Two folks I like a lot, whom I am on good terms with, and who might as well be on separate planets, writing about this week's visit by President Barack Obama.
Sheila Smith
"Our Anxiety as the President Heads to Asia" (Link)
Stephen Harner
"After Multiple Dissings, A Wary Japan 'Welcomes' Obama" (Link)
The really fun part of the exercise? Knowing which one is the ex-diplomat.
Nota Bene - Harner knows I really disagree with his assessment of Robert Kelly's essay for The Diplomat.
I disagree with Harner, but at least his article is right about the problems of the inability of much of Washington's intellectual-government complex to think outside the box. In the case of the Japan-US allies, there are very valid reasons to support it, but in other cases there are good arguments for re-thinking US policies.
ReplyDeleteHe's also right on the money on the US undermining Hatoyama, who was much less hostile to US interests than Abe.