Links April 2016.

• Author: Clack, George

American Diplomacy Links 4.15.16

"Where in the World Are We?"

Joseph Nye steps back from campaign rhetoric for a big-picture look at the challenges confronting the United States in today's world. "In a world as complex as the one we face," he writes, "foreign policy does not fit on a bumper sticker." Nye adds that "while the United States has many domestic problems, America is not an empire in decline like ancient Rome."

By Joseph Nye, Democracy: A Journal of Ideas. Nye, a Harvard professor of political science and a former official with the U.S. Defense and State departments, is one of the most influential experts on American foreign policy.

http://democracyjournal.org/magazine/40/where-in-the-world-are-we/

"Trump Angst Pours in from Overseas Governments"

Officials around the globe are closely following the U.S. presidential race. Lobbyists in Washington say they are being flooded with questions and concerns from foreign governments about the rise of Donald Trump and on what a contested Republican convention would look like.

By Julian Hattem and Megan R. Wilson, thehill.com. Hattem reports on national security and Wilson covers lobbying for thehill.com.

http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/business-a-lobbying/274621-lobbyists-grapple-with-trump-angst-overseas

"Under the Lime Trees"

The region referred to by Westerners as the "Middle East" is now polarized into two camps, led respectively by Saudi Arabia and Iran. In politics, national interests often trump ideological differences. For some time now, the Saudis have been a secret ally of Israel, and vice versa. Both parties would find it embarrassing to acknowledge the relationship in public.

By Uri Avnery, Jewish Business News. Avnery is an Israeli writer and founder of the Gush Shalom peace movement. He was a Knesset member from 1965-74 and from 1979-81.

http://jewishbusinessnews.com/2016/03/30/uri-avnery-under-the-lime-trees/

"The Exit Solution?: How the West Misjudged Russia, Part 10"'

The "pragmatist" proposals of Western foreign-policy experts to resolve the Ukraine crisis sell out vital principles and values for short-term gains.

By Lilia Shevtsova, the American Interest. Shevtsova is a nonresident senior fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution and a member of the American Interest's editorial board. She has published 20 books about Russia.

http://www.the-american-interest.com/2016/03/30/the-exit-solution/

"Seven Phantoms of Russia's Policy...