A really neat article on the biggest change one could expect in foreign policy under Obama: an increased focus on treating the causes of unrest (poverty, inequity, etc.), rather than the symptoms.

The second-to-last paragraph quotes the Landon Lecture given at K-State by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. I went to it, and he’s one smart dude. Glad to have him sticking around as Secretary of Defense under Obama.

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On a related note, foreign policy expert (and official Greg Brown nerd-crush) Samantha Power is working with the Obama campaign again, specifically in the transition team for the State Dept. She authored the incredible book on genocide-related foreign policy called “A Problem From Hell”: America and the Age of Genocide, which I’d recommend to anyone interested in how mass-killings like Bosnia and Cambodia got so far before the US even bothered to act. She’s also notable for advising Obama during both his senate seat and presidential campaign, which was the first thing that really made me realize that Obama was someone who got it.