As if President Obama did not have enough troubles on his plate… US ally Israel is causing continued heartburn for the President. We are told there will be no peace in the world until there is peace in the Middle East… and the prospect for long term peace seems to be in pieces at the moment. What would you tell the President to do?

We have found a way to procrastinate with a purpose… look no further than incredibly amazing TEDtalks.

These short 5 minute videos are the product of the elite TED conference where the world’s best innovators gather each year. Now these cool talks are available online for all to see!

The topics vary but here are just a few of USDemocrazy’s favorites:

Barbie, music videos, and  comic books aren’t just for the western world. Watch this video (above) to see how the Arab world shapes its own pop culture.

America Idol boasts of similar shows springing up across the globe, but how does this idea translate to non-democratic nations?

Ever wonder how oil gets from the ground to your car? What does that even look like?!? Watch to see how industrialized landscape is shaped by this prominent resource.

The Obama Administration has used its Presidential sharpie to drawa big oval around the ‘October 1′ on the White House calendar.

That’s the day U.S. plans to sit down (with 4 other nations) and  talk with longtime arch enemy Iran.

“Death to America” Iran? “Axis of Evil” Iran”?

That’s the one.

“Axis of Evil”Iran and the “Great Satan”US have been ticked off with each other for a couple of decades. Now there are claims Iran is building nuclear weapons. Some even fear a war is a possibility between the two nations.

So you can imagine this little chat could be, well, a little important.

We here at USDemocrazy have been checking out what folks smarter than us have to say about this event… here’s what we’ve learned:

First, the Wall Street Journal Online helps us get the gist of what the conference will be about:

The event, whose location hasn’t been decided, won’t be a “formal negotiation,” a spokeswoman for Mr. Solana said. There will be no set agenda or specific goals. Instead, she said, it will serve as an opportunity to question Iran on a proposal it released last week calling for a discussion with the international community on a range of security and development issues.

Iran may want to chat about a “on a range of security and development issues” but  the US will likely want to talk nukes.

Michael Adler at the Daily Beast says that despite tough Iranian rhetoric, there could be a real opportunity here.

Iranian Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Agency of Iran… told reporters in Vienna on Monday: “Once it comes to discussion, everyone is free to pose any question they wish.”

Bret Stephens at the Wall Street Journal Online Opinion is crying “nay!” and saying that we are pushing war upon Israel:

Events are fast pushing Israel toward a pre-emptive military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, probably by next spring. That strike could well fail. Or it could succeed at the price of oil at $300 a barrel, a Middle East war, and American servicemen caught in between.

The NYTimes Editorial is saying that there is a serious opportunity here, and its time to act:

Paul Reynolds at the BBC, on the other hand, says maybe its time for the U.S. to hold up:

General Dr John Chipman said: “Domestically, [President] Obama may have campaigned on the theme ‘yes we can’; internationally he may increasingly have to argue ‘no we can’t'”.

And just to complicate the maddening, Sharon Otterman at the NYTimes says that signs of war crimes are afoot in a volatile area:

A United Nations fact-finding mission investigating the three-week war in Gaza issued a lengthy, scathing report on Tuesday that concluded that both the Israeli military and Palestinian armed groups “committed actions amounting to war crimes,” and possibly crimes against humanity.

Could this further complicate an already hairy negotiation situation? What is going to happen? What should happen? We want to hear from YOU!

Without bias, we at USDemocrazy would love peace in the Middle East.

But with deeply entrenched animousities forged by religious and ethnic divides stretching back centuries we are pretty certain that this lofty goal won’t be a achieved by Labor Day (or any other day soon). 

Thankfully, Barack Obama is not daunted by this challenge. Yesterday, in a hopeful first step toward achieving peace he delivered a monumental speech at one of Egypt’s premier universities in Cairo.

Before the speech, Obama stopped in Saudi Arabian to chat with King Abdullah bin Abdul. We assume he got some pointers from The Saudi monarch on how to make the speech better (If you are planning to address 1.2 million Muslims around the world it is wise to give your speech the Royal treatment)

The speech, about an hour long, talked about such things as “embracing democracy, women’s rights, religious tolerance and the right of Israel to coexist with an independent Palestinian state (Washington Post). 

In his far ranging address he did manage to congratulate the United States for some things (over 1,200 mosques and the right to practice one’s own religion). But, in an implicit criticism of the previous American policies, he made is clear that “no system of government can or should be imposed upon one nation by any other.” (I think he means you, George W Bush)

Among the the copious reactions to Obama’s speech were responses from Osama bin Ladin and his political partner Ayman al-Zawahiri. In a recorded message released after his arrival, bin Ladin “sharply criticizing U.S. policy in Pakistan and accusing Obama of planting seeds for “revenge and hatred” in the Muslim world.”

Strong words from a man that no one has seen in years.

President Obama knew his plea for a new start in the relationship between America and the Muslim world would be a tough sell. The US is currently at war in two Muslim counties Iraq and Afghanistan. 

In addition to cous cous, the President has a lot on his plate. Still, Obama seems optimistic about the new relations to come.  Now it is the test of time that will show us whether or not his efforts are going to pay off by Labor Day… or any other day soon.

On Thursday, President Obama will seek to reach out to the Muslim world in a speech he will give in sunny, sandy Cairo, Egypt. We here at USDemocrazy are on the job (not on vacation), once again bringing to you the most poignant points and demonstrative discourse that we can find! Here we go…

Given the topic, we thought it might be interesting to see what Aljazeera.net the arab news and information site was saying about the visit. Senior Washington Correspondent Bob Reynolds states that 

Obama is likely to declare peaceful intentions again in Cairo, analysts say, despite his escalation of the war in Afghanistan, continued drone strikes against al-Qaeda in Pakistan and growing tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme.

Analysists from every source are saying that this is going to be no walk in the park. Anthony Shadid at the Washington Post points out that

When President Obama delivers his address to the Middle East on Thursday from Cairo, he will face the legacy of names like Haditha, Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib

Margaret Coker and Ashraf Khalil at the Wallstreet Journal says Obama will have to tackle the “skeptics” head-on.

A challenge will be bridging the gaps with a large segment of the Muslim population that respects Mr. Obama’s Muslim roots and American values such as free speech and rule of law, but sees U.S. foreign policy as rewarding undemocratic regimes.

Thomas Friedman at the New York Times sees some real promise in the President’s speech on Thursday. The way Friedman sees it…

When young Arabs and Muslims see an American president who looks like them, has a name like theirs, has Muslims in his family and comes into their world and speaks the truth, it will be empowering and disturbing at the same time.

But Reza Aslan at the Daily Beast sees things very differently. Aslan says that Obama “blew it by picking Cairo” as his setting for his historic speech.

By choosing Cairo as the backdrop to his speech, Obama has in effect rewarded Egypt’s president for life, Hosni Mubarak, for his bloody, blatantly anti-democratic, and dictatorial rule.

So there’s the rundown. We’ve heard from the experts, but now we want to here from you!

Courtesy of The Global Education Project

We at USDemocrazy have decided that we’re OK with not being a great world power. After all, it sounds like a lot of work.

Take the US, who has been dealing with its status as a world superpower for a while now. As the big dog in the neighborhood, the US is policing conflicts big and small around the globe (with mixed success).

There is no bigger, messier, more dogged dogfight than that between the Israelis and Palestinians in the Middle East.

On Monday President Obama joined the fray. The White House hosted Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to discuss the future of the Holy Land.

Though Prime Minister Netanyahu told the President he is ready for peace talks with neighboring Palestine, the Israeli leader also included some “My way or the Highway” conditions to any negotiations.

Indeed, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat expressed how he saw any talks between the two states to be doomed from the start when he stated:

There is a difference between being a tough negotiator and a non-negotiator. What I heard today was a non-negotiator.

So… how does a superpower handle such a super problem?

Solutions to this conflict have eluded every US President thus far. But Obama seems determined to engage and pursue a peace settlement between the two antagonists.

Some people, like the guys and gals over at Time, wonder if there are just some fundamental issues that neither Obama nor Netanyahu will find much common ground on.

Such a complex issue requires some answers from some of the smart people in the biz… and so we’re gonna have to turn you elsewhere. Start here for a quick history on US diplomacy when dealing with Israel, then go here for a cut-and-dry explanation of the Gaza conflict and its recent ceasefires.

While we continue to be glad no one values our opinion high enough to be in on these negotiations, we’re searching for your opinions on the subject! Can the young administrations of all parties find a way out of this mess?

Courtesy of the Huffington Post

Blago misses out on Costa Rican adventure… It’s OK Blago, we know you’re a star.

Does space have space for us? With two new planets, maybe!

Let’s try this again, shall we? The Middle East comes to the White House.