I've argued before that one of the few substantive differences between Obama and Clinton is his professed desire to "end the mindset" that got us into the Iraq War. That's one of the more radical statements offered in this campaign, though its actual meaning has been a bit vague. Today at TAP, Spencer Ackerman has a feature article fleshing the concept out. The bit about "dignity promotion" in foreign policy is particularly interesting, and to my way of thinking, particularly important. The Bush administration has run a foreign policy utterly comfortable with implying that our allies and enemies alike are small, or powerless, or unworthy of respect. In other words, they've run a foreign policy comfortable with challenging our allies and enemies alike to prove to us that they are not small, and can in fact foil our initiatives, and they are not powerless, and can in fact hurt us quite badly, and are not unworthy of respect, and can in fact outmaneuver us diplomatically. A foreign policy based on a presumption of respect and an effort to use our power to confer dignity would be pretty appealing. CHANGING THE MINDSET.
I've argued before that one of the few substantive differences between Obama and Clinton is his professed desire to "end the mindset" that got us into the Iraq War. That's one of the more radical statements offered in this campaign, though its actual meaning has been a bit vague. Today at TAP, Spencer Ackerman has a feature article fleshing the concept out. The bit about "dignity promotion" in foreign policy is particularly interesting, and to my way of thinking, particularly important. The Bush administration has run a foreign policy utterly comfortable with implying that our allies and enemies alike are small, or powerless, or unworthy of respect. In other words, they've run a foreign policy comfortable with challenging our allies and enemies alike to prove to us that they are not small, and can in fact foil our initiatives, and they are not powerless, and can in fact hurt us quite badly, and are not unworthy of respect, and can in fact outmaneuver us diplomatically. A foreign policy based on a presumption of respect and an effort to use our power to confer dignity would be pretty appealing. 
