Sunjeev Bery

Category: Official America

  • Obama on Israel and Palestine

    U.S. President Barack Obama’s speech in Cairo is worth watching and worth reading.  Perhaps the best place to do both is at The New York Times website, where you can search the transcripts by keyword and simultaneously watch/read the sections you want. I have excerpted Obama’s words on Israel and Palestine below.  But first, a…

  • Building (good) government

    The Obama Administration has nominated a major microfinance leader to serve as U.S. Under Secretary of Global Affairs in the State Department.  It’s a great example of how to bring people into the U.S. foreign policy establishment who have a direct understanding of strategies for international poverty alleviation. Read on for the full press release…

  • Ask Condoleeza

    The footage shows all the signs of a professor angry at a student for asking exactly the right questions. Caught in an emotional moment, former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is on tape uttering such high-minded retorts as “do your homework first” and “maybe before you make allegations about Guantanamo, you should read.” Skip to…

  • The Al Qaeda two-step shuffle

    Al Qaeda and the “war on terror” seem to be the ultimate linguistic props.  Now you see them, now you don’t. First, the disappearance — the Washington Post reports in late March on the new name for the “war on terror”: In a memo e-mailed this week to Pentagon staff members, the Defense Department’s office…

  • Obama’s holiday message to Iranians

    U.S. President Barack Obama released the video greetings below to the Iranian government and people. The Nowruz holiday greetings are a rare opportunity to hear an American leader praising the culture and accomplishments of Iranian society.  More than 50 years after the U.S. overthrew Iran’s democratically elected prime minister, this is a  hopeful sign that…

  • McCain’s Simple Narrative

    Last Wednesday, U.S. Senator John McCain gave a tough talk at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington D.C. think tank. His topic was Afghanistan.   His message was that the U.S. is losing the war. The situation in Afghanistan is nowhere near as dire as it was in Iraq just two years ago …  But the…

  • Full text: Obama’s interview with Al-Arabiya

    Hisham Melhem’s interview with President Obama on Al Arabiya TV: Tuesday, 27 January 2009 President gives first interview since taking office to Arab TV AlArabiya.net Q: Mr. President, thank you for this opportunity, we really appreciate it. THE PRESIDENT: Thank you so much…. TRANSCRIPT  

  • Video: Obama’s interview with Al-Arabiya

    Hisham Melhem’s interview with President Obama on Al Arabiya TV: Tuesday, 27 January 2009 President gives first interview since taking office to Arab TV AlArabiya.net Video part 1:  Video part 2: