I’m having a Foreign Affairs day… (once upon a time… I worked on a minor in Middle East Politics/Culture – my favorite professor was John Berseia, a former Carter era Under Secretary of State and currently a Special Assistant to the President on Global Perspectives).

The following thoughts may be connected in the deep recesses of my brain but for now they are just incoherent and random outbursts resulting from recent events.

How important is American hegemony in the region? Is America still capable of delivering influence in the region? AND, why should I care? Is influence related to an ability to project power? The media has given more coverage and analysis to the NFL replacement refs than to IRAN’s successful firing of missiles into the Straits of Hormuz – why? The Islamic block in the UN consists of 57 countries – is this significant?

Is the adage true “as goes Israel, so goes the US?”  – I think this is true!

Will there ever be a day when a UN Resolution supersedes the US Constitution? Will criticism and parody of Islam soon be the equivalent of yelling FIRE in a crowded movie theater?
Has the First Amendment already been eroded?

Of course a critical question that should also be asked: What is the transactional distance between foreign affairs and domestic policy?

The following article provides some interesting insights…In Arab Spring, Obama Finds a Sharp Test http://nyti.ms/OYtVAJ