Arthur I. Cyr's blog

The inauguration of Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois as the 44th President of the United States is an historic occasion in ways subtle and obvious. As the first African-American to hold the highest national office, he personifies a particularly important milestone.

At the start of the New Year, Russia publicly squabbles with Ukraine over the terms of shipping gas to the European Union, while Turkish police have announced the discovery of a very large weapons cache buried in a pine forest near Ankara.

President-elect Barack Obama steadily reiterates the vital importance of economic issues, this time through a major policy address January 8 at George Mason University. By contrast, he has largely deferred to the outgoing Bush administration on foreign policy and national security. The incoming administration is practicing diplomacy in generally not discussing policy outside of economics.

On New Year’s Eve, the Taliban scored a major tactical military as well as political victory through killing members of the security force of Abdul Salam, the commander of Musa Qala, a city in southern Afghanistan long contested by insurgent and NATO forces. The daring raid has captured attention and headlines.

The Christmas season, devoted to charity and peace, is also the anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge. Since our national election in November, President-elect Obama has reiterated campaign pledges to withdraw forces from Iraq, while devoting renewed effort to the vexing insurgency in Afghanistan. Do lessons of the Second World War apply to these current conflicts? Absolutely

The surprise trip by President George W. Bush to Iraq and Afghanistan nonetheless has received relatively routine media coverage. This reflects not just the lame-duck status of his administration, but also fundamental problems regarding our policies, despite the president’s very optimistic statements regarding Iraq.

Shortly after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas on November 22, 1963, CBS commentator Eric Sevareid perceptively noted that the most important legacy of the dead leader might well be an “attitude”, a contagious spirit that all things are possible for Americans if only we have the vision and will.

The Washington weekend conference of leaders of the Group of 20 nations underscores the global financial crisis. The world economy seems defined by wildly gyrating equities markets and frozen credit markets. There is broad consensus a global recession is beginning.

‘Hitting a bullet with a bullet’ is the way even proponents of anti-ballistic missile systems describe the extraordinary technical challenge. Yet there has been sustained pressure within the United States government for a half century to build such weapons.

While Americans are generally focused on the very intensely fought presidential campaign, historic talks between mainland China and Taiwan have just concluded successfully. Beijing’s top negotiator, Chen Yunlin, is the most senior mainland representative ever to visit Taiwan. His counterpart Chiang Pin-kung is equally senior.