PUBLICATIONS BY Helle C. Dale
Research
Commentary
Media Appearances
2008 Research
August 18, 2008
The Sound of Silence: The Decline of the Voice of America in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia
By Helle C. Dale and Oliver Horn
(WebMemo #2029)
U.S. international broadcasting, and in particular Voice of America, is needed now more than ever. In its annual report on press freedom, Freedom House described the past year as one of "global decline." Of a total of 64 countries surveyed, one-third had a press that was "not free." Consequently, U.S. broadcasting must continue to serve as the lifeline of freedom in these regions, provide uncensored news, explain U.S. foreign policy, and tell America's story.
March 14, 2008
Public Diplomacy: Reinvigorating America's Strategic Communications Policy
By Edwin J. Feulner, Ph.D., Helle C. Dale, Colleen Graffy, Michael Doran, Ph.D., Joseph Duffey, Ph.D., and Tony Blankley
(Heritage Lecture #1065)
U.S. government agencies are hampered in their efforts to improve public diplomacy by a combination of poor leadership, inadequate coordination, and insufficient resources. As we seek to improve the U.S. image abroad and engage in a war of ideas with Muslim extremism, improving the relevant public diplomacy structures of the U.S. government are crucial.
February 11, 2008
U.S. Public Diplomacy: The Search for a National Strategy
By Helle C. Dale
(Executive Memorandum #1029)
Engaging strategically in the war of ideas is crucial to U.S. national security, but U.S. public diplomacy is hampered by a lack of leadership, poor interagency coordination, and a lack of resources to engage foreign audiences. In today’s rapidly expanding information universe, efforts to reach foreign audiences need to be more targeted, deliberate, and coordinated than ever before.
2007 Research
September 18, 2007
Public Diplomacy and the Cold War: Lessons Learned
By Carnes Lord, Ph.D., and Helle C. Dale
(Backgrounder #2070)
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, leaders in both the legislative and executive branches essentially discarded public diplomacy as a Cold War relic. Since 9/11, the situation has improved only marginally if at all. To restore America’s voice, government leaders should draw on the nation’s Cold War legacy to lay the foundation for the next generation of public diplomacy.
May 25, 2007
Bush Administration Scores Victory on Iraq Vote
By Helle C. Dale and James Phillips
(WebMemo #1474)
Congress has finally carried out its obligation to fund the American troops on the frontlines of the global war against terrorism.
March 19, 2007
Improve the Visa Waiver Program with Exit Checks for New Participants
By James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., Helle C. Dale, and James Dean
(WebMemo #1400)
A simple way to move forward in instituting a mandatory exit registry program in a practical, affordable, and reasonable manner.
March 07, 2007
Bush's Trip to Latin America: Urge Mexico to Adopt Economic Reforms
By Helle Dale
(WebMemo #1387)
President Bush’s trip south represents an opportunity to realistically address the issue of a mass Mexican migration to the United States.
February 15, 2007
Nuance in Chavez's Rhetoric Tells of Future Plans for Region
By Helle C. Dale
(WebMemo #1360)
Unless the U.S. increases its presence in the region through support for democratic institutions and market institutions, the aspirations of Marti, Bolivar, Castro, and now Chavez may come to fruition.
February 05, 2007
Memo to Congress on Iraq: Don't Legislate Defeat Again!
By Helle C. Dale
(WebMemo #1338)
As with the Vietnam War, the Iraq War could be won or lost on the home front if Congress persists in passing resolutions undercutting or limiting the President’s ability to conduct the war.
February 01, 2007
Executive Summary: How to Fix the 100 Hours Homeland Security Bill
By James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., Baker Spring, James Sherk, Brian W. Walsh, Lisa Curtis, and Helle C. Dale
(Executive Summary #2003)
The Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007, passed by the House as a part of the Speaker’s “100 Hours” agenda, muddles the mission of providing homeland security with misguided proposals. Congress should replace the most troubling provisions of H.R. 1 with initiatives that are more consistent with the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations.
February 01, 2007
How to Fix the 100 Hours Homeland Security Bill
By James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., Baker Spring, James Sherk, Brian W. Walsh, Lisa Curtis, and Helle C. Dale
(Backgrounder #2003)
The Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007, passed by the House as a part of the Speaker’s “100 Hours” agenda, muddles the mission of providing homeland security with misguided proposals. Congress should replace the most troubling provisions of H.R. 1 with initiatives that are more consistent with the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations.
January 24, 2007
A Plan Forward for U.S. Public Diplomacy
By Helle C. Dale
(Executive Memorandum #1018)
An effective public diplomacy and strategic communication strategy must look beyond short-term needs, assign clear authorities and responsibilities, and establish sensible processes to aid research, planning, clearing, and assessment. Congress can help by reauthorizing funds for the now-defunct U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, which can provide input to keep involved agencies from just serving themselves.
2006 Research
December 06, 2006
NATO in Afghanistan: A Test Case for Future Missions
By Helle C. Dale
(Backgrounder #1985)
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan presents an opportunity to observe the successes and shortcomings of voluntary international military operations. To accomplish its mission in Afghanistan and its overall mission, NATO should develop interoperable communications systems, address troop levels and capabilities, address proportional funding, and seriously consider further enlargement to include Alliance-friendly members.
November 27, 2006
NATO in Afghanistan: A Test Case for Future Missions (Draft)
By Helle C. Dale
(Backgrounder #9999)
The future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has become inextricably linked to the future of Afghanistan.
October 10, 2006
Bush's Global Cultural Initiative: A Step Toward Revitalizing U.S. Public Diplomacy
By Stephen Johnson and Helle Dale
(WebMemo #1234)
The Global Cultural Initiative breathes new life into America’s public diplomacy efforts and will promote close-up views of the United States.
August 30, 2006
Economic and Political Rights at the U.N.: A Guide for U.S. Policymakers
By Helle C. Dale
(Backgrounder #1964)
The American understanding of freedom is often quite different from definitions embraced by other countries, particularly those from a Communist, Socialist, or even Continental European tradition.
January 31, 2006
A Foreign Policy Agenda for the State of the Union
By Helle Dale
(WebMemo #974)
Iraq, Iran, the war on terrorism, democracy promotion, and more.
2005 Research
November 28, 2005
Challenges Facing Europe in a World of Globalization
By Helle C. Dale
(Heritage Lecture #914)
Without the willingness to tackle rigidity and stagnation in its major economies, any grand EU ambition to become a superpower, to create a new international order, or to enlarge into Asia and North Africa will not have much of a chance. Flexibility and reform on many levels is key to Europe's success in the future.
November 18, 2005
Al-Hurrah Television and Lessons for U.S. Public Diplomacy
By Helle C. Dale
(Heritage Lecture #909)
Our public diplomacy should promote U.S. interests and security through understanding, informing, and influencing foreign publics, as well as broadening dialogue between American institutions and their counterparts abroad. Rethinking the mission involves going beyond Al-Hurrah and critically reconsidering the confusing organizational structure of U.S. public diplomacy.
October 17, 2005
Cultural Diversity and Freedom at Risk at UNESCO
By Janice A. Smith and Helle Dale
(WebMemo #885)
A "cultural diversity" convention would threaten free markets, free speech, and freedom.
August 05, 2005
Strengthening U.S. Public Diplomacy Requires Organization, Coordination, and Strategy
By Stephen Johnson, Helle C. Dale, and Patrick Cronin, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #1875)
The Bush Administration and Congress have made progress in some areas of public diplomacy, but the United States will lag in foreign outreach unless bureaucratic structures are streamlined, better coordinated, and focused on tasks at hand. A new Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy may help, but that is clearly not enough.
August 05, 2005
Executive Summary: Strengthening U.S. Public Diplomacy Requires Organization, Coordination, and Strategy
By Stephen Johnson, Helle C. Dale, and Patrick Cronin, Ph.D.
(Executive Summary #1875)
The Bush Administration and Congress have made progress in some areas of public diplomacy, but the United States will lag in foreign outreach unless bureaucratic structures are streamlined, better coordinated, and focused on tasks at hand. A new Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy may help, but that is clearly not enough.
June 02, 2005
The Bush Doctrine: What the President Said and What It Means
By Norman Podhoretz, The Honorable Peter Whener, John Sullivan, Larry M. Wortzel, Ph.D., and Helle C. Dale
(Heritage Lecture #881)
President Bush has placed support for freedom and liberty worldwide at the center of American foreign policy and has tied American vital interests directly to our national values and ideals, realizing that these values bind us together as Americans and bind America to others around the world who have those values or aspire to those liberties.
June 01, 2005
A New Perspective on Kosovo's Final Status
By Helle C. Dale and John C. Hulsman, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #1857)
Because the Balkans' future depends on integration into a Euro-Atlantic framework within the next decade, the Bush Administration should encourage the leveraging of EU economic incentives to bring about a resolution of Kosovo's final status that opens the door to NATO accession for qualifying Balkan countries and allows for drawdown and redeployment of the 7,000 American troops stationed in Kosovo.
April 08, 2005
The ADVANCE Democracy Act: A Dose of Realism Needed
By Ariel Cohen, Ph.D., and Helle C. Dale
(Executive Memorandum #968)
The promotion of democracy remains an important U.S. foreign policy goal, but the ADVANCE Democracy Act could hinder it. The U.S. should continue its tradition of aiding burgeoning democracies, but in a way that also takes into account U.S. vital interests, especially national security, and does not limit the executive branch's ability to conduct foreign policy.
April 07, 2005
Anti-Americanism and Responses to American Power
By Helle C. Dale
(Heritage Lecture #870)
A major strategic effort by the U.S. government is needed to counter anti-Americanism in the Muslim world. To craft effective U.S. government responses to anti-Americanism, we need to consider three factors relating to anti-Americanism abroad—root causes, lethality, and public policy tools. What we need from the second Bush Administration is action.
March 15, 2005
New Leadership, New Hope for Public Diplomacy
By Stephen Johnson and Helle Dale
(WebMemo #688)
Karen Hughes has the opportunity to remake U.S. public diplomacy.
2004 Research
October 19, 2004
Defense Transformation and the New Allies
By Helle C. Dale
(Heritage Lecture #853)
Addressing the technological gap between the United States and its new and necessary allies will be one of the most important strategic challenges we face in the years ahead. The United States will have to "cherry pick" how and where it will engage with NATO allies to best close the technology gap.
October 07, 2004
The Real News in the Duelfer Report
By Helle Dale
(WebMemo #583)
Saddam didn't have WMDs. That's not the real news from the Duelfer Report.
June 02, 2004
Iraqi Prisoner Crisis: Correcting America's Communications Failure
By Stephen Johnson & Helle Dale
(Executive Memorandum #935)
To address the Abu Ghraib incidents, the Administration should put military public affairs officers fully in the command loop in Iraq and show the world how the rule of law applies to U.S. armed forces. Additionally, it should develop a military–civilian public diplomacy strategy and strengthen public diplomacy leadership at the U.S. Department of State.
April 08, 2004
Setting the Record Straight: Condoleezza Rice and the 9/11 Commission
By Helle Dale and James Phillips
(WebMemo #471)
National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice's strong performance in her appearance before the September 11 Commission should put to rest any notion that the Bush administration was complacent or inattentive to the terrorist threat facing the United States before September 11.
January 21, 2004
The State of Homeland Security and the War on Terrorism
By Helle Dale
(WebMemo #391)
While American presidents in an election year have traditionally spent more time touting their domestic programs, this President's most important accomplishment has been to keep the United States safe from terrorist attacks since September 11. In that sense, it was as much a speech on the State of the War on Terrorism as it was a speech on the State of the Union.
2003 Research
May 14, 2003
Reclaiming America's Voice Overseas
By Stephen Johnson and Helle Dale
(WebMemo #273)
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and opposition to U.S. actions in Iraq have shown that America's image abroad is in serious trouble, particularly in the Middle East where U.S. policies, culture, and values are poorly understood. For more than two years, Congress and the White House have struggled to reclaim America's international public relations capability with minimal success.
April 23, 2003
How to Reinvigorate U.S. Public Diplomacy
By Stephen Johnson and Helle Dale
(Backgrounder #1645)
To reverse America's declining image abroad, both public diplomacy and related international broadcasting agencies need a clear chain of command as well as adequate personnel and financial resources.
January 28, 2003
Disarming Iraq & More: State of the Union Response
By Helle Dale
(WebMemo #197)
In the State of the Union address, the Bush Administation builds its case against Iraq in a manner that has not been done before.
2002 Research
November 19, 2002
NATO Reform: What Washington Should Accomplish in Prague
By John C. Hulsman, Ph.D., and Helle Dale
(Executive Memorandum #840)
The upcoming NATO summit is the best chance for the U.S. and its European allies to adapt the alliance to fit the needs of the post-9/11 era. The Administration's should emphasize two reform proposals: increasing the alliance's strategic and political flexibility and pressing Europeans to improve their capabilities within NATO.
October 30, 2002
What Berlin Must Do
By Dr. Nile Gardiner and Helle Dale
(Backgrounder #1609)
Germany is at a crossroads. It can either stand in isolation by opposing action against Iraq, or it can join the international coalition to remove a menacing dictatorship from power. If Berlin refuses to confront the Iraqi threat, it will be seen as irrelevant in the fight against terrorism.
October 30, 2002
BG1609ES: What Berlin Must Do to Repair
By Dr. Nile Gardiner and Helle Dale
(Backgrounder #1609)
BG1609ES: What Berlin Must Do to Repair the U.S.-German Alliance
2008 Commentary
September 04, 2008
Race and feminism
By Helle Dale
While Americans are just getting ready for the presidential campaign with the two contenders receiving their party nominations, and while the race seen from here is extremely close, foreigners seem to think it is already over - with Democratic candidate Barack Obama the landslide winner. The encomiums in the foreign media have called Mr. Obama variously "the black Kennedy," "the new Abraham Lincoln," "the new Mandela," "the new Dalai Lama" and even "Tony Blair of 11 years ago." Sen. Obama struck a strong chord overseas, even before he won the Democratic primaries because there are so few example of an ethnic minority reaching the highest pinnacle of government in other countries. Although the United States has never elevated a woman to the White House, much of the rest of the world has long been used to female presidents, prime ministers, empresses and monarchs.
August 28, 2008
China's image
By Helle Dale
The Beijing Olympics are now part of history. The question is how they will be viewed. Olympic history has had some extraordinary highs and lows, and of course Chinese leaders would like the just concluded extravaganza to take its place among the soaring successes. The category in which China competed, that of major leading international nations and the gold medal prize, was "the respect of the world." When it comes to spin control, image crafting, and all of the arts of the PR business, the Chinese won hands down.
August 14, 2008
Saving Georgia Russian wolves at the gate
By Helle Dale
World War II history has tragically made a comeback this week. Whether the world has learned any history lessons is critically important in several ways.
August 07, 2008
Immigration question
By Helle Dale
It never occurred to us that moving to Fairfax County from the District would be a bit like moving to a foreign country. During the week we have been in our new home, we have had maintenance crews from Mexico, and our garden has been done by an elegant Chilean garden service owner.
July 30, 2008
European tour or vacation?
By Helle Dale
Though much of the media likes to clamor about the importance of the "Fairness Doctrine," "fair" was not exactly how one would describe Sen. John McCain's treatment in the press last week, when his Democratic opponent's trip to the Middle East and Europe sucked just about every ounce of media oxygen out of the air.
July 24, 2008
Deja vu again: All aglow, anti-Bush in Europe
By Helle Dale
Did we enter a time warp and somehow miss the general election? Or are the numbers so overwhelmingly in Sen. Barack Obama's favor that he might be thinking that he was in the time warp and already won the presidency of the United States? Time warps belong in science fiction and, of course neither is true. Nevertheless, what we are witnessing in the Democratic presidential candidate's astonishing tour of the Middle East and Europe is an unprecedented foreign victory lap that, at the very least, violates the spirit of the U.S. Constitution. The country really can have only one president at a time.
July 10, 2008
U.S.-Czech accord making progress
By Helle Dale
Good news from Europe this week. The cause of missile defense took a significant step forward when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice landed in the Czech Republic to sign an agreement for the Czechs to host a radar system that will become part of the U.S. missile defense system. The agreement signed in Prague represents progress toward a more secure world, and the Czech government has to be commended for its steadfastness in following through on its commitments to the United States.
July 03, 2008
Preparing for the G8 summit
By Helle Dale
Next week, the leaders of the G8 countries will be meeting in Hokkaido, Japan, for their annual summit. Once again it will at least provide the world with the opportunity to reflect on whether this is the kind of institution the world needs for the 21st century. Like many of the institutions of the 20th century shaped by distinct but now bygone circumstances, the G8 has started to look like a rather arbitrary gathering.
June 19, 2008
Ireland's move
By Helle Dale
Last week, voters in Ireland proved that while their nation has a reputation as romantics, the Irish also possess a great deal of common sense. The majority of those who voted against the resurrected constitutional treaty of the European nion, now known as the LIsbon Treaty, told pollsters they did so because they did not understand what was in it. In other words they did what every consumer should do: refuse to sign a contract they did not understand.
June 12, 2008
Bush's trans-Atlantic Tour: American contributions to European prosperity
By Helle Dale
Did you know that President Bush left on Monday for a week-long trip in Europe? Unfortunately, an outgoing president is not going to command as many banner headlines as the contest between his potential successors. On his final lap around the continent, Mr. Bush is visiting friends of the United States and making an effort to strengthen trans-Atlantic relations.
June 12, 2008
Ireland's move
By Helle Dale
Did you know that President Bush left on Monday for a week-long trip in Europe? Unfortunately, an outgoing president is not going to command as many banner headlines as the contest between his potential successors. On his final lap around the continent, Mr. Bush is visiting friends of the United States and making an effort to strengthen trans-Atlantic relations.
June 12, 2008
Ireland's Move
By Helle Dale
Did you know that President Bush left on Monday for a week-long trip in Europe? Unfortunately, an outgoing president is not going to command as many banner headlines as the contest between his potential successors. On his final lap around the continent, Mr. Bush is visiting friends of the United States and making an effort to strengthen trans-Atlantic relations.
June 05, 2008
For the U.S., it's perception vs. reality
By Helle Dale
Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times Marsha Deane, of Alexandria, pumps her fist, while David Petrella, of Cleveland, waves the American flag outside the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, as the Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws panel meets to consider the seating of Florida and Michigan delegations.
May 22, 2008
Raoul provides few changes
By Helle Dale
Today has been declared Cuba Solidarity Day by the White House to remind Americans that the citizens of that small island just 90 miles off U.S. shores are still trapped in one of the world's few remaining communist dictatorships. It is a cause well worth paying attention to. These relics of the 20th century cling on to life in the 21st century, keeping their citizens from achieving the freedom and prosperity that so many states, formerly in communist thrall, have attained since 1989.
May 08, 2008
London drama
By Helle Dale
You can call him Red Ken -- or the canary in the coalmine of British Labor politics. On Friday, that canary took a nosedive from its perch, when the citizens of London voted out Ken Livingstone as mayor of London after eight years in office. His part of the worst local election showing for the Labor Party in 40 years. It reflects just how fast and how far the party's fortunes have sunk under Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
May 01, 2008
NATO allies put pressure on Russia
By Helle Dale
What do you do when confronted by a bully? The first lesson you learn as a child in the school yard is that reasoning and turning the other cheek unfortunately does not work very well, and will only get you a reputation as an easy victim. On the other hand, knocking someone's teeth out because of a mean taunt is not the way to go either. Producing an immediate, proportionate response is a skill you have to learn.
April 24, 2008
U.S. relations
By Helle Dale
In the course of presidential election politics, the present inevitably takes a beating. In the discussion of American global leadership, virtually no good news ever gets into the debate, to the extent foreign policy is discussed at all.
April 16, 2008
Sabotaging Colombia
By Helle Dale
With friends like these, who needs enemies? This thought might well have presented itself to President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia in the last few days, as he watched the recently negotiated free trade agreement with the United States fall victim to American election politics. In a hemisphere where strongman politics and authoritarian rule are tenaciously making a comeback, the leadership of the Democratic Party has just inflicted a severe blow on the reputation of the United States as a reliable international partner and on U.S. trade policy as a whole.
April 10, 2008
Missile defense.
By Helle Dale
The decision by NATO members last week in Bucharest to endorse American plans for a third missile-defense site located in Europe represents a huge step forward for the alliance and for American and European security. It is an achievement for American diplomacy that many thought was beyond reach.
April 03, 2008
Globalize NATO?
By Helle Dale
You have to wonder whether the leaders from the NATO countries, who will be convening Wednesday through Friday in Bucharest, will not feel just a touch of nostalgia for the old days of the Cold War when the world seemed so much simpler. They will in fact be meeting in the cavernous halls of the humongous Romanian parliament building, built by Romania's crazy communist dictator Nicolau Ceausescu.
March 20, 2008
Progress in Iraq
By Helle Dale
What impact would a Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama victory have on U.S. foreign policy, a foreign journalist wanted to know. How would the world be able to tell the difference between them and the Bush administration? The hoped-for answer seemed to be that the United States would suddenly be enamored of international institutions like the United Nations and otherwise stop acting so "unilateralist."
March 13, 2008
Playing fast and loose with free trade
By Helle Dale
The longer the Democratic primaries go on, the more we learn about Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. This is obviously a very useful process. During the Ohio primary, for instance, we learned that both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama want to tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement. This was certainly startling news to both the Mexicans and the Canadians, though it obviously played well in Ohio where manufacturing jobs have been in decline.
February 28, 2008
Darfur First
By Helle Dale
It is not often that one has occasion to applaud political pronouncements coming out of Hollywood. It is usually enough to turn your opinion in the opposite direction when you watch the parade of Hollywood celebrities on Capitol Hill, brought in to testify for no other reason than their talent in front of the camera.
February 14, 2008
Islam, Britain
By Helle Dale
With all the elegance of a bull in a china shop, Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, last week made a foray into the difficult subject of how Muslims fit into Western societies. The ensuing crashing and banging is still going on in Britain and can be heard across the pond.
February 07, 2008
Forward Progress
By Helle Dale
Last week brought the good news that an unfortunate dispute between the United States and one of its best allies in Europe found the promise of a resolution. After meetings with officials in Washington, Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski stated that the U.S. and Polish governments had reached an agreement in principle on plans to install a U.S. missile defense system on Polish territory, one dealing with Polish security concerns. It is an important step forward on an issue that had become dangerously stalled and a serious problem between allies whose close relationship predates the fall of the Berlin Wall.
February 01, 2008
Bush's Freedom Agenda
By Helle Dale
It was not exactly a farewell speech, but there was still a sense of the passing of the baton at President Bush's State of the Union Monday night. This would be the last time for eight years that Mr. Bush addressed Congress, and perhaps for that reason the atmosphere was more courteous and the bipartisan applause more generous than has otherwise been the case in recent years. You could not help wonder who will be standing in that spot next year.
January 24, 2008
Remarkable Progress in Iraq
By Helle Dale
Not every dark cloud has a silver lining, but $100 per barrel oil could have at least one: the boost it is providing for Iraq's long-suffering economy. Combined with greater political stability, and spreading zones of security, ascending oil prices are showing promise of making 2008 one of the best years Iraq has had in a long while.
January 10, 2008
Changing the Middle East
By Helle Dale
How many times have we heard it, and how many times will we hear it again before November — this election is about change? Thanks to the campaign rhetoric of Sen. Barack Obama, any kind of change is now supposedly what voters want. The irony of American politics is of course that politicians tend to enter office on just such a platform, only to be identified as part of the status quo almost the moment they take office. Such is the ponderous weight of the federal government, whose course is slower to change than that of a U.S. aircraft carrier.
January 03, 2008
Cover story
By Helle Dale
As the media does its traditional review of the past year, Time magazine's choice of "Person of the Year" once again comes as a puzzlement.
2007 Commentary
December 27, 2007
U.S. foreign policy-making
By Helle Dale
Many of us cheered loudly when President Bush announced the inspired choice of John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations in 2005. As one of the most hardnosed and down-to-earth policy-makers in Washington, Mr. Bolton seemed just the man for the job, an ambassador in the mold of Jeane Kirkpatrick who would not be possessed by clientitis. Meanwhile, Democrats and foreign media alike gasped at the choice.
December 20, 2007
State of decay
By Helle Dale
When Newt Gingrich launched his frontal assault on the State Department in 2003, in the context of the Iraq crisis, a lot of people applauded. "Without bold dramatic change at the State Department, the United States will soon find itself on the defensive everywhere except militarily. In the long run that is a very dangerous position for the world's leading democracy to be in. Indeed in the long run that is an unsustainable position." Four years later, you have to admire the man's prescience.
December 13, 2007
Hello, Gazpromia
By Helle Dale
On Monday, at least part of the answer emerged to the question of what the future holds for Russia. By all appearances, it is going to become an official energy conglomerate -- Goodbye Russia; Hello, Gazpromia.
December 06, 2007
Bearing down on democracy
By Helle Dale
"A good example of domestic political stability" is the way Russian President Vladimir Putin described Russia's parliamentary election. If so, the stability of rigor mortis is settling into the country's moribund democracy. No wonder Mr. Putin is pleased. Not only did his party, United Russia, get 63 percent of the vote, but its coalition partners in the Russian Duma also pulled in almost 80 percent. Indeed, the Russian president is doing almost as well with Russian voters as Saddam Hussein used to be with the Iraqis, who re-elected him with 99 percent support time after time.
November 29, 2007
Knotty issues
By Helle Dale
Could it be that there was a whiff of desperation this week over the Middle East summit in Annapolis? One gets the feeling that these days, the Bush administration is acting more with history in mind than anything else — certainly more than with a sense of reality. One need only look back to President Bush's predecessor to find a similar legacy syndrome at work.
November 22, 2007
Chavez under fire
By Helle Dale
How refreshing. After years of this man's odious and idiotic ranting on the international stage, someone finally told Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to put a sock in it. At last week's Ibero-American summit in Santiago, Chile, King Juan Carlos of Spain was outraged by Mr. Chavez's attacks on former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar as a "fascist." The king angrily told Mr. Chavez "Why don't you just shut up!" Yes, indeed. It would have been nice if someone had told Mr. Chavez to "shut up" when he called President Bush "the devil" at the U.N. General Assembly last year. It is past time the international community starts challenging Mr. Chavez's shenanigans.
November 15, 2007
America's partners
By Helle Dale
Over the past week, three leaders of important American allies arrived for meetings with President Bush — Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany. With each of these countries, the United States has a long alliance history. In more recent times, particularly over the issue of Iraq, however, it has been a history characterized by a certain dissonance and by anti-Americanism.
November 08, 2007
Pakistan tumults
By Helle Dale
One of the persistent challenges of U.S. foreign policy is the necessity at various times to partner with allies of dubious distinction. You could call it "hold your nose" diplomacy. From World War II, pictures of the smiling faces of Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin serve as a reminder of the power of expediency. Had it not been for Hitler, this unlikely alliance would never have taken place.
October 25, 2007
Pushing paper
By Helle Dale
A rose is a rose by any other name — and the European constitution is still a constitution even if it is now called the European Reform Treaty.
October 18, 2007
Armenian folly
By Helle Dale
A long-smoldering dispute between Turks and Armenians over events nearly a century old has finally erupted into full flame in the charged atmosphere of Washington politics in the shape of the Armenian Genocide resolution. The nonbinding resolution passed the House Committee on Foreign Affairs last week by a vote of 27-21, following several unsuccessful attempts going back to 2000. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has pledged to make sure the resolution reaches the floor of the House. If it passes, it will send shock waves throughout American policy in the Middle East.
October 11, 2007
Skeptics needed
By Helle Dale
Being the voice of reason in a debate where emotions and political agendas have captured the popular imagination takes great courage. In discussions of climate change today, you will run into assertions ranging from the "fact" that the polar ice cap will melt and reverse the Gulf Stream to the "fact" that 80 percent of the world's scientists agree that humans cause global warming.
October 04, 2007
Euro-syndrome
By Helle Dale
As the presidential election of 2008 draws closer, expect to hear increasingly about the blessings of the European welfare states from Democratic candidates. In both domestic policy and international affairs, Democrats are Europeans in disguise.
September 27, 2007
Taking on the Islamists
By Helle Dale
Kids here in the suburban Copenhagen area are pragmatic about immigrants. They do not categorize them by faith, nationality or skin color but by size. There are the "small immigrants" and the "big immigrants." Many find the "big immigrants" threatening, especially when they travel in groups of young men in the evening.
September 20, 2007
Spread the word
By Helle Dale
Clearly, judging by his most recently released tape Osama bin Laden "had some work done," as they say. Sporting a newly darkened beard, he reminded the world on the anniversary of September 11 that he's still around, three years after his last appearance.
September 07, 2007
Putin's ambition
By Helle Dale
A Danish ambassador to Peter the Great was asked by the czar to point out his country on the map. Embarrassed at the size of his homeland compared to the vast Russian expanse, the ambassador evaded the question, and rather than point to the Lilliputian Scandinavian country from which he hailed, he put his finger on Greenland, the world's biggest island. "Let me show you one of our colonies," he said slyly, but truthfully. Peter the Great, of course, was suitably impressed.
August 31, 2007
Bush's Vietnam analogy
By Helle Dale
The world of bloggers and opinion writers is agog over President Bush's use of the Vietnam analogy in his speech last week to the Veterans of Foreign Wars. After years of resisting the comparison with Vietnam, Mr. Bush has now reached for the dreaded V-word. His critics are horrified, of course, even though they have been flinging the comparison around for years.
August 23, 2007
French signals
By Helle Dale
The French tend to be homebodies. They rather like to keep to themselves, and they prefer to spend their vacations in their country homes or in other parts of France. Even Frenchmen who live in villages have country cabins to which they repair in July and August for European-sized vacations.
August 02, 2007
Tasks at hand
By Helle Dale
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown came to Washington this week, a visit anticipated with much curiosity on this side of the Atlantic — and surely on the other as well. As difficult as it must have been to follow his predecessor — Tony Blair with whom President Bush had a close personal relationship — Mr. Brown pulled off a sterling performance. His statements on Iraq and Afghanistan were steady, supportive and measured, and he indicated a deep commitment to the "special relationship" between the United States and Britain.
July 26, 2007
Stopping Iran
By Helle Dale
The prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran is one of the nightmares facing the Middle East today. Iran has been working overtime to produce enough nuclear fuel for its first bomb, increasing the number of centrifuges needed to convert yellowcake to uranium hexaflouride gas, and according to the International Atomic Energy Agency it may have as many as 3,000 centrifuges up and running this summer. By the IAEA's estimate that would be enough for Iran to have completed a nuclear weapon in two years time. That means the international community does not have much time to prevent the outbreak of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East -- the most volatile, energy-rich region of the world.
July 12, 2007
Voices of America
By Helle Dale
It isn't exactly Walt Disney. In fact, the animation is primitive and the characters not likely to inspire a series of spin-off merchandise. Still, the Iranian cartoon TV version of American history — all told in 11 minutes — certainly knows how to get its point across that the United States is murderous, rapacious and to be feared.
July 05, 2007
The American experiment
By Helle Dale
The American experiment was unique and improbable in 1776, when Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence and the American colonies defied Britain, the most powerful nation on earth at the time. As we look around the world at how difficult it is for democracy and freedom to take hold and flourish, America seems like a political miracle.
June 28, 2007
Brown vs. Cameron
By Helle Dale
The political landscape in Britain shifts this week with the rise of Gordon Brown to the premiership. For an event that has been anticipated for years, due to the long-standing political bargain between Mr. Brown and former Prime Minister Tony Blair, its contours are still widely debated here.
June 15, 2007
A place in the sun
By Helle Dale
Joseph Stalin said that the death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions a statistic. What, then, does that make of the death of 100 million? Too much for the human mind to handle?
June 07, 2007
The G-8 Summit
By Helle Dale
There would be no news without conflict. So, it is understandable that the media is working overtime to portray the meeting of the leaders of the G-8, the major industrialized nations, as a kind of punch-drunk free-for-all.
May 31, 2007
Funding and teeth to back up Iraq
By Helle Dale
A general media rush has been on to mute any celebrations of the president's victory on funding for Iraq and Afghanistan. Heaven forbid that President Bush should actually get the credit for having won a significant battle on principle against an overweening Congress, attempting to legislate his government's military strategy.
May 24, 2007
Russia's threatening ways
By Helle Dale
If the shoe fits, wear it, as the saying goes. Maybe the same could be said about the jackboot.
May 17, 2007
U.S. and Britain
By Helle Dale
Americans love British politicians. To the distinguished company of Prime Ministers Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher, we can now add Tony Blair as one of most admired people on this side of the Atlantic.
May 10, 2007
Sarkozy's victory
By Helle Dale
Are we in for a new day in U.S.-European relations? Sunday's convincing victory by Nicolas Sarkozy in France's presidential election suggests as much. Mr. Sarkozy has been unabashedly pro-American in his campaign and his victory speech. "I want to issue an appeal to our American friends, to tell them that they can count on our friendship, which has been forged in the tragedies of history which we have faced together," he said on Sunday.
May 03, 2007
Voices of America
By Helle Dale
No matter what you choose to call our war with the forces of radical Islam, it is clear that the global landscape of public opinion regarding these events is highly complex. The challenge of navigating it is falls to the branches of the U.S. government whose task it is to win over hearts and minds in the Muslim world. How to deal with this challenge was the subject of intense discussion last week at a the Cantigny estate outside Chicago, which hosted "The Future of U.S. International Broadcasting."
April 19, 2007
The evil men do
By Helle Dale
Words seem so very inadequate, but they are unfortunately often all we have to express the grief, outrage and sympathy that well up when tragedies like Monday's massacre at Virginia Tech strike. The heart just goes out to the students and their parents, who sustained the worst loss, the greatest pain that can hit a human being. The tragedy that struck the parents of the Virginia Tech students is the tragedy of the entire nation.
April 12, 2007
Abjectdiplomacy
By Helle Dale
Recess is travel time in Washington, and Congressional Democrats have wasted no time launching their own new adventures. After all, they seem to be thinking, how hard can foreign policy be? The world is full of nice folks who want to talk to you if you belong to the party that is in opposition to the Bush administration. Unfortunately, the old adage about Washington having potentially 535 secretaries of state, in addition to the one in Foggy Bottom, seems to be proving all too true with the 110th Congress.
April 05, 2007
Danes amid Europeans
By Helle Dale
The 50th anniversary of the European Union passed with but modest notice here in Denmark, where unusually warm spring weather brought Danes out in droves to work in their gardens, drink beer and raise the red and white Danish flag against the backdrop of a sparkling blue sky. Yes, there were conferences and events at the Europa House in Copenhagen, followed by fireworks. And at the museum of ultramodern art, Arken, on the water, politicians gathered for a discussion of Europe's future. Still, the event bore no resemblance to the nationwide celebrations of Denmark's own Constitution Day in June.
March 22, 2007
Iraq's future
By Helle Dale
Let's get this straight. According to the various attempts by congressional Democrats to force President Bush to bring home the troops, the United States should withdraw from Iraq if the Maliki government fails to meet certain benchmarks reducing violence, raising troop numbers and making progress toward a political solution. That is, if the Iraqi government is not in a condition fit to govern the country, then we will pull out. On the other hand, if the Iraqi government lives up to our demands, functioning as it should, we will stay? Somewhere, somehow, this all got turned upside down.
March 22, 2007
Visa Reform: How to be Brave in a Brave New World
By Helle Dale and James Carafano
After the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Americans became rightly concerned about two serious issues -- thwarting the international travel of terrorists and getting serious about enforcing U.S. immigration laws. Most of what was done immediately after 9/11 amounted to simply making it more difficult to travel to the United States from overseas.
March 15, 2007
U.S.-Latin America dance
By Helle Dale
"Too little, too late" is the mantra that has met President Bush's visit to Latin America from the foreign policy community here. Fairly typical was the op-ed in The Washington Post by Fareed Zakaria. "President Bush has done the right thing in going to Latin America... But Bush's new look at the region will not do much good. It's too little, too late."
March 08, 2007
Gore in the balance
By Helle Dale
Religious intolerance is associated in the minds of many today with Islamic radicalism. Yet, there is a Western variety on the rise that has to concern us greatly as well -- and it is not climate change orthodoxy. Challenge the belief that the Earth is warming dangerously due to human activity, or criticize any of its high priests, and the wrath of true believers will be visited upon you.
March 02, 2007
Salvaging the war in Iraq
By Helle Dale
We should be grateful that Washington political battles usually do not result in any fatalities. Were it otherwise, casualty figures for the next two years could undoubtedly be significant. The real bloodshed, however, is left for the Iraqis to live with as politicians here maneuver and debate how fast American troops can return home. In all, it is a pretty depressing time for those of us who believe that, having gotten into Iraq, the United States now has a responsibility to see the mission through.
February 22, 2007
Afghanistan a true test for NATO
By Helle Dale
While the attention of Washington is focused on Iraq, the other military front in the struggle against militant Islam is warming up. Afghanistan has until now shown better promise of success than Iraq. Yet there are clear signs that this spring will be an intensely challenging time for the Afghan government and for the NATO coalition forces operating to support it. We are being warned that a Taliban spring offensive is in the works, and how NATO responds will be crucial, both for the future of Afghanistan and for NATO as well.
February 15, 2007
Putin's ravings
By Helle Dale
Putin's ravings
February 08, 2007
Just the facts
By Helle Dale
As I braved the bitter cold and howling winds on Monday night, dragging our two reluctant dogs dressed in their overcoats out for their final walk of the day, fond thoughts of global warming presented themselves.
February 01, 2007
Iraq is no 'Nam
By Helle Dale
Comparisons between Vietnam and Iraq have long been a staple of critics of the Bush administration. The Washington Post, for instance, recently adorned the wide expanse of the top half of the Sunday Outlook section with the famous photo of the last U.S. helicopter to leave the rooftop of the embassy in Saigon. Is that how the United States is going to leave Iraq? Ignominious and defeated? That is certainly the implication and maybe even the hope of too many here in Washington.
January 31, 2007
Iraq is no 'Nam
By Helle Dale
Comparisons between Vietnam and Iraq have long been a staple of critics of the Bush administration. The Washington Post, for instance, recently adorned the wide expanse of the top half of the Sunday Outlook section with the famous photo of the last U.S. helicopter to leave the rooftop of the embassy in Saigon.
January 25, 2007
Visa reform
By Helle Dale
National security ought to be one issue where we can all agree. Unfortunately, that common ground is often not so easy to locate, as party politics and even divisions among liberals and conservatives among themselves take on a life of their own.
January 11, 2007
Post 9/11 legislation
By Helle Dale
Democrats are leaving no stone unturned to make the nation feel safer, now that they are in control of both houses of Congress. Or perhaps one should say no piece of paper unused.
2006 Commentary
December 28, 2006
Around the globe
By Helle Dale
How will we remember the politics of 2006? As the year Iraq troops got the better of John Kerry? Or the year Hugo Chavez invoked the devil at the United Nations? Newspapers pride themselves on being the first draft of history, so below is a little help for future historians. And Happy New Year 2007 to the faithful readers of The Washington Times.
December 21, 2006
Russia goes backward
By Helle Dale
The British are so squeamish. They are having the vapors just because Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned in London with $10 million worth of polonium-210, a highly radioactive agent applied to the victim in something like 10 times the necessary dosage for lethality.
December 07, 2006
Hope for Afghan girls
By Helle Dale
Anyone who has watched the chilling documentary "Obsession: Radical Islam's War with the West" will recognize where the real front in the war against terrorism lies — the minds of children.
November 30, 2006
Rangel's slurs
By Helle Dale
Anyone who has firsthand experience of the excellent young men and women who volunteer for military service and perform so admirably under very difficult circumstances in Iraq will have a hard time recognizing what Rep. Charlie Rangel, incoming chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, is going on about.
November 23, 2006
Why NATO must evolve
By Helle Dale
Can NATO avoid rigor mortis? Pardon the pun, but as leaders of the NATO countries meet next week for their annual summit in Riga, Latvia, it is a reasonable question. The answer may lie in Afghanistan, where NATO is currently engaged in its first ever mission outside Europe. NATO countries are aware of this fact and much determination has been expressed to make it a success.
November 16, 2006
Midterms and Wars
By Helle Dale
The great Washington rush to judgment is on. After an election loss, there is always a time for recriminations, blood-letting and eventually regrouping. President Bush and congressional Republicans alike were stung by the loss of Congress, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was soon after designated as the requisite human sacrifice under such circumstances. All of this drama is part and parcel of Washington.
