Having given the blog a holiday break, I'm back. This New Year's Day post will, however, be brief--merely a preview of coming attractions. Here are a few of the things I plan to write about in the coming days:
First, two recent movies--Syriana and Munich--are well worth discussing. I plan to look at both from an IR perspective.
Second, I'll be looking back at some of the better books that I read during 2005. Expect a few recommendations.
Third, a play I saw this afternoon at the Mark Taper Forum--Lewis and Clark Reach the Euphrates--suggested some interesting questions about the history of American foreign policy and Thomas Jefferson's notion of an "Empire of Liberty." I hope to look at the historical record and see if we can find some of the roots of what playwright Robert Schenkkan calls "the divided heart of America."
Fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, etc.--there remains much to be said about torture, the Bush Administration's domestic spying, homeland security failures, the disparagement of international law, and the increasingly ambitious attempts by the Bush Administration to revive the "imperial presidency" cut short by the resignation of Richard Nixon in 1974.
The new year may not be pretty, but it will certainly be interesting.