Major survey finds

first-ever majority that

sees US on the wane

The Pew Research Center conducted the opinion poll on American foreign policy.

A LITTLE NOTICED but hugely important public opinion survey released this week shows that Americans see their country’s influence in the world diminishing – confirming what has become obvious to many abroad.
The survey by the Pew Research Center titled America’s Place in the World 2013 could have major implications for American foreign policy.
In fact, some say it has already done so.
Public support for global engagement, already low, has fallen even further. Experts blame “war fatigue” – the legacy of the Bush/Cheney years of foreign misadventures in Iraq and Afghanistan.
As negotiations proceed with Iran, Afghanistan and Syria, the impact of these trends could be enormous and global.

‘ARC OF INSTABILITY’ POSES GLOBAL THREAT, HUMANITARIAN CRISES
The two sets of vital international talks under way in Geneva may seem to have little in common, but that is a misperception.
Their commonality is that their model of governance is obsolete.
It is the same story, repeated over and over again in an ARC OF INSTABILITY stretching around the southern and eastern edges of the Mediterranean Sea.
The Geneva conferences are too narrow in their scope. Some imagination is needed to start work on a global solution.
It’s not just about weapons of mass destruction. It’s about massive destruction of modern nation states with global implications for our interconnected societies. The world must wake up.

STRIFE IN SYRIA THREATENS REGION’S ARTIFICIAL NATION-STATES
It seems as if the remnants of the Ottoman empire created by the British and French colonialists a century ago are imploding as nationalism fails and each country’s internal divisions fissure into armed conflict.
Either the west can stand by idly and watch the region implode, with the death, destruction and global economic fallout that entails, or we can try to contain the damage through cajoling, threats and diplomacy.
Men and women of good conscience everywhere should begin a serious discussion of this vitally important, globally significant development of historic proportions. It is not too late to start the debate.

MOVE CEMENTS MILITARY CONTROL AFTER 3-MONTH CRACKDOWN
While the world was preoccupied with the crisis in Syria the military junta that took over Egypt three months ago was cementing its control over that country.
Monday was the final nail in the coffin of the promising experiment in democracy.
In a sweeping ruling, an Egyptian court banned the Muslim Brotherhood, whose leader Mohamed Morsi was duly elected in an election widely regarded as fair in 2012.
All these signs point to the lights going out on Egypt’s short-lived attempt at democratic rule. It is a tragic development.

MEDIA ANALYZE LESSONS LEARNED ON NOTEWORTHY ANNIVERSARY
While the rest of the world was watching Geneva and the Russian-American diplomatic dance this weekend, the land at the center of so much in the Middle East was marking a different – but historic – milestone.
Exactly 40 years ago, on Yom Kippur 1973, Israel was surprised by an onslaught on two fronts: a massive force of Egyptians crossed the Suez Canal to occupy parts of the Sinai Peninsula, while in the north Syrian tanks rolled across the Golan Heights.
This is an enormously complicated corner of the earth. Any one who claims to have easy answers should be regarded as a fool.
The best we can do is learn as much about it as we can in an attempt to better understand the historical forces – some dating back thousands of years – that have led us to the present.

Due to a brutal travel schedule, posting will be limited for the next few days.

AL JAZEERA STANDS OUT FOR IN-DEPTH REPORTING
An analysis of the media coverage reveals that Americans are far less informed than others elsewhere about global events like the turmoil in Egypt.
If one wants to know the full story, one cannot rely on just one media outlet. Each one carries only part of the story; for complete knowledge, one must refer to several sources.
U.S. media focus on how world events affect America. There is no truly global coverage.
It is vitally important for Americans to know what is truly happening in the rest of the world. Unfortunately, we cannot get a clear picture from own newspapers and television reports.

ISLAMISTS VS. SECULARISTS: THE BATTLE BETWEEN WORLD VIEWS
As the crisis in Egypt deepens it is becoming increasingly apparent that the enormous gulf that has opened up between the two sides represents a titanic clash of civilizations.
On the one side is the Islamic Brotherhood.
On the other is the Egyptian military, supported for decades by the United States, which would prefer a secular government.
The clashing world views seem, alas, to be irreconcilable.
Get In the (K)now … here, now

EGYPTIANS WANT HELP IN THE FORM OF JOBS
The people of Egypt need help ¬– in the form of visitors for their tourism industry – writes In the (K)now special correspondent Alex Ghawi from Cairo.
“The majority of these people literally don’t have a job,” he wrote.
Get the details of his eyewitness account here.