Opinion: Is it appropriate for the United States to apologize?

One meme in American foreign policy circles since the start of the Obama administration has been to label efforts by the president to reach out to members of the international community in a way that acknowledges what can sometimes only be called discomfiting history as an "Apology Tour." According to this group, it is inappropriate for the United States to apologize and such history should largely be ignored in attempts to craft a relevant foreign policy.

Parents teach their kids that when they do something wrong, especially when it results in harm to another person or their property, lying to cover it up, pretending you know nothing about it, or blaming someone else is generally unacceptable. It is a mark of maturity to learn to accept responsibility for our own actions. 

Today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Health & Human Services Kathleen Sebelius offered the first official apology for the United States government's intentional infection of hundreds of Guatemalans with STDs without their knowledge and consent from 1946-48. It's a horrendous episode in our history of which most Americans have little knowledge. 

As members of a global community, I'd assert that we're seeing an increasing shift away from states interacting purely through their regimes, a paradigm which established each country's rulers as the gateway of information to its people. In today's world, thanks to the spread of technology, information travels at the speed of light. At the same time, transnational organizations and corporations are now important non-state actors on the global stage. 

The Obama administration isn't just speaking to governments, it's speaking to people. It strikes me that this is an essential and important shift in international outlook. 

Given that fact, I'd imagine trying to influence people's hearts and minds is a bit more difficult when you ignore the fact that men and women bearing the same seals of government infected your grandfather with gonorrhea or provided weapons to the group that blew up your family home or backed more than one coup in your nation to remove a democratically elected leader.

Sometimes apologizing is the right thing to do.

____________________________________________________________________________

Middle East/N. Africa: Shiites choose Maliki; Iraqi parliament stalemate may end

After more than six months since inconclusive parliamentary elections, an alliance of Iraq's Shiite parties has chosen incumbent Nuri al-Maliki as their nominee for prime minister.

Maliki is now expected to form a government in the near future.

____________________________________________________________________________

Asia/Pacific: Pakistani military pushing for shake-up of civilian government

There is an oft repeated line about Pakistan: Most countries have a military; Pakistan's military has a country. 

Said to be frustrated with President Asif Ali Zardari's poor handling of the recent flooding of the Indus, the country's military leaders are becoming increasingly likely to pressure Zardari (pictured right) to shake-up his cabinet in the short term and to remove the administration itself in the medium term. At this stage, the generals have hinted at wanting to see the installation of a new civilian regime rather than a military dictatorship, a path they have taken at least four times in the 63 years since independence from India.

Zardari, who is now deeply unpopular with many Pakistanis, was elected two years ago after the assassination of his wife, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Despite supporting civilian and democratically-elected governments in Pakistan, Western countries have tended to maintain a strong relationship with the military as well as a safeguard against further instability within the nuclear-powered state and the Central Asian region as a whole.

____________________________________________________________________________

The Americas: Meet the (likely) next president of Brazil

I highly recommend this fascinating feature on Dilma Rousseff, the woman who will likely be elected the next president of Brazil, succeeding popular outgoing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. 

"Not every president has a police mugshot, but it's not so surprising in Latin America.

"A special report out of Brazil today sheds new light on Dilma Rousseff, a former guerrilla leader who is likely to be elected the booming country's next president. She spent nearly three years in jail in the early 1970s and was tortured by her military captors. She's come a long way since then. 

"The product of more than a dozen interviews with Rousseff and her top advisers, the story gives a glimpse of how Rousseff could govern at the helm of a country that, with India, Russia and China, is among the worlds few economic bright spots."

Despite an ethics scandal involving a member of her party, Rousseff maintains a commanding lead ahead of the October 3 election.

____________________________________________________________________________

Global: Russian wheat shortage fuels fear of potential food crisis

The effects of wildfires and drought that devastated wheat fields throughout much of rural Russia earlier this year threaten to spiral into a global food crisis as the UN Food & Agriculture Organisation today announced an emergency meeting in Rome on Friday.

Russia, a major world producer, reacted by temporarily banning all wheat exports in an attempt to instill market stability and ensure adequate food stuffs for the nation's 142 million people.

Despite high wheat yield in the U.S. this year, there is no sign that prices will fall anytime soon, an effect which could further exacerbate food shortages in much of the developing world.

____________________________________________________________________________

UNGA: Ahmadinejad addresses the UN General Assembly, blames capitalism for global economic disparities

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed the United Nations General Assembly this morning and took the opportunity to lay the failures of the global economic system at the feet of capitalism and "big business." 

The Assembly is being attended by more than 140 heads-of-state and has been convened to focus on the global community's progress toward the Millennium Development Goals, which aim to halve global poverty by 2015 as well as meeting several quality of life reflective international development goals.

More from the Associated Press:

"[Ahmadinejad] took aim at capitalism and called for the overhaul of 'undemocratic and unjust' global decision-making bodies, which are dominated by the United States and other Western powers. While Ahmadinejad didn't single out any country, he said world leaders, thinkers and global reformers should 'spare no effort' to make practical plans for a new world order - reform of international economic and political institutions.

'It is my firm belief that in the new millennium, we need to revert to the divine mindset...based on the justice-seeking nature of mankind, and on the monotheistic world view...,' the Iranian leader said in a brief speech intertwining philosophy and religion with the current state of the world. 'Now that the discriminatory order of capitalism and the hegemonic approaches are facing defeat.'"

The Assembly today also featured addresses from Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the foreign ministers of Russia and Pakistan, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who espoused a neoliberal argument for more open markets in the developing world. 

Merkel's speech was strongly challenged by Oxfam, a leading aid organization, which slammed the Germans for not living up to expectations and "sidestepping their responsibility to make aid work by laying this at the door of the poorest countries."

____________________________________________________________________________

Asia/Pacific: Major elections in Afghanistan tomorrow

Afghanistan is to hold lower parliamentary elections Saturday, only the second Afghan-led poll in the nation's history. Given the state of conflict in many areas, success will be perceived as the conduct of reasonably peaceful and fair voting for the general populace.

The last few days have seen significant insurgent-launched attacks, including the kidnapping of 20 individuals, including 2 parliamentary candidates. Additionally, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck the Hindu Kush in Afghanistan's northeast region earlier today.

Despite the obstacles and threats, 76 percent of Afghans recently polled by a U.S. firm said they intend to go to the polls this weekend.

____________________________________________________________________________

Asia/Pacific: China to intro stronger regulations to reduce pollution, import more from U.S.

Aileen Wang and Ben Lim have the details:

"China will introduce stricter rules to reduce industrial pollution, a senior economic planning official said on Tuesday.

"Zhang Xiaoqiang, a vice-chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, also told a meeting of the World Economic Forum in this northern port city that China was willing to import more from the United States."

The most important financial reform news of the year

Almost certainly, the most important and most underreported story of the day is the clenching of a deal at Basel III, the international conference of regulators tasked with establishing financial oversight standards for much of the world. 

The quick and dirty is this: Basel has adopted surprisingly strong capital requirements (the amount of money financial institutions need to keep on hand). That's a major victory for U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner who faced opposition from many European countries. Given that the financial regulation bill passed by Congress earlier this year contained no hard capital requirements, this iteration of Basel is arguably a bigger achievement for supporters of stricter standards. 

Felix Salmon from Reuters explains the emerging deal: 

"Possibly the most important thing here is the existence of the first column, setting minimum standards for common equity -- which is also known as core Tier 1 capital. Such standards did exist in the past, but they were set extremely low, at just 2%, and so were generally ignored. As of now, common equity is the main thing that matters. No more throwing any old garbage into the Tier 1 bucket and calling it capital: the new standards for common equity are significantly tougher than the old standards for Tier 1 capital in total. The absolute bare minimum for core Tier 1 capital is 4.5%, and the new minimum for Tier 1 capital in general has now been raised to 6%. The minimum for Tier 2 remains at 8%. But that’s just the beginning."

If you understood that and want more, see Salmon's complete rundown here.

Federal judge rules DADT unconstitutional

U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips has ruled the military's ban on openly gay service violates the first amendment rights of gays and lesbians and is therefore unconstitutional.


Phillips also issued an injunction stopping the military from enforcing the policy. Phillips may lack authority to impose a nation-wide injunction, however, and attorneys for the federal government are arguing the policy is better addressed by an act of Congress.

____________________________________________________________________________

Economy: Obama proposes $50 bn in infrastructure spending, $100 bn R&D tax credit extension for businesses

Obama wants $50 billion for infrastructure investment, reports Peter Slevin: "White House officials said the $50 billion in new government spending would be the first installment of a six-year transportation strategy that would include investments in high-speed rail and air traffic control. To pay for it, the administration would raise taxes on oil and gas companies...If approved by Congress, the infrastructure money would be used to build or repair 150,000 miles of road, 4,000 miles of railroad track and 150 miles of runways, the officials said. The proposal includes creating an 'infrastructure bank' to prioritize projects and attract private funds."

Obama will also propose a $100 billion business tax credit this week -- but no payroll-tax holiday. Anne Kornblut and Lori Montgomery report : "The business proposal - what one aide called a key part of a limited economic package - would increase and permanently extend research and development tax credits for businesses, rewarding companies that develop new technologies domestically and preserve American jobs. It would be paid for by closing other corporate tax loopholes, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the policy has not yet been unveiled."

"The White House has decided to forgo a broad-based payroll-tax holiday at this point, officials have said. That proposal, which had been part of earlier discussions with key congressional officials, would have been an expensive measure, potentially costing hundreds of billions of dollars. It also could have deprived Social Security of needed cash even as Democrats are accusing the GOP of plotting the program's demise on the campaign trail."

And tax write-off for capital investments, reports Jackie Calmes: "It would cost an estimated $200 billion in revenues, though the ultimate net loss would be $30 billion over 10 years, administration officials say, since businesses would eventually deduct the depreciated value of the equipment in any case....A draft paper on the proposal permitting businesses to write off the full costs of capital spending in 2010 and 2011 said it 'would be the largest temporary investment incentive in American history.'"

Sub-Saharan Africa: South African mine workers go on strike

Eight-thousand workers at the Northam Platinum company are on strike in pursuit of a 15 percent pay raise after turning down management's 8 percent offer.

The miners are members of South Africa's National Union of Mine Workers. Their decision to strike follows a series of other high-visibility walk-outs in South Africa this year.

More from the BBC:

"Public sector employees, including nurses, police officers, teachers and immigration staff, have been on strike, demanding an 8.5% rise in pay - they have been offered 7.5%.

Unions representing these 1.3m state workers are expected to announce later whether they will accept government wage offer.

Last month, the Automobile Manufacturers Employers Organisation (Ameo) and the metal workers union, Numsa, accepted a 10% pay rise after an eight-day strike.

Earlier in the summer, workers at the electricity company Eskom took action which lead to a 9% pay offer and a housing allowance."

Americas: Chilean workers begin drilling shaft to free trapped miners

The Associated Press' Bradley Brooks reports:

An enormous drill began preliminary work Monday on carving a half-mile chimney through solid rock to free the 33 men trapped in a Chilean mine, their ordeal now having equaled the longest known survival in an underground disaster. 

The 31-ton drill bored 50 feet into the rock, the first step in the weeklong digging of a "pilot hole" to guide the way for the rescue. Later the drill will be outfitted with larger bits to expand the hole and pull the men through - a process that could take four months. 

The men were trapped Aug. 5 in the San Jose mine in Chile's northern Atacama Desert. Before rescuers dug bore holes to reach them, they survived 17 days without contact with the outside world by rationing a 48-hour supply of food and digging for water in the ground. 

The miners are now being funneled food and chlorine to disinfect the underground water through an "umbilical cord" connecting them to the surface. They've also received vaccinations and rubber boots to help prevent diphtheria and tetanus and a video camera, which they're using to film their injuries so a doctor on the surface can provide advice for spot treatment.

____________________________________________________________________________

Opinion: On mosque near 'Ground Zero', a distinction without a difference

Last week, The Daily Beast's Peter Beinart proposed the idea that "you can't divorce the right to do something from the ability to exercise that right."

He was referring to the debate over whether Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf should go ahead with plans to build a mosque on private property a short distance from the former site of the World Trade Center. 

Among those opposed to such action, a distinction has emerged. Some argue either that Muslims do not have a right to build a place of worship in the United States or that other citizens have a right which supersedes that freedom of religious expression. Another, ostensibly more reasonable, group acknowledges the right certainly exists but argues that the spiritual leader should scrap the plans anyway. Their assertion is that having the right to do something does not necessarily mean one should exercise that right.

Although it is certainly an inexact analogy, this reminds me a bit of women's rights in Iran. The law of the Islamic Republic does allow women to run for and hold elected offices. Somehow, despite hundreds of attempts and an apparent lack of legal obstacles though, no woman has ever been certified by the Guardian Council to run for President. A contradiction seems to exist between what is legally permissible and what is socially allowable.

There are times when the liberties enshrined in our Constitution afford rights to people that make us uncomfortable. Standing up for those rights anyway is a true expression of patriotism. Legally allowing an action while using popular opinion to effectively forbid it is a specious way to honor a fundamental American value.

____________________________________________________________________________

Sub-Saharan African: Kenya adopts a new constitution after two decades of struggle

Prime Minister Raila Odinga accepts the new oath of office.

The new Kenyan constitution was promulgated on Friday in Uhuru park in Nairobi. The east African country has been working to adopt a new governing document since 1990, when opposition groups began protesting across the country in support of a multi-party political system.

In the two decades that followed, Kenyans have ridden a roller coaster of false starts and ethnic tension, a relatively uncommon occurrence in Kenya, which prides itself on being a bulwark of stability in a region prone to conflict.

After the 2007 presidential elections, riddled with allegations of vote-rigging and aggression between communities, a peace deal was signed which led to a determination and resolve to finally institute change. It was for this reason that millions of Kenyans stood in line for hours to vote for the new constitution earlier this month. Sixty of the nation's two-hundred ten constituencies had turnout numbers greater than eighty percent.

The constitution itself seems worthy of high hopes. It could ensure the nation's survival long-term by reforming a political establishment prone to corrupt and abusive governance and the skewed distribution of resources and land.

The challenge now facing Kenyans is to continue to hold their leaders accountable, ensuring a faithful implementation of the document they so deserve.

____________________________________________________________________________

Middle East/N. Africa: Vice-President Biden in Iraq

U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden arrived in Baghdad on an unannounced visit this morning, a day before the formal end of combat operations in Iraq.

President Obama is to address the nation on Tuesday on Iraq and Afghanistan.

There are now fewer than 50,000 troops on the ground in Iraq, down from 160,000 at the end of President George W. Bush's administration. The remaining troops will focus on providing assistance and training to the Iraqi military.

Biden will also meet with Iraqi officials who have been struggling to form a government after elections in March resulted in a hung parliament, including Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Vice President Tariq Hashimi, Vice President Adil Abd Mahdi and Prime Minister Nouri Maliki.

____________________________________________________________________________

Economy: Paul Volcker-headed advisory board releases report on tax code

WaPo's Lori Montgomery has details:

"In an exhaustive 18-month review, the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board found that the complexity of the nation's tax laws has increased dramatically in recent years. Lawmakers have changed the code more than 15,000 times since the last major overhaul in 1986. Meanwhile, instruction booklets for the standard Form 1040 have swelled from 14 pages to 44 pages last year.

The board also found that the profusion of credits, deductions, phaseouts and conflicting eligibility requirements frays the sanity of ordinary taxpayers just as surely as it complicates the calculations of wealthy families and business owners. Tax provisions affecting families and children were among the most frequently cited sources of confusion."

Read the full report here.

____________________________________________________________________________

Americas-Europe/Russia: U.S. and Europe fighting over capital requirements in international banking regulations

Negotiators have made significant progress as the unofficial September deadline for the Basel III Accord nears. The accord consists of international recommendations on banking laws and regulations issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision in Switzerland. The third of the Basel Accords is being written in response to the recent global financial crisis.

The current sticking point is over the amount of "safety capital" financial institutions should be required to maintain as a buffer for risk. Basel officials have recommended the level be set at 5% of assets, i.e., loans and investments, with an additional 2.5% buffer accessible to banks during periods of difficulty. 

A deal seems likely to conclude with the level set at 7 or 8% including the additional buffer. Since most U.S. firms already keep a larger percentage of safety capital on hand than most European banks, the new requirements are likely to be more onerous for the latter.

____________________________________________________________________________

'Global Affairs' coverage to begin, website revamped

The Briefing is pleased to announce some major changes to our mission and design.

The most aesthetically obvious of these changes is our reworked website and new logo. This shift reflects our new commitment to expanding our coverage and analysis to international issues.

If you've been following us for the breaking political news and policy information, don't worry. That content isn't going anywhere. We're just adding a larger world perspective to encourage each of us to be productive and informed global citizens. We hope this new focus will lead to many conversations about the nature of the issues we face in the world today and a constructive dialogue about how we can work together as an international community to address those issues.

As a helpful reference, you'll notice all posts now have a policy area (Immigration, National Intelligence, etc.) or world region (The Middle East & Northern Africa, Europe/Russia, etc.) tags before the headline.

Additionally, you'll see a larger percentage of our news updates on Facebook containing links to a quick write-up with a few additional details and some brief analysis. You can often expect a headline and three to five sentences of detail here on The Briefing site.

As always, we hope these new features are helpful and interesting to you. Please know that we always appreciate comments and questions.

Asia/Pacific: Australia gets first indigenous MP

Ken Wyatt was elected to a seat representing a Western Australian district as a member of the center-right Liberal Party.

Ethnic tension continues to exist in the country, as evidenced by Wyatt's receipt of racist hate mail, but the election of an indigenous person is a welcome and historic step forward for Australia.

Last week's parliamentary elections resulted in both major parties falling three to four votes short of a majority, forcing the Liberals and Labor to reach out to the Independents who now hold the balance of power.