City of Brass

Aziz Poonawalla: September 2009 Archives

Wednesday September 30, 2009

Categories: Purple Politics

Sarah Palin on Islam and China

I've been bluntly critical of Sarah Palin before when I felt it warranted, but I've never had anything but respect for her formidable intellect and political saavy. I think she's easily the most credible challenger to President Obama in 2012 and while I still think Obama would prevail, he's in for a tough fight if the GOP nominates her. Which it most likely will, given that Palinmania is evolving into the litmus test for party loyalty. Her folksy facade is as much a manufactured image as was Fred Thompson's, and she knows how to tap into the populist anger. Recall she was seeding Obama hatred at McCain-Palin campaign rallies long before Tea Parties bearing racist and Nazi signs descended upon Capitol Hill to chant their hatred and frustrations.

But as I said, she's brilliant, and her speech in Hong Kong last week is ample evidence - she's coined the next great incantation of conservatism with which to rally conservatives to the worn Republican banner again: "common sense conservatism." It's far more faithful to conservatism's spirit than "compassionate conservatism" ever was. But more to the point, she actually embodies it - it's not just a cynical catchphrase but a genuine worldview. A worldview I disagree with, but which is not hypocritical or internally inconsistent. She is an effective and compelling advocate for her point of view in this speech, which probably reads better than it sounds.

There are two things that stand out in this speech to me. The first is her emphasis on China, which dominates the word cloud, which only makes sense given she delivered the speech at the CLSA Pacific Markets Conference (which as you might suspect has China on the brain). She focused on China as an emerging power, and the ambiguity (daresay, inscrutability?) of its intentions:

See: this is the heart of the issue with China: we engage with the hope Beijing becomes a responsible stakeholder, but we must takes steps in the event it does not. See?

(...) We can, must and should work with a "rising China" to address issues of mutual concern. But we also need to work with our allies in addressing the uncertainties created by China's rise. We simply CANNOT turn a blind eye to Chinese policies and actions that can undermine international peace and security.

China has some 1000 missiles aimed at Taiwan and no serious observer believes Taiwan poses a military threat to Beijing. Those same Chinese forces make our friends in Japan and Australia nervous.

China provides support for some of the world's most questionable regimes from Sudan to Burma to Zimbabwe.

China's military buildup raises concerns from Delhi to Tokyo because it has taken place in the absence of any discernable external threat.

China, along with Russia, has repeatedly undermined efforts to impose tougher sanctions on Iran for its defiance of the international community in pursuing its nuclear program.

The Chinese food and product safety record has raised alarms from East Asia and Europe to the United States. And, domestic incidents of unrest -- from the protests of Uighurs and Tibetans, to Chinese workers throughout the country rightfully make us nervous.

It is very much in our interest and the interest of regional stability that China work out its own contradictions - between a dynamic and entrepreneurial private sector on the one hand and a one party state unwilling or unable to adjust to its own society's growing needs and desires and demands, including a human being's innate desire for freedom.

I do not cite these issues out of any hostility toward China. Quite the contrary, I and all Americans of good faith hope for the Chinese people's success. We welcome the rise that can be so good for all mankind. We simply urge China to rise responsibly.

This is really a very sound attitude; not one of communist-alarmism or fear mongering, but a strong willingness to engage while also reserving the right to critique. As she points out later, China certainly has no qualms in criticizing us. And yet she is absolutely clear and reasonable about China's potential as a "responsible" economic partner and relevance to regional stability. She also asks a rather insightful question: "How many books and articles have been written about the dangers of India's rise?" The answer is none, of course, and that fact in itself is interesting and revealing.

The second portion of interest were her remarks on the war on terror and Islam:

In this struggle with radical Islamic extremists, no part of the world is safe from those who bomb, maim and kill in the service of their twisted vision.

This war - and that is what it is, a war - is not, as some have said, a clash of civilizations. We are not at war with Islam. This is a war within Islam, where a small minority of violent killers seeks to impose their view on the vast majority of Muslims who want the same things all of us want: economic opportunity, education, and the chance to build a better life for themselves and their families. The reality is that al Qaeda and its affiliates have killed scores of innocent Muslim men, women and children.

The reality is that Muslims from Algeria, Indonesia, Iraq, Afghanistan and many other countries are fighting Al Qaeda and their allies today. But this will be a long war, and it will require far more than just military power to prevail. Just as we did in the Cold War, we will need to use all the tools at our disposal - hard and soft power. Economic development, public diplomacy, educational exchanges, and foreign assistance will be just as important as the instruments of military power.

During the election campaign in the U.S. last year, you might have noticed we had some differences over Iraq.

John McCain and I believed in the strength of the surge strategy - and because of its success, Iraq is no longer the central front in the war on terrorism. Afghanistan is.

All emphases mine - she sounds positively Hillary-esque! She goes on to firmly express her support for the President's Afghanistan focus and urges him to send as many troops as Gen McChrystal requests. I find her admission that Iraq no longer being the central front of terrorism remarkable (if not revisionist). What is even more remarkable is her statement later, in the context of her China commentary:

I am not talking about some U.S.-led "democracy crusade." We cannot impose our values on other counties. Nor should we seek to. But the ideas of freedom, liberty and respect for human rights are not U.S. ideas, they are much more than that. They are enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and many other international covenants and treaties.

I fully and completely agree with Sarah Palin 100% here. Human rights are indeed universal; there is no "hegemony of human rights discourse". But neither can we impose our system and political traditions wholesale on another society. The trick is to cultivate those values but let them flower in a native fashion, from within.

Sane commentary about Islam (not to mention foreign policy) is extremely rare for a Republican politician courting the base nowadays. Given that Palin is Palin, she is probably the only GOP politician who can get away with taking a moderate tack on the issue of Islam. Perhaps in Palin lies the salvation of the GOP away from the angry fringe and back to the cooler shade of reason after all. If so, it will be irony indeed, considering that Palin played a central role in stirring that emotion and anger in the first place.

Wednesday September 30, 2009

Categories: Purple Politics

word cloud and transcript: Sarah Palin on common-sense conservatism

This is the text and word cloud of the speech by Sarah Palin while in Hong Kong on September 23rd, for the CLSA Pacific Markets Conference. Note the dominant topic (in the cloud) in her speech is obvious, and hardly a surprise given the context and locale of the speech.

palin_speech_hongkong

You can call me a common-sense conservative. My approach to the issues facing my country and the world, issues that we'll discuss today, are rooted in this common-sense conservatism... Common sense conservatism deals with the reality of the world as it is. Complicated and beautiful, tragic and hopeful, we believe in the rights and the responsibilities and the inherent dignity of the individual.

We don't believe that human nature is perfectible; we're suspicious of government efforts to fix problems because often what it's trying to fix is human nature, and that is impossible. It is what it is. But that doesn't mean that we're resigned to any negative destiny. Not at all. I believe in striving for the ideal, but in realistic confines of human nature...

The opposite of a common-sense conservative is a liberalism that holds that there is no human problem that government can't fix if only the right people are put in charge. Unfortunately, history and common sense are not on its side. We don't trust utopian promises; we deal with human nature as it is.

While we might be in the wilderness, conservatives need to defend the free market system and explain what really caused last year's collapse.

According to one version of the story, America's economic woes were caused by a lack of government intervention and regulation and therefore the only way to fix the problem - because, of course, every problem can be fixed by a politician - is for more bureaucracy to impose itself further, deeper, forcing itself deeper into the private sector.

I think that's simply wrong. We got into this mess because of government interference in the first place. The mortgage crisis that led to the collapse of the financial market, it was rooted in a good-natured, but wrongheaded, desire to increase home ownership among those who couldn't yet afford to own a home.

In so many cases, politicians on the right and the left, they wanted to take credit for an increase in home ownership among those with lower incomes. But the rules of the marketplace are not adaptable to the mere whims of politicians.

Lack of government wasn't the problem. Government policies were the problem. The marketplace didn't fail. It became exactly as common sense would expect it to.

The government ordered the loosening of lending standards. The Federal Reserve kept interest rates low. The government forced lending institutions to give loans to people who, as I say, couldn't afford them. Speculators spotted new investment vehicles, jumped on board and rating agencies underestimated risks.

So - how can we discuss reform without addressing the government policies at the root of the problems? The root of the collapse? And how can we think that setting up the Fed as the monitor of systemic risk in the financial sector will result in meaningful reform?

The words "fox" and "hen house" come to mind. The Fed's decisions helped create the bubble. Look at the root cause of most asset bubbles, and you'll see the Fed somewhere in the background.

Common sense tells you that when you're in a hole, you have to stop digging! A common sense conservative looks to history to find solutions to the problems confronting us, and the good news is that history has shown us a way out of this, a way forward from recession.

Ronald Reagan, he was faced with an even worse recession, and he showed us how to get out of here.

If you want real job growth, you cut taxes! And you reduce marginal tax rates on all Americans. Cut payroll taxes, eliminate capital gain taxes and slay the death tax, once and for all. Get federal spending under control, and then you step back and you watch the U.S. economy roar back to life.

But it takes more courage for a politician to step back and let the free market correct itself than it does to push through panicky solutions or quick fixes...

I can't wait until we get that Reaganomics sense supplied again because we are going to survive, and we're going to thrive and expand and roar back to life. And as the world sees this, the world will be a healthier, more secure, safer and more prosperous place when this happens.

Yet it seems like some are looking to ever more ways that will actually destroy economic opportunities today. Take for example, Washington's cap-and-trade scheme. I call it the "cap-and-tax" scheme.

Right now we have the highest unemployment rate in 25 years, and it's still rising. And yet some in D.C. are pushing a cap-and-tax bill that could cripple our energy industry or energy market and dramatically increase the rates of the unemployed, and that's not just in the energy sector.

American jobs in every industry will be threatened by the rising cost of doing business under this cap-and-tax plan. The cost of farming will certainly increase. That's going to drive up the cost of groceries and drive down farm incomes. The cost of manufacturing, warehousing and transportation will also rise. We are all going to feel the effects. The Americans hardest hit will be those who are already struggling to make ends meet today, much less with this new tax every month.

I am not indifferent to environmental concerns. Far from it. As governor, I created a sub-cabinet to study the impacts of climate change in my state. And I was the first governor to do so. It took us in a new direction.

I'm a supporter of nuclear power and renewables. We can develop these resources without destroying our economy. And we can help the environment and our economy through energy independence.

Now, I seem to have acquired notoriety in the national debate on health care. And all because of two words: "death panels." And it is a serious term. It was intended to sound a warning about the rationing that is sure to follow if big government tries to simultaneously increase health care coverage while also claiming to decrease costs.

Government has just got to be honest with the people about this.

As I said, it's just common sense to realize that government's attempts to solve large problems like the health-care challenges that we have, more often create new ones, and a top down one size fits all plan will not improve the workings of a nationwide health-care system that accounts for some one-fifth of our economy.

Common sense also tells us that passing a trillion dollar new retirement program is not the way to reduce health-care spending. Real health-care reform is market oriented, patient centered and result driven.

The ideal plan that I would have in mind would give all individuals the same tax benefits as those who get coverage through their employers. And give Medicare recipients vouchers so that they can buy their own coverage. And reform tort laws and change regulations to allow people to buy insurance across state lines.

Rather than another top down government plan, we should give Americans themselves control over their own health care with market friendly responsible ideas.

So far, I've given you the view from Main Street, USA. I'd like to share with you how a Common Sense Conservative sees the world at large.

Later this year, we will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall - an event that changed not just Europe but the entire world. In a matter of months, millions of people in formerly captive nations were freed to pursue their individual and national ambitions.

The competition that defined the post World War II era was suddenly over. What was once called "the free world" had so much to celebrate - the peaceful end to a great power rivalry and the liberation of so many from tyranny's grip.

Some, you could say, took the celebration too far. Many spoke of a "peace dividend," of the need to focus on domestic issues and spend less time, attention and money on endeavors overseas.

Many saw a peaceful future, where globalization would break down borders and lead to greater global prosperity. Some argued that state sovereignty would fade - like that was a good thing? - that new non-governmental actors and old international institutions would become dominant in the new world order.

As we all know, that did not happen. Unfortunately, there was no shortage of warning signs that the end of the Cold War did not mean the end of history or the end of conflict.

In Europe, the breakup of Yugoslavia resulted in brutal wars in the Balkans. In the Middle East, a war was waged to reverse Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait. North Korea's nuclear program nearly led to military conflict. In Africa, U.S. embassies were bombed by a group called Al Qaeda.

Two weeks ago, America commemorated the 8th anniversary of the savagery of September 11, 2001. The vicious terrorist attacks of that day made clear that what happened in lands far distant from American shores directly affect our security. We came to learn, if we did not know before, that there were violent fanatics who sought not just to kill innocents, but to end our way of life. Their attacks have not been limited to the United States.

They attacked targets in Europe, North Africa and throughout the Middle East. Here in Asia, they killed more than 200 in a single attack in Bali. They bombed the Marriott Hotel and the Australian Embassy in Jakarta. Last year in Mumbai, more than 170 were killed in coordinated attacks in the heart of India's financial capital.

In this struggle with radical Islamic extremists, no part of the world is safe from those who bomb, maim and kill in the service of their twisted vision.

This war - and that is what it is, a war - is not, as some have said, a clash of civilizations. We are not at war with Islam. This is a war within Islam, where a small minority of violent killers seeks to impose their view on the vast majority of Muslims who want the same things all of us want: economic opportunity, education, and the chance to build a better life for themselves and their families. The reality is that al Qaeda and its affiliates have killed scores of innocent Muslim men, women and children.

The reality is that Muslims from Algeria, Indonesia, Iraq, Afghanistan and many other countries are fighting Al Qaeda and their allies today. But this will be a long war, and it will require far more than just military power to prevail. Just as we did in the Cold War, we will need to use all the tools at our disposal - hard and soft power. Economic development, public diplomacy, educational exchanges, and foreign assistance will be just as important as the instruments of military power.

During the election campaign in the U.S. last year, you might have noticed we had some differences over Iraq.

John McCain and I believed in the strength of the surge strategy - and because of its success, Iraq is no longer the central front in the war on terrorism. Afghanistan is.

Afghanistan is where the 9/11 attacks were planned and if we are not successful in Afghanistan, Al Qaeda will once again find safe haven there.

As a candidate and in office, President Obama called Afghanistan the "necessary war" and pledged to provide the resources needed to prevail. However, prominent voices in the Democratic Party are opposing the additional U.S. ground forces that are clearly needed.

Speaker of the House Pelosi, Defense Subcommittee Chairman Murtha, the Senate Armed Services Committee Chair, and many others, recently expressed doubts about sending additional forces! President Obama will face a decision soon when the U.S. Commander in Afghanistan requests additional forces to implement his new counterinsurgency strategy.

We can win in Afghanistan by helping the Afghans build a stable representative state able to defend itself. And we must do what it takes to prevail. The stakes are very high.

Last year, in the midst of the U.S. debate over what do to in Iraq, an important voice was heard - from Asia's Wise Man, former Singaporean Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, who wrote in the Washington Post about the cost of retreat in Iraq. In that article, he prophetically addressed the stakes in Afghanistan. He wrote:

"The Taliban is again gathering strength, and a Taliban victory in Afghanistan or Pakistan would reverberate throughout the Muslim world. It would influence the grand debate among Muslims on the future of Islam. A severely retrograde form of Islam would be seen to have defeated modernity twice: first the Soviet Union, then the United States. There would be profound consequences, especially in the campaign against terrorism."

That statesman's words remain every bit as true today. And Minister Lee knows, and I agree, that our success in Afghanistan will have consequences all over the world, including Asia. Our allies and our adversaries are watching to see if we have the staying power to protect our interests in Afghanistan.

That is why I recently joined a group of Americans in urging President Obama to devote the resources necessary in Afghanistan and pledged to support him if he made the right decision.

That is why, even during this time of financial distress we need to maintain a strong defense. All government spending should undergo serious scrutiny. No programs or agencies should be automatically immune from cuts.

We need to go back to fiscal discipline and unfortunately that has not been the view of the current Administration. They're spending everywhere and with disregard for deficits and debts and our future economic competitiveness.

Yet, though we are engaged in two wars and face a diverse array of threats, it is the defense budget that has seen significant program cuts and has actually been reduced from current levels!

First, the Defense Department received only ½ of 1 % of the nearly trillion dollar Stimulus Package funding - even though many military projects fit the definition of "shovel-ready."

In this Administration's first defense budget request for 2010, important programs were reduced or cancelled. As the threat of ballistic missiles from countries like North Korea and Iran grow, missile defense was slashed.

Despite the need to move men and material by air into theaters like Afghanistan, the Obama Administration sought to end production of our C-17s, the work horse of our ability to project long range power.

Despite the Air Force saying it would increase future risk, the Obama Administration successfully sought to end F-22 production - at a time when both Russia and China are acquiring large numbers of next generation fighter aircraft. It strikes me as odd that Defense Secretary Gates is the only member of the Cabinet to be tasked with tightening his belt.

Now in the region I want to emphasize today: The reason I speak about defense is because our strong defense posture in Asia has helped keep the region safe and allowed it to prosper.

Our Asian allies get nervous if they think we are weakening our security commitments. I worry about defense cuts not because I expect war but because I so badly want peace. And the region has enjoyed peace for so long because of our security commitment to our longstanding allies and partners.

Asia has been one of the world's great success stories. It is a region where America needs to assist with the right mix of hard and soft power. While I have so much hope for a bright future in Asia, in a region this dynamic, we must always be prepared for other contingencies. We must work at this - work with our allies to ensure the region's continued peace and prosperity.

I know that you all -- like all of Asia and indeed the whole world - have a keen interest in the emergence of "China as a great power."

Over the past few decades China's economic growth has been remarkable. So has the economic growth and political liberalization of all of our key allies in Asia, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Asia's economic growth and political development, together with our forward military presence in the region and strong alliances, have allowed the region to prosper in peace for a long time.

We hope that Asia will continue to be an engine of world economic growth, will continue to democratize and will remain at peace.

Our future is now deeply linked to Asia's success. Our children's future. We must continue to strengthen our key alliance with Japan, a country going through its own democratic change. Together the U.S. and Japan built the security umbrella under which so many Asians prospered. While there is so much attention to China these days, we cannot forget the importance of Japan in helping to make this the "Pacific Century."

The recent elections in Japan demonstrated that voters wanted reform and an end to debt and stagnation. We have a substantial stake in Japan's success -- our alliance with must continue to be the linchpin of regional security.

With its open political system and vibrant democracy, South Korea wants to play a larger role on the international stage as well. Of course it wants us to work together toward a future where the peninsula is irreversibly denuclearized, and unified. But it also wants to play a global role. We need to work together with Japan, South Korea and our steadfast ally to the south, Australia, to make sure Asia remains peaceful and prosperous.

Australia rightly reminds us to keep our eye on Southeast Asia, where Indonesia has proved that Islam and democracy can co-exist. Indonesia has fought extremism inside its own border and is consolidating a multi-ethnic democracy that is home to hundreds of millions of Muslims.

Those who say Islam and democracy are incompatible insult our friends in Indonesia.

Our great democratic friend India is also "looking East", seeking a greater role in East Asia as well. Together with our allies we must help integrate India into Asia. If we do so we will have yet another strong democracy driving Asia's economy and working on shared problems such as proliferation and extremism.

And we must continue working with the region's most dynamic economy, China. We all hope that China's stated policy of a "Peaceful Rise" will be its future course.

You know better than most the enormous change that has taken place in China over the last thirty years. Hundreds of millions of Chinese have been pulled out of poverty as China has undertaken economic reforms that have resulted in unprecedented growth. Even today, China's economy is projected to grow by some 8%. It is helping to edge the world out of recession.

China has amassed huge financial reserves. Chinese diplomats are engaged on every continent and, through its vote on the United Nations Security Council, China has become critical in gaining UN support on multilateral issues from Darfur to Iran to North Korea.

Just four years ago, then-Deputy Secretary of State Bob Zoellick urged China to become a "responsible stakeholder" in the international system. He observed the many benefits to China of a "benign international environment."

The peaceful regional environment that China has enjoyed was created through the hard work of Americans, Japanese, South Koreans and Australians. Secretary Zoellick urged China to step up and play its role too.

We are working with China to de-nuclearize North Korea. But to be a responsible member of the international community China should exert greater pressure on North Korea to denuclearize and undergo the fundamental reforms it needs. Zoellick urged China to play a greater role in stabilizing the international energy market by ceasing its support of dangerous regimes.

China could play a role in stabilizing its ally Pakistan, and working for peace in Afghanistan. There are many areas where the U.S. and China can work together. And, we would welcome a China that wanted to assume a more responsible and active role in international politics.

But Secretary Zoellick also noted that many of China's actions create risk and uncertainty. These uncertainties led nations to "hedge" their relations with China because, in Zoellick's words: "Many countries HOPE China will pursue a 'Peaceful Rise' but NONE will bet their future on it."

See: this is the heart of the issue with China: we engage with the hope Beijing becomes a responsible stakeholder, but we must takes steps in the event it does not. See?

We all hope to see a China that is stable, peaceful, prosperous and free. But we must also work with our allies in the region and the world in the event China goes in a direction that causes regional instability.

Asia is at its best when it is not dominated by a single power. In seeking Asia's continued peace and prosperity, we should seek, as we did in Europe, an Asia "whole and free" - free from domination by any one power, prospering in open and free markets, and settling political differences at ballot boxes and negotiating tables.

We can, must and should work with a "rising China" to address issues of mutual concern. But we also need to work with our allies in addressing the uncertainties created by China's rise. We simply CANNOT turn a blind eye to Chinese policies and actions that can undermine international peace and security.

China has some 1000 missiles aimed at Taiwan and no serious observer believes Taiwan poses a military threat to Beijing. Those same Chinese forces make our friends in Japan and Australia nervous.

China provides support for some of the world's most questionable regimes from Sudan to Burma to Zimbabwe.

China's military buildup raises concerns from Delhi to Tokyo because it has taken place in the absence of any discernable external threat.

China, along with Russia, has repeatedly undermined efforts to impose tougher sanctions on Iran for its defiance of the international community in pursuing its nuclear program.

The Chinese food and product safety record has raised alarms from East Asia and Europe to the United States. And, domestic incidents of unrest -- from the protests of Uighurs and Tibetans, to Chinese workers throughout the country rightfully make us nervous.

It is very much in our interest and the interest of regional stability that China work out its own contradictions - between a dynamic and entrepreneurial private sector on the one hand and a one party state unwilling or unable to adjust to its own society's growing needs and desires and demands, including a human being's innate desire for freedom.

I do not cite these issues out of any hostility toward China. Quite the contrary, I and all Americans of good faith hope for the Chinese people's success. We welcome the rise that can be so good for all mankind. We simply urge China to rise responsibly. I simply believe we cannot ignore areas of disagreement as we seek to move forward on areas of agreement. Believe me, China does not hesitate to tell us when it thinks we are in the wrong.

I mentioned China's internal contradictions. They should concern us all. We hear many Chinese voices throughout that great country calling out for more freedom, and for greater justice. Twenty years ago, many believed that as China liberalized its economy, greater political freedom would naturally follow. Unfortunately that has not come to pass.

In fact, it seems China has taken great pains to learn what it sees as "the lesson" of the fall on the Berlin Wall and the demise of the Soviet Union: any easing of political constraints can inevitably spin out of control. But, in many ways, it is the essence of China's political system that leads to concerns about its rise.

Think about it. How many books and articles have been written about the dangers of India's rise? Almost as large as China - and soon to be more populous - virtually no one worries about the security implications of India becoming a great power - just as a century ago the then-preeminent power, Great Britain, worried little about the rise of America to great power status.

My point is that the more politically open and just China is, the more Chinese citizens of every ethnicity will settle disputes in courts rather than on the streets. The more open it is, the less we will be concerned about its military build-up and intentions. The more transparent China is, the more likely it is they we will find a true and lasting friendship based on shared values as well as interests.

I am not talking about some U.S.-led "democracy crusade." We cannot impose our values on other counties. Nor should we seek to. But the ideas of freedom, liberty and respect for human rights are not U.S. ideas, they are much more than that. They are enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and many other international covenants and treaties.

They apply to citizens in Shanghai as much as they do to citizens in Johannesburg or Jakarta. And demands for liberty in China are Chinese, not American, demands. Just last year, many brave Chinese signed Charter 08, a Chinese document modeled on the great Czech statesman Vlacav Havel's Charter 77.

Charter 08 would not be unfamiliar to our Founding Fathers and was endorsed by Havel himself. No, we need not convince the Chinese people that they have inalienable rights. They are calling for those rights themselves. But we do have to worry about a China where the government suppresses the liberties its people hold dear.

Nothing of what I am saying should be seen as meaning conflict with China is inevitable. Quite the contrary. As I said, we welcome China's responsible rise. America and China stood together against fascism during World War II, before ravages took over in China - we were ready to stand together with China to shape international politics after World War II. Much has been accomplished since President Nixon's fateful visit. And again, we stand ready to work with what we hope will be a more open and responsible China on the challenges facing the 21st century.

All of you here know how deeply integrated the economies of the United States' and China's are. We rely on each other, sometimes unfortunately in unhealthy ways. America spends too much that we don't have, and then we go to China as a lender of first resort.

Our fiscal policy, lately, seems to be "tax, spend, borrow, tax some more, repeat" and then complain about how much debt China holds. America needs to gets its own fiscal house in order. That's a Common Sense Conservative perspective.

We can hardly complain that China holds so much of our debt when it's our over spending that created the debt.

But here's the reality. If in fact the United States does the "right" thing - if we spend less and save more - then China will also have to rebalance its economy. We need to export more to China - and we'd like China to consume more of our goods - just as we need to save and invest more. This vital process - so crucial to both countries - is impeded by problems of market access.

We must talk about these issues with more candor. If China adopts policies that keep our highest value products out of their markets, by manipulating technical standards or licensing requirements, our economic relationship suffers.

Our economic interdependence drives our relationship with China. I see a future of more trade with China and more American high-tech goods in China. But in order for that to happen, we need China to improve its rule of law and protect our intellectual property.

We need to avoid protectionism and China's flirtation with state-assisted "national champions." On our part, we should be more open to Chinese investment where our national security interests are not threatened. In the end, though, our economic relationship will truly thrive when Chinese citizens and foreign corporations can hold the Chinese government accountable when their actions are unjust.

I see a bright future for America in Asia. One based on the alliances that have gotten us this far, one based on free and open markets, one that integrates democratic India into East Asia's political life and one in which China decides to be a responsible member of the international community and gives its people the liberty - the freedom - they so desperately want.

Sadly, however, our largest free trade agreement ever in Asia, with South Korea, sits frozen in the Congress. In contrast, China is behaving wisely in negotiating free trade agreements throughout Asia. We want an Asia open to our goods and services. But if we do not get our free trade act together, we will be shut out by agreements Asians our making among themselves.

All of you here follow global financial markets and economic policy closely, so I know that it will come as no surprise to you that United States leadership on global trade and investment is being sorely tested at this moment.

We are struggling with a monumental debate on whether fiscal discipline, or massive government spending, will drive a sustained recovery. We are struggling to repair the excesses that grew in our own economy and served as a trigger to a catastrophic collapse in the global financial system.

And we are attempting to do so under the weight of a global imbalance of debt and trade deficits that are not only unbearable for the world's mightiest economy, but also unacceptable in that they foster tensions between global economic partners like the United States and China.

I am proud to be an American. As someone who has had the tremendous opportunity to travel throughout the United States and listen to the concerns of Americans in towns and cities across the country, I can tell you that there is a sense of despair and even crisis afoot in America that has the potential to shape our global investment and trade policies for years, and even decades to come.

Never has the leadership of our government ever been more critical to keeping my country, and the world, on a path to openness, growth and opportunity in global trade and investment.

It would of course be a mistake to put the entire burden of restoring the global economy on the backs of America's leaders. There is plenty of work for all of us to do in this matter. Governments around the world must resist the siren call of trade protection to bring short term relief during a time of crisis.

Those who use currency policy or subsidies to promote their nation's exports should remain acutely aware that if there ever were a time in which such policies could be viewed as "tolerable," that time has now passed. All participants who seek to find benefit in the global trading system must also take the responsibility of playing by the rules.

The private sector has responsibilities as well. For instance, it should not be the responsibility of government to dictate the salaries of bankers or the ownership of companies. And yet, due of the excesses committed by some, this is exactly where we find ourselves now because government now owns substantial portions of the private economy - even, unbelievably, in the United States.

These are challenging times for everyone, but we in the United States must humbly recognize that if we are to lead and to set the direction for the rest of the world, it must be by our example and not merely our words. And we must tread lightly when imposing new burdens on the imports of other countries.

Well, CLSA: My country is definitely at a crossroad. Polling in the U.S. shows a majority of Americans no longer believe that their children will have a better future than they have had...that is a 1st.

When members of America's greatest generation - the World War II generation - lose their homes and their life savings because their retirement funds were wiped after the financial collapse, people feel a great anger.

There is suddenly a growing sentiment to just "throw the bums out" of Washington, D.C. - and by bums they mean the Republicans and the Democrats.

Americans are suffering from pay cuts and job losses, and they want to know why their elected leaders are not tightening their belts. It's not lost on people that Congress voted to exempt themselves from the health care plan they are thrusting on the rest of the nation. There is a growing sense of frustration on Main Street. But even in the midst of crisis and despair, we see signs of hope.

In fact, it's a sea change in America, I believe. Recently, there have been protests by ordinary Americans who marched on Washington to demand their government stop spending away their future. Large numbers of ordinary, middle-class Democrats, Republicans, and Independents from all over the country marching on Washington?! You know something's up!

These are the same people who flocked to the town halls this summer to face their elected officials who were home on hiatus from that distant capital and were now confronted with the people they represent. Big town hall meetings - video clips circulating coverage - people watching, feeling not so alone anymore.

The town halls and the Tea Party movement are both part of a growing grassroots consciousness among ordinary Americans who've decided that if they want real change, they must take the lead and not wait to be led. Real change - and, you know, you don't need a title to do it.

The "Tea Party Movement" is aptly named to remind people of the American Revolution - of colonial patriots who shook off the yoke of a distant government and declared their freedom from indifferent - elitist - rulers who limited their progress and showed them no respect. Today, Main Street Americans see Washington in similar terms.

When my country again achieves financial stability and economic growth - when we roar back to life as we shall do - it will be thanks in large part to the hard work and common sense of these ordinary Americans who are demanding that government spend less and tax less and allow the private sector to grow and prosper.

We're not interested in government fixes; we're interested in freedom! Freedom! Our vision is forward looking. People may be frustrated now, but we're very hopeful too.

And, after all, why shouldn't we be? We're Americans. We're always hopeful.

Thank you for letting me share some of that hope, and a view from Main Street with you. God Bless You.

(via)

Tuesday September 29, 2009

Categories: Nation-Building

Obama's foreign policy record: beyond the waters' edge

Whatever happened to the Bush-era adoration by Republicans of the wise adage by Senator Arthur Vandenberg in the Truman era, that "politics stops at the water's edge" ?

Well, that is a naive question, of course. The only real theme to partisan Republican crticism of Obama is reflexive, unthinking opposition. Daniel Larison sums it up well:

The only thing I can think of that conservative critics have had right is that the administration's treatment of Honduras really has been deplorable. Mainstream conservatives are right that penalizing the transitional government and calling for Zelaya's return to power have contributed to the current unrest there, but these objections gain no traction in part because they come from people who no longer have any credibility when it coms to foreign policy. They happen to have been right on one issue because they are reflexively opposing anything and everything Obama does, and it was inevitable that Obama was going to blunder at some point. There is also every reason to think that if Obama had taken a diametrically opposed position, embraced the Micheletti government and opposed Zelaya at every turn, we would have never heard the end of his "coddling" of coup leaders and his "betrayal" of democratic principles. The common theme in all of this criticism is that Obama must be weak and every decision he makes reflects that weakness, but these criticisms persuade no one because they are obviously, embarrassingly driven by partisan obsession and not substantive concerns about national security or America's reputation abroad.

Apart from the quibble that the Honduras situation is really not as cut and dried as Daniel makes it out to be, this is really a very solid - and authentically conservative - critique. One need only look at Republican bastion Redstate.com for evidence that the GOP is unserious on foreign policy, such as this typically incoherent argument that wanting America to be respected around the world is a "leftist delusion" while simultaneously blaming Obama for a loss of that respect... in Russia, where earlier they were hyperventilating about Obama's "cave" on the missile defense issue, on the anniversary of the Soviet Union's invasion of Poland. The ideological whiplash about Russia is nicely instructive of the complete lack of any principle of actual national security, just recycled cold-war rhetoric. It's embarassing.

There's more serious critique of the lack of serious critique by the GOP on Obama's foreign policy, from Fareed Zakaria (the Desi Thomas Friedman) and Andrew Sullivan. Both are a little too enthusiastic about declaring Obama's foreign policy a success; at best we can really say that Obama has certainly improved things, but labeling competence as success is setting a low bar. Success is a term I'd reserve for outcomes, not process: a peace agreement in Israel-Palestine, detente with Iran, a major blow to Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, etc. Arguing that Obama's policy has brought us closer is fine, but let's not declare victory just yet. There's a lot of work to do. Daniel also notes that Sullivan is too effusive about Obama on Israel; for all intents and purposes Israel remains untouchable, and committed to its self-destructive course ("pick two"), as lamented by Richard Silverstein.

That's not to say that there aren't genuine critiques that could be made. The United States's moralizing on nuclear weapons to Iran remains a major obstacle in Obama's path to better relations with the muslim world; until Israel gets the same pressure as other nations like Iran and India with regards to its own nuclear armaments, it's hard to take him seriously about his grandiose visions of a nuke-free globe. A great start would be to support the IAEA's recent call for Israel to sign the NPT, but Obama is too much of a status quo disciple to apply any pressure on Israel therein, especially given his loss of face regarding the settlement issue. Also, the world remains rightly skeptical of Obama's ability to deliver on global warming treaties - partly because of domestic opposition from the GOP of course. But Obama can hardly expect to retain any credibility about the responsibility of the Third World to make sacrifices if he can't show we (the world's largest polluter) are able and willing to do the same. The litmust test will be the Copenhagen summit in December.

As Sullivan reminds is, we are only 8 months in, and there's been tremendous progress on all fronts. But we have a long way to go. The list of things that can yet go wrong is infinite, and it would be nice for our collective security of the Republicans could actually sit down at the table like adults and help the President navigate the way forward. Alas, no. Partisan politics has a passport nowadays.

Monday September 28, 2009

Categories: Dour Mullah

Obama's Cheshire Smile

This is eerie - Barack Obama's amazingly consistent smile, culled from the official US State Department photo set on Flickr of Barack and Michelle Obama meeting various dignitaries and heads of state last week at the UN:

I find this as utterly captivating as The Infinite Khan.

Saturday September 26, 2009

Categories: Read This

The 6th Annual Brass Crescent Awards

in partnership with Shahed Amanullah of altmuslim.com, I am pleased to announce that the 6th Annual Brass Crescent Awards are now underway!

What are the Brass Crescent Awards? They are named for the Story of the City of Brass in the Thousand and One Nights. Today, the Islamsphere is forging a new synthesis of Islam and modernity, and is the intellectual heir to the traditions of philosophy and learning that was once the hallmark of Islamic civilization - a heritage scarcely recognizable today in the Islamic world after a century's ravages of colonialism, tyrants, and religious fundamentalism. We believe that Islam transcends history, and we are forging history anew for tomorrow's Islam. These awards are a means to honor ourselves and celebrate our nascent community, and promote its growth.
The categories this year are as follows:

BEST BLOG: This category honors the most indispensable, Muslim-authored blog there is. Period.

BEST WRITER: Who is the most stimulating, insightful, and philosophically wise among us? This category is intended to highlight a blogger who may not post daily, but when they do post, they really make an impact.

BEST NON-MUSLIM BLOG: Which blog writen by a non-Muslim is most respectful of Islam and seeks genuine dialogue with Muslims?

BEST BLOG DESIGN: Which blog has the most aesthetically pleasing site design, appealing to the eye, evoking Islamic themes, and/or facilitating debate and discussion?

BEST POST OR SERIES: Which single post or group of posts in the Islamsphere was the most original and important, above all the others?

BEST FEMALE BLOG: The woman's voice in Islam is equal to the man's, and in the Islamsphere we seek to make sure the female perspective is highlighted and given its rightful due. Which Muslim woman's blog has done the most to explore the role that women play within Islam and society?

BEST NEW BLOG: Which blog is a true diamond in the rough, one that everyone should be reading but who most just haven't heard of (yet)?

BEST GROUP BLOG: Which multiple group blog in the Islamsphere has the best diversity of writers and the most interesting debate on Muslim issues?

BEST HUMOR BLOG: Which blog gets their point across by using humor in the most effective way?

BEST MIDDLE EAST/AFRICAN, EUROPEAN, SOUTH ASIAN, AND ASIAN BLOGGERS: The Islamsphere is truly a global phenomenon. In Iraq, despite the chaos and uncertainty, there is a sea change of free speech and expression, the vanguard of which are blogs. There are also bloggers in India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Palestine, Jordan, and most other countries that host Muslims, all of whom have their own perspectives on faith, culture, and politics.

and one new category for this year,

BEST RETIRED BLOG: What blog or blogger, now retired or on extended hiatus, do still remember fondly and most wish were still with us? This is a way to honor those blogs of yesteryear that remain part of our history, and our memories, whether their archives remain or not.

The nominations phase is now underway, so head over and start nominating your favorite blogs now!

Note, that the Awards methodology is slightly different this year:

1. Nomination phase (until Fri Oct 23). Anyone with a valid email address may nominate blogs to appropriate categories. Note that blogs may only be nominated once per category. We also encourage you to nominate your own blog!

2. Voting phase (Mon Nov 2 to Fri Nov 20).

3. Winners will be announced on Eid ul-Adha (around November 27th).

Please start nominating, and spread the word!

Friday September 25, 2009

Categories: Islamerica

photos from the "Islam on Capitol Hill" jummah prayer

These photos are being sent to me live by a friend who is attending the event on Capitol Hill. She reports that there were a small number of protestors in a line further behind, but they seem to have...

Thursday September 24, 2009

video: Katie Couric interviews President Ahmadinejad

Last night, Katie Couric interviewed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on CBS. I think this could have been a good thing, but ultimately was totally meaningless. Couric is not a seasoned interviewer like Barbara Walters, in terms of getting the...

Wednesday September 23, 2009

Categories: Purple Politics

Should conservatives embrace Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story" ?

I admit to not having ever seen a Michael Moore movie, though from what I understand his film Roger and Me was probably his defining film, one that predated the Bush era and thus was more balanced in its...

Wednesday September 23, 2009

Categories: altmuslimah

Gender as the Focal Point of Cross-Cultural Dialogue

This is a guest post by Asma T. Uddin, Editor-in-Chief of AltMuslimah.com. Louise Cankar, an assistant professor of sociology at Marquette University, recently published a book in which she argues that, while anti-Muslim suspicion existed prior to 9/11, 9/11...

Tuesday September 22, 2009

Categories: Media

Obama on Letterman: Remarkable.

I rarely catch late night television, so it was a bit of a surprise to me that President Obama was on Dave Letterman's show last night. I much prefer the Letterman format of keeping a guest around instead of...

Monday September 21, 2009

Categories: Nation-Building

troops in Afghanistan: too many or not enough?

The McChrystal Report saga continues its inexorable trend towards the pre-ordained conclusion. At the beginning of September, the report had not yet been made public, but there seemed to be a concensus that Gen. McChrystal really understood the need...

Saturday September 19, 2009

Categories: Purple Politics

The CIA whines to Obama about being subject to rule of law

This is expected, but pathetic nevertheless: Seven former directors of the Central Intelligence Agency asked President Obama on Friday to shut down the new Justice Department inquiry into past abuses during interrogations of terrorism suspects, arguing that it "will...

Saturday September 19, 2009

Categories: The Pillars of Faith

the final fast of Ramadan

عليك السلام يا شهر رمضان! Today is the final fast of Ramadan. Unlike last year, it looks like almost everyone will be celebrating Eid al Fitr together on Sunday, a happy convergence of the Ummah. But talking about Eid...

Saturday September 19, 2009

Categories: Purple Politics

Baucus bill follies: the public option is anti-progressive

I've been reading Tyler Cowen, Ezra Klein, and the League on the matter of the Baucus bill and am frankly bothered by the way in which progressives seem to be losing sight of the main goal of health care:...

Friday September 18, 2009

Categories: Islamerica

Islam on Capitol Hill?

On of my favorite lines from Shakespeare is Macbeth, Act 5 Scene 5: Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more: it is a...

Thursday September 17, 2009

Categories: Purple Politics

Do doctors support health care reform? IBD says no, NEJM says yes

There's an alarmist poll out from Investors Business Daily that makes the shocking claim that almost half (46%) of America's doctors will quit under Obama's proposed health care reform plan. The implications of such a finding - which runs...

Wednesday September 16, 2009

Categories: Read This

A letter to President Bush about torture

Andrew Sullivan has written a lengthy letter to President Bush that calls upon him to acknowledge his role in authorizing torture. It's a masterpiece and lays out the case against torture in President Bush's own words, and makes a...

Wednesday September 16, 2009

Categories: Nation-Building

towards a "realist" foreign policy

There's a new foreign policy group in town called the Coalition for a Realistic Foreign Policy, and they have written a letter to President Obama urging him to "focus US strategy more clearly on Al Qaeda" instead of explicit...

Wednesday September 16, 2009

Categories: The Pillars of Faith

China's Uyghurs: forbidden to fast

As I alluded in my earlier primer on the oppression of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang province, China, the Chinese authorities are engaged in what amounts to a cultural genocide against the Uyghur people. One of the ways this is...

Tuesday September 15, 2009

Categories: The Pillars of Faith

Radio Ramadan

Every year, the profile of Ramadan observances by muslims in the West is raised higher, and invariably reflects the amazing diversity of the muslim community. As a recent Pew Research Center poll found, the more Americans learn about Islam...

Monday September 14, 2009

9-11 as an outlier

Earlier, I posted my thoughts about whether terrorism was still a threat, noting that in one sense the answer was obviously yes, but asking whether 9-11 was the outlier it seemed to be. My post was intended to provoke...

Friday September 11, 2009

Categories: Hirabah Watch

convictions in the liquid bomb plot... finally

And so, the anniversary of 9-11 is upon us again. The most important question we can ask ourselves on this day is, what is the likelihood of this happening again? It seems that the answer to that question, at...

Friday September 11, 2009

Categories: The Pillars of Faith

Laylatul Qadr and 9-11

The past few years, the anniversary of 9-11 has coincided with Ramadan. As I wrote last year, 9-11 usually elicits a defensive posture in muslim Americans, because of the lingering suspicion and distrust by our fellow citizens. But with...

Friday September 11, 2009

Categories: Hirabah Watch

9-11 reflections: Is terrorism still a threat?

The obvious answer to the question is yes - and that goes for before as well as after 9-11. In many ways, 9-11 distorts the picture because it was the single largest casualty count of any terrorist attack in...

Thursday September 10, 2009

Categories: Purple Politics

transcript and word cloud: President Obama's remarks on health care reform

This is the full text and word cloud of Obama's remarks to the joint session of Congress about health care reform on September 9, 2009. It's kind of funny that the official transcript from the White House actually includes...

Wednesday September 9, 2009

Categories: Islamerica

terror mail: the Eid Stamp

The Mayor of Clarksville, Tennessee sent out an email recently, urging "all patriotic Americans" to protest that singular threat to Western civilization, the Eid Stamp: Mayor Johnny Piper did not add any comments of his own to the e-mail,...

Tuesday September 8, 2009

Categories: Nation-Building

the Afghanistan strategy - not enough civilians?

The 34-page McChrystal report detailing the Afghanistan strategy has been released to the public and can be viewed online. The broad, specific goals for the Afghanistan campaign are listed as: The U.S. broad strategic goal in Afghanistan is to...

Tuesday September 8, 2009

Categories: The Neverending Story

Israel: the one-state solution

As I've argued before, the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will entail only two of Democracy, Greater Israel, and Jewishness. In terms of the settlements policy, it seems that Israel has essentially picked the first two. President Obama's insistence...

Monday September 7, 2009

Categories: Purple Politics

transcript and word cloud: President's remarks to the nation's school children

These are the prepared remarks for President Obama to deliver to the nation's school kids tomorrow. The real controversy, in my opinion, is why it has been almost 20 years since a President spoke directly to kids in school....

Monday September 7, 2009

Categories: Islamerica, Shi'a Crescent

CSID Ramadan Iftaar Dinner on Sept 16 featuring Seyyed Hossein Nasr

I was forwarded the following general invitation from the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy, for an iftaar dinner featuring Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr as the keynote speaker. Nasr is a true heavyweight scholar, originally from Iran,...

Friday September 4, 2009

Categories: Republican Fitna

Obamaphobia: The President is indoctrinating our schoolchildren!

UPDATE: transcript of President Obama's prepared remarks now available. This video is from 1992, right before the election. That wasn't President Bush Sr.'s only address to schoolchildren, either - a few years earlier, he also made a 15-minute appeal...

Thursday September 3, 2009

Categories: Shi'a Crescent

Iranian Baha'i and Saudi Shi'a

With all the attention paid to by the global muslim community towards Uyghurs, Iranians, Rohingya, and other oppressed yet largely unknown muslim minorities, it's easy to forget that there are examples much closer to the muslim mainstream, but which...

Thursday September 3, 2009

Categories: Dour Mullah, Media

Freej: veiled grandma superheroes

Ramadan is pan-Arab television's holy land - a month-long sweeps, where the post-fasting masses hunger for entertainment. As a result, there is intense pressure to compete and innovate for new programming. One of the recent hits is Freej, the...

Wednesday September 2, 2009

Categories: Islamerica

transcript: Obama Iftar at the White House

Last night, President Obama hosted a traditional Ramadan dinner (iftar) at the White House, as has become customary with all Presidents since Bill Clinton. The guest list included many members of his cabinet, Congressional lesgislators, as well as prominent...

Tuesday September 1, 2009

Categories: Nation-Building

Losing Afghanistan: the McChrystal report

One of the major problems with the Bush Administration and its conservative Republican stalwarts regarding the Iraq War was the "stay the course" dogma which seemed immune to any attempt at an honest evaluation of the war's goals or...

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About City of Brass

City of Brass by Aziz Poonawalla approaches issues from the perspective of a Muslim of the West. Aziz, a member of the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community, has been blogging since early 2003. His other major Islamsphere projects include the group weblog Talk Islam and the annual Brass Crescent Awards. Aziz currently resides near Madison, WI with his wife and children.

Blogroll


  • Planet Islam - aggregator of RSS feeds from all over the Islamsphere
  • Talk Islam - group weblog and central nexus of the Islamsphere's most popular bloggers
  • Islam in China - by Wang Daiyu, about Islam in the far East
  • Tariq Nelson - Islam and politics from the African American muslim perspective
  • An Indian Muslim - by indscribe, about Islam in India and the Subcontinent
  • 'Aqoul - group weblog for analysis and commentary about the Middle East/North Africa (MENA)
  • Chapati Mystery - by sepoy, "started out wondering what T. E. Lawrence and Bhagat Singh would talk about, over dinner"
  • Mr. Moo - by Musab Bora, a UK-based muslim who has a hilarious sense of humor.
  • Crossroads Arabia - by John Burgess, about the politics and culture of Saudi Arabia, with an emphasis on human rights.
  • Eunomia - by Daniel Larison, pragmatic conservative political punditry and comment
  • Dean's World - group weblog founded by Dean Esmay, "defending the liberal tradition in history, science, and philosophy."

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