foreign policy

Should the US apologize to Hiroshima survivors when President Obama visits next week?

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Owatonna, MN Correspondent– “War is hell.” Famous words from General William T. Sherman during the Civil War. People die and are injured by acts of war. Innocent people in many cases. All because their leaders’ egos get in the way of peaceful coexistence.

In the case of the Hiroshima survivors, why must they be singled out for apologies other than the fact that the president of the country responsible for their fates happens to drop by for a visit? Do world leaders apologize to every group of people their country has wronged wherever the leaders’ travels take them? Continue reading →

Should the United States re-write laws to allow Puerto Rico to go through the bankruptcy process and should the taxpayers fund a bailout of Puerto Rico? Does this create a precedent for other cities, states, and municipalities that want taxpayer funded bailouts?

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Prescott Valley, AZ Correspondent-As Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States as opposed to a city or town, neither should laws be re-written to allow Puerto Rico to go through the bankruptcy process nor should taxpayers fund a bailout of Puerto Rico. Continue reading →

Obama’s Asian Pivot

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From Thinking Outside the Boxe’s Sydney Correspondent
Since 2001 American military operations have unsurprisingly focused on the Middle East – in particular the two wars in Iraq and the current operations in Afghanistan that are drawing to an end. It is not within the scope of this article to question whether these wars were justified or even if they have gone on too long. It is more important at this point to focus on the future. President Obama’s new military strategy is referred to as an ‘Asian pivot’. This change in focus is a response to the emergence of China as a superpower and the fact that the US is growing less reliant on Middle Eastern oil. It also reflects a war weariness on the part of the public and a financial reality where the military budget is being scrutinised in a way that it never has previously.

Continue reading →

Symposium 2012: Debt relief for poor countries?

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Sydney: There should definitely be debt relief for poor countries. Many of the poorest countries have had decades to pay back all their debt and simply have not been able to do it and there is little chance that they will in the coming decades. In some ways creditors are partially to blame for the situation these countries are in. In a lot of cases lenders gave money to regimes who they knew wouldn’t be spending aid money on the citizens of that nation. So these people are suffering now paying back money they never benefited from in the first place. It is good to see the IMF and various other nations beginning to address the issue of debt relief but the slate needs to be wiped clean if these nations are ever going to give their citizens the life they deserve. Continue reading →

From Thinking Outside The Boxe’s Sydney Correspondent The first part of this article discussed the need for the US Government to be smarter in the way it determines foreign policy, particularly in a military sense.

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From Thinking Outside The Boxe’s Sydney Correspondent: For far too long the U.S. concept of foreign policy has been inextricably tied to ‘military policy’ or ‘defense policy’ – another ridiculous and misleading euphemism for overseas military action. In this article I will argue that policy makers need to fundamentally recalibrate their foreign policy in an integrated way that benefits the security and economy of the nation. Continue reading →

Symposium 2011: Should Puerto Rico be required to make English its only official language if it becomes the 51st state?

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Michigan:  We have enough states with problems now.  Why would we want another one?

Sydney:  Of course it should, if English is the official language of the United States as well. In reality I don’t think it would make a lot of difference to Puerto Ricans if they became the 51st State. It seems they are pretty much a defacto State anyway. I’m sure that if English was made the only official language life would go on as normal. It’s not as if the U.S military is going to force everyone to speak English. Continue reading →

Symposium 2011: Is China a strategic partner, a strategic competitor, or an enemy of the United States? Are they an economic threat or a military threat?

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Michigan:  China is too busy building factories and infrastructure to worry about such things as world peace keeping, nuclear weapons, or a world class military.  We need China and they need us.  I think that China may have the best economy in the world today.  So yes, they are an economic threat.  As far as a military threat, they can have anything they want, but they are content to set back and watch us spend our money. Continue reading →

Symposium 2011: Most everyone, Democrat and Republican alike, agrees that we must control the border. How do we achieve a secure border? Was the intent of the 14th amendment to grant citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants? Should illegals receive welfare benefits or tax credits?

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RMC:  Thinking Outside the Boxe has long thought that a real border fence is impractical.  We’ve supported both a virtual fence using cameras and drone technology as well as an increased presence of military personnel on the border.  Now that we’ve got a lot of troops coming home from Iraq, let’s reposition them on the border with Mexico.  If we need more manpower, let’s recruit more people into the military so that we can secure and protect our border.  These Mexican drug cartels aren’t going to take on the whole U.S. military.  There won’t be much competition there. Continue reading →