You Can't Ask for More
Ted Widmer directs the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University. He was a speechwriter and senior adviser to President Clinton.
For the vast middle of this country, and the even vaster populations that lie beyond it, it has been a relatively good year.
Obama vs. The World
Richard Wolffe is Daily Beast columnist and an award-winning journalist, and senior strategist at Public Strategies. He covered the entire length of Barack Obama's presidential campaign for Newsweek magazine. His book, Renegade: The Making of a President, was published by Crown in June.
The president debuts at the UN this week, seeking to manage the high expectations that come with worldwide popularity. Richard Wolffe on the two secret words Obama has up his sleeve.
Obama's Berlin Report Card
Benjamin Sarlin is a reporter for The Daily Beast. He previously covered New York City politics for The New York Sun and has worked for talkingpointsmemo.com.
A year has passed since then-Sen. Barack Obama addressed a massive, adoring crowd in Berlin. The Daily Beast looks at the president's foreign policy moves so far and grades him on whether he lived up to the rhetoric.
Obama's Style Trumps Substance, Again
Stephen M. Walt is the Robert and Renee Belfer professor of international affairs at Harvard University. He blogs at http://walt.foreignpolicy.com.
The president was statesmanlike on his first trip to Russia, says Harvard's Stephen M. Walt, showing a greater sensitivity and clearer approach than his predecessors. But on headline issues like arms control, he failed to make much progress.
Obama's Inner Neocon
Reihan Salam is a fellow at the New America Foundation and the co-author of Grand New Party.
The president's denunciation of the Iranian regime Tuesday showed his potential to get tough, writes Reihan Salam. But to deal with the mullahs, Obama must embrace the Reagan within.
Memo to Obama: Cairo Was a Mistake—UPDATE
Reza Aslan, a contributor to the Daily Beast, is assistant professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside and senior fellow at the Orfalea Center on Global and International Studies at UC Santa Barbara. He is the author of the bestseller No god but God and How to Win a Cosmic War.
Obama blew a real shot at reconciliation with the Muslim world by picking Cairo for his historic speech, writes The Daily Beast's Reza Aslan.
Inside Obama's War Room
Leslie H. Gelb, a former New York Times columnist and senior government official, is author of Power Rules: How Common Sense Can Rescue American Foreign Policy (HarperCollins 2009), a book that shows how to think about and use power in the 21st century. He is president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations.
The president rules his National Security Council meetings with an iron fist, making rapid-fire decisions. But Leslie H. Gelb says the team's frenzied pace reveals a worrisome lack of strategy.
Obama's 7 Hidden Power Players
Leslie H. Gelb, a former New York Times columnist and senior government official, is author of Power Rules: How Common Sense Can Rescue American Foreign Policy (HarperCollins 2009), a book that shows how to think about and use power in the 21st century. He is president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations.
A small clique of deputies and advisers will wield great power and influence on the president's foreign policy. A guide to real inside players.
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
Martin Jacques is the cofounder of the UK think tank Demos, writes a regular column for The Guardian, and is a visiting research fellow at the London School of Economics Asia Research Centre. His new book, When China Rules the World, is available now.
Christopher Buckley's books include Supreme Courtship, The White House Mess, Thank You for Smoking, Little Green Men, and Florence of Arabia. He was chief speechwriter for Vice President George H.W. Bush, and is editor-at-large of ForbesLife magazine. His new book is Losing Mum and Pup, a memoir. Buckley's Daily Beast column is the winner of an Online Journalism Award in the category of Online Commentary.
The Daily Beast is dedicated to news and commentary, culture, and entertainment. We carefully curate the web’s most essential stories and bring you original must-reads from our talented contributors.
Peter Beinart, senior political writer for The Daily Beast, is a professor of journalism and political science at City University of New York and a senior fellow at the New America Foundation.
Jeffrey Koterba is an acclaimed syndicated political cartoonist. Since joining the Omaha World-Herald in 1989, he has been a finalist for Editorial Cartoonist of the Year from the National Cartoonists Society and has placed second in the National Headliner Awards. His work is distributed through King Features Syndicate to 400 newspapers nationwide, and has appeared in such publications as the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, and the Washington Post, among others.
Partner Sites: Expedia| Hotels| Hotwire| Urbanspoon| Vimeo
