One must give Mr.Richard N. Haass his due for resigning his position in the U.S. Government over the Iraq war. A civic act of conscious, in answer to that war of imperial opportunism by Neo-Conservatives, that must be honored as an act indispensable bravery. Can the remainder of his career, in the contested territory of Foreign Policy be built upon such an act? Can this recent collection of Neo-Liberal cliches,a meditation on the coming year titled The New Old Year, it's centerpiece being a possible,argued war with the 'intransigent', 'bellicose' Iran (of current myth) be indicative of his thinking in this historical moment? Regrettably, there doesn't seem to be much here except those cliches. It seems utterly appropriate to expect something more from a man and thinker of Mr. Haass' ethical and professional stature.
Where could a curious, concerned reader look for an ethical/political/intellectual alternative to this shopworn opinionating? My recommendation,for an auspicious beginning point,would be Ulrich Beck's Twenty Observations On A World In Turmoil. Here, collected, are the challenging,surprising and consistently argued positions of a sociologist who breaks free of ethical/political cliche and brings to bear on the world's problems his prescient, ethically engaged intellect. I don't think any reader could ask for a better guide to the myriad problems of our world than he.
Political Observer