Dissent Magazine, Democratiya, Compass, Progress & Renewal

Date: Wed 24 Mar, 6.30pm

Venue: Mishcon de Reya, Summit House, 12 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4QD

Speakers:

• Michael Kazin, Co-editor of the leading US journal, Dissent, and Professor of History, Georgetown University
• William D. Barnard, Chair, Democrats Abroad UK
• John Kampfner, Chief Executive, Index on Censorship and author, 'Blair's Wars and Freedom For Sale: How We Made Money And Lost Our Liberty'

A recent New Statesman front cover featured 'Barack W. Bush.' Ted Kennedy's Massachusetts senate seat has gone Republican. Health reform is stalled, again, but bankers' bonuses are climbing. The rightist Tea Party movement is on the march. And Fox News is officially the most trusted TV network in the US. It wasn't meant to turn out this way. What's gone wrong? How can Obama and the Democrats get back on track? What role can progressive ideas and movements play?

If you would like to attend, please RSVP to: events@mishcon.com

By Thiago de Aragao.

Elected in the crowning of a historical moment, President Barack Obama took many positive steps during his first one hundred days of administration. With a high approval rate (more than 60%), Obama has managed to obtain more than conveying confidence to the American people. He is also trying to change the global feeling towards the United States. The USA and the rest of the world have shown significant signs of recovery from the economic crisis. This has certainly played a crucial role in assuring that Obama's charisma is still an efficient fuel for success in the countries and events to which the president is invited.

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By Rebecca Simon.

This week Barak Obama will be inaugurated as President. Never before has the ceremony been anticipated with so much enthusiasm, hope and above all, expectation. He is charged with salvaging the US economy, restoring America's global reputation and improving the welfare and health of the nation. That his in-tray will be overflowing with domestic and international expectations is unquestionable. To add to this, recent events in Gaza, and the Middle East's re-emergence as a central international concern means that he will be under pressure to move the peace process to the top of the agenda.

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By Mariam Ghorbannejad.

To comment on this article, please visit the FPC Blog: http://foreignpolicycentre.blogspot.com

November 4th 2008 was by all accounts an historic day for the United States of America. Not only had the nation elected their first African-American president but they had done so by a landslide in the popular vote unseen since Democratic nominee Lyndon Johnson's win in 1964.

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Richard Youngs, Richard Youngs

December 2004

Download the report (190 kilobyte PDF; need help viewing PDFs?)

Despite a common interest in promoting democracy in the Middle East, the US and EU have so far failed to create a coherent partnership in the region. In this pamphlet, Dr. Richard Youngs maps out a strategy for improving transatlantic cooperation on this vital issue.

Richard C. Eichenberg, Richard J. Stoll

12 July 2004

Download the report (370 kilobyte PDF; need help viewing PDFs?)

The Political Fortunes of War provides a preliminary quantative assessment of just how much the Iraq war may be costing President Bush his bid for re-election. It sets out a correlation between a President's approval ratings and his chances of winning re-election, based on data from every President since Roosevelt.

Authors Professor Richard C Eichenberg and Richard J Stoll argue that President Bush's ratings have declined by just over one per cent for every 100 deaths of American service personnel. Using this estimate, the war may have cost the President over 10 per cent in his job approval ratings. They argue that without the war effect, Bush would be comfortably heading towards re-election. However, a continuation of the status quo – in which there is a daily death toll of several soldiers – is placing his continued tenure of the White House in increasing doubt.

• Supplementary material

Istanbul Paper 1

Mark Leonard

Daimler Chrysler, GMF, Parex Banka

22nd July 2004

Download the report (700 kilobyte PDF; need help viewing PDFs?)

A report by the German Marshall Fund and the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation. Authors include: Urban Ahlin, Member of the Swedish Parliament, Mensur Akgün, Turkish Economic and Social Science Studies Foundation,Gustavo de Aristegui, Member of the Spanish Parliament, Ronald D. Asmus, The German Marshall Fund of the United States, Daniel Byman, Georgetown University, Larry Diamond,Hoover Institution, Steven Everts, Centre for European Reform, Ralf Fücks,Heinrich Böll Foundation, Iris Glosemeyer, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, Jana Hybaskova, Czech Member of the European Parliament, Thorsten Klassen, The German Marshall Fund of the United States, Mark Leonard, Foreign Policy Centre, Michael McFaul, Stanford University, Thomas O.Melia, Georgetown University, Michael Mertes, Dimap Consult, Joshua Muravchik, American Enterprise Institute, Kenneth M. Pollack, The Brookings Institution, Karen Volker, Office of Senator Joe Lieberman, Jennifer Windsor, Freedom House.

Tuesday 6 March, 2007

Rt Hon Peter Hain MP

Chair: Stephen Twigg

Kindly hosted by:

Hill & Knowlton

20 Soho Square

London W1A 1PR

About the event:

Peter Hain spoke and took questions at a packed Foreign Policy Centre discussion on "The End of Foreign Policy?" kindly hosted at the offices of Hill & Knowlton.

Since the events of September 11th, the barriers between the domestic and the international have further broken down. The old definition of "the national interest" is too narrow a guide to foreign policy in a globalised world, but we are still developing the new rules which should replace it. How can we redefine a multilateral foreign policy to encompass this new dynamic? Today's foreign policy needs to be shaped by ideas, not by events.

You can download a copy of Peter Hain's speech below

Download Peter Hain's speech to the Foreign Policy Centre (50 kilobyte PDF; need help viewing PDFs?)

Transatlantic Trends is a major new multinational poll which asks detailed questions about foreign policy to 8,000 people in the US and several European countries.

On 13th September 2004, at Senate House in the University of London, speakers, organised in conjunction with the German Marshall Fund of the United States, included Timothy Garton-Ash, Clare Short MP, Phillip Bobbitt, Menzies Campbell MP, Philip Stephens from the FT and Lord Howell, Opposition Foreign Affairs Spokesman in the Lords.

Previous German Marshall Fund worldview polls have made interesting and influential reading: The poll released in 2002 showed that the US public was as keen as Europeans on the UN route prior to the war in Iraq, and is credited in Washington as one of the influences on President Bush's decision to pursue that path. This year's poll was full of equally surprising findings.

Download the report (450 kilobyte PDF; need help viewing PDFs?)

Read the in-depth discussion by Michael Ignatieff on 'Political Ethics in an age of Terrorism'.

Download the report (180 kilobyte PDF; need help viewing PDFs?)