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Published Thursday, January 19, 2007
Global newsmakers — from heads of state down to greenhorn CEOs — ought to know that questionable policymaking might gain traction in the short term, but can easily bog down without consensus building. While the 110th US Congress tussled over the administration's new strategy for stabilizing Iraq, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice toured the Middle East to warm regional leaders to the plan. In Israel, the country's head military commander fell out of favor thanks to his handling of last summer's Lebanon offensive, while constituents clamored for more top governmental brass to step down.
Even in Guinea, where an aging authoritarian leader has held onto power for more than two decades, the tide of public complicity — or submission — is finally turning. And in Ecuador, it remains to be seen whether leftist Latin American leader du jour Rafael Correa can maintain fickle public support. Back in the US, electoral gears are engaging, as Barack Obama becomes the next hopeful to test the waters of a 2008 presidential bid, where victory depends on winning over that most nebulous of blocs: the American voters.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wrapped up a Middle East tour this week, in which she garnered regional diplomatic support for the US strategy to stabilize Iraq and renewed a push for peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, starting with three-way talks she is to host soon between the main stakeholders.
In a bid to isolate Iran and militant groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, Rice has classed the governments of the region as either extremist or "mainstream" states. The policy signals an apparent change from previous Middle East trips, when Rice championed democracy and the rule of law.
