Thinking Citizen Blog — The Impossibility of Foreign Policy Literacy — Long Live Don Quijote!

Thinking Citizen Blog — Monday is Foreign Policy Day

Today’s Topic: The Impossibility of Foreign Policy Literacy — Long Live Don Quijote!

Every day I am more impressed with the impossibility of foreign policy literacy. Too many countries, too many players, too many issues. Too much news to assimilate, too much background to learn and keep fresh. Too many perspectives to consider, too many hidden agendas to unravel. Too many fact checks, too many background checks. Today, I want to take a step back and make an appeal to you, my daily audience, for suggestions on how to proceed in 2022. I like the idea of thematic continuity between posts — for example, I particularly enjoyed researching the posts on Bangladesh last year. Do you all have any suggestions for themes for 2022? Meanwhile, below is my best attempt to use Orion as a tool for prioritizing foreign policy research time. Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.

ORION’S BELT: THE THREE GREATEST THREATS TO WORLD PEACE

1. Central star: Russia, China, Pakistan, other ?

2. Star to the right: Russia, China, Iran, Pakistan, other?

3. Star to the left: Russia, China, Iran, Pakistan, other?

THE TWO UPPER STARS: the next biggest threats

4. Afghanistan? North Korea? other?

5. Venezuela? Cuba? other?

THE TWO LOWER STARS: the next biggest

6. Syria, Yemen, other?

7. Congo, other?

Should I spend the whole foreign policy year on Russia? or split the time between Russia and China? or Russia, China, and Pakistan? Or one month each on these twelve: Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, Syria, Yemen, and the Congo? It’s so tempting to just stick one’s head in the sand — and there are only so many hours in the day. Do you have a discipline for making sense of foreign policy? Have you arrived at any decisions? Do you have any strong convictions as to what should be done now on the foreign policy front? What would you do differently if you were in the White House? Here is a link to the last four years of posts organized by theme:

PDF with headlines — Google Drive

YOUR TURN

Please share the coolest or most important thing you learned in the last week, month, or year related to foreign policy. Or, even better, the coolest or most important thing you learned in our life related to foreign policy.

This is your chance to make someone else’s day. And to consolidate in your memory something important you might otherwise forget. Or to think more deeply than otherwise about something dear to your heart. Continuity is the key to depth of thought. The prospect of imminent publication, like hanging and final exams, concentrates the mind. A useful life long habit.