HOT5 Daily 6/14/2010

1. "The Alternative to Obama’s Israel Stance"A policy that might actually be in the interests of the U.S.

Representative Sample: the conceptual problem at the root of Obama’s stance toward Israel: “Barack Obama’s view of the world is that there is too much belligerency coming from the United States and Israel. … He looks at the plight of the Palestinians and blames Israel. Not Arafat, not Abbas and not the Arab countries that have let the Palestinians live in squalor for 60 years.” That is, of course, the worldview of the left — the U.S. and the West more generally are guilty of insufficient humility

2. "Is Wikipedia changing the world?" For some people, probably. Makes some excellent points.

Representative Sample: A simple fact of life is that the more people have real information, the less they have use for myths. One just must remember that these myths were originally created as placeholders for real information in an age when real information was simply not to be had.

3. "Turkey Looks Out for Turkey's Interests - What Else Should Be Expected?" Well, I expect that from the U.S. government but it isn't happening. A useful perspective on Turkey.

Representative Sample: no US government forced - or even persuaded - Turkey to agree to anything it didn’t want to agree to. Pliable? Don’t think so. The Turkish General Staff and the professional diplomats in the Turkish Foreign Ministry defended Turkish interests tenaciously. The Turkish parliament also played an important, and at times crucial, role.

4. "New islam campaign claims Muhammad believed in women’s rights. What?" Unfortunately there are probably some who are stupid enough to buy into it.

Representative Sample: He believed in a woman’s right to be possesed by a man, her right to be converted to islam by force, her right to be killed for not bowing to him, and her right to be married off to a man not necessarily of her choosing. I don’t think this campaign will mention that though.

5. "The Chessboard"A new resource for researchers and those interested in the consequences of conflict.

Representative Sample: Traditionally, military operators treated warfare as a chessboard. War was a series of moves and countermoves determined by military variables. But, the reality is that in the long run the chessboard is more important than the pieces. It is the characteristics of the physical, social, economic, and political terrain that military contests are conducted on that determines the fate of the game.

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