Flashback: Behind Sarkozy's Libya Coup - TIME

Behind Sarkozy's Libya Coup - TIME
Since taking office in mid-May, President Nicolas Sarkozy has been busy on the international stage. First, the French President gave an impressive performance during his first G8 summit; then he played a central role breaking the deadlock over how to structure the European Union. Since then, he has opened an ambitious new chapter in Franco-British cooperation alongside new Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and has announced a radical revamping of the executive structure at Airbus. He's also managed to roll out a fistful of important domestic social and economic reforms.

The chilling transformation of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi | World news | The Observer

The chilling transformation of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi | World news | The Observer

Colonel Gaddafi's son was educated in London and has friends in the City and Westminster. Or he did until last week

• Jamie Doward
• guardian.co.uk, Saturday 26 February 2011 20.10 GMT

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, speaks to the media last week. Photograph: Ben Curtis/AP

Geneva places a high premium on guarding secrets, but rumours are a different currency. Amid momentous scenes being played out across the Middle East last week, sources in the Swiss financial centre were privately gossiping about a visit to Geneva earlier this year by Farhat Bengdara, the governor of the Central Bank of Libya.

Vladimir Putin: International knee-capper | FP Passport

Vladimir Putin: International knee-capper | FP Passport

• NO-FLY ZONE
  China A Definite No? 
  Posted By Joshua Keating Monday, March 21, 2011  

The Russian Prime Minister has made global headlines again this week (not by frolicking with a snow leopard, though he did that too) with some highly-charged comments about the international intervention in Libya:

"The resolution is defective and flawed," said Russia's Putin, whose country did not use its power to veto the resolution at the United Nations. "It allows everything. It resembles medieval calls for crusades," Putin added.

Libya, the West and the Narrative of Democracy Read more: Libya, the West and the Narrative of Democracy | STRATFOR

Nevertheless, a narrative on what has happened in the Arab world has emerged and has become the framework for thinking about the region. The narrative says that the region is being swept by democratic revolutions (in the Western sense) rising up against oppressive regimes. The West must support these uprisings gently. That means that they must not sponsor them but at the same time act to prevent the repressive regimes from crushing them.

This is a complex maneuver. The West supporting the rebels will turn it into another phase of Western imperialism, under this theory. But the failure to support the rising will be a betrayal of fundamental moral principles. Leaving aside whether the narrative is accurate, reconciling these two principles is not easy — but it particularly appeals to Europeans with their ideological preference for “soft power.”

Read more: Libya, the West and the Narrative of Democracy | STRATFOR
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The Tea Party's risky foreign-policy dilemma - The Week

The Tea Party's risky foreign-policy dilemma - The Week

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The Tea Party's risky foreign-policy dilemma

The populist protesters walk in lockstep on small government demands, but seem lost on what to do overseas. Will that limit the Tea Party's power?

POSTED ON MARCH 9, 2011, AT 12:43 PM

When it comes to foreign policy, some Tea Partiers follow Sarah Palin's hawkish approach, some favor isolationism, and others just don't seem to care at all. Photo: GettySEE ALL 46 PHOTOS

Best Opinion: Foreign Policy, Atlantic, American Power

The Tea Party movement has been "the most controversial and dramatic development in American politics in many years," says Walter Russell Mead at Foreign Affairs, uniting conservatives and independents behind the cause of reducing the role of government in American life. But Tea Partiers are divided on foreign policy, Mead says, with some embracing the isolationism of Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), and others backing Sarah Palin's belief that the U.S. should fight the war on terror globally. Can the Tea Party become a lasting force in politics without a clear position on foreign policy?

With no international vision, the Tea Party will fade: The Tea Party's problem is not that it is divided between its "Palinite" and "Paulite" wings, says Daniel W. Drezner at Foreign Policy. The real issue is that Tea Partiers "don't care about foreign policy." That leaves a big hole in the Tea Party's potential influence. In 10 years we'll remember it like Ross Perot's Reform Party — as "a brief, interesting but in the end unstable collection of political oddities."
"Tea Partied out"

Foreign policy will not kill the Tea Party: Okay, so "foreign policy isn't what truly animates the Tea Party," says Andrew Sullivan at The Atlantic, but that doesn't mean the movement is "on its way out." As fiscal conservatives, Tea Partiers probably wouldn't mind wrapping things up in Afghanistan, avoiding intervention in Libya, reducing defense spending, and pulling the plug on nation building. They're not as divided on foreign policy as you might think.
"Paulites vs. Palinites"

Even with the split, Tea Party populism has an impact: Yes, the Tea Party is divided on foreign policy, says Donald Douglas at American Power, but so is the broader conservative movement. The Palinites appear to have the edge in this era of deep U.S. involvement abroad. But "regardless of how the immediate Tea Party splits play out in the short run," the populism that has fueled the Tea Party's rise will have a "lasting impact" on America's relations with the rest of the world.
"Tea Party populism and America's international relations"

Gadhafi strikes rebels as diplomats mull action

Gadhafi strikes rebels as diplomats mull action - Yahoo! News

By RYAN LUCAS, Associated Press Ryan Lucas, Associated Press – 21 mins ago

BENGHAZI, Libya – Moammar Gadhafi took advantage of international indecision to attack the heart of the 5-week-old uprising on Saturday, sending troops, artillery and warplanes to swarm the first city seized by the rebels. Crashing shells shook buildings, and the sounds of battle drew closer to Benghazi's center.