hard power and soft power.” But like America, it’s debatable how much of that power Jay-Z should actually use against lesser threats. More»

It may anger neocons, but he should keep his hands clean: Stephens

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama and his team clearly want to support the Iranian opposition, writes Philip Stephens, and Republicans such as John McCain have hammered the president for not condemning an election viewed as a sham. But for the Financial Times columnist, Obama is striking a shrewd balance between idealism and real-world politics. Obama knows, he writes, that "overt US backing for Mousavi would hand a weapon to Ahmadinejad." More»

Rice focuses on being an educator, writing books

(NEWSER) - Condoleezza Rice is headed back to Stanford, ready for a new challenge and harboring no obvious regrets. "I'm an educator who took a detour," she tells Washington Post op-ed columnist David Ignatius, who hears echoes of Dean Rusk, LBJ's embattled secretary of state. "I have no desire to be shadow secretary of state." More»

Bush isn't gone yet, and he's got unfinished business

(NEWSER) - It’s comforting to think of George W. Bush as yesterday’s news, but the Decider is still very much in office and itching to tie up loose ends. These “loose ends” might include signing a treaty with Iraq, or continuing his quixotic quest for Israeli-Palestinian peace, or, more terrifyingly, attacking Iran, writes Eugene Robinson in the Washington Post. More»