The title is a play on an old Morrissey song, The Last of the Famous International Playboys. Since John Bolton is not an international playboy, I figured neocon would be appropriate. Since leaving his post as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Bolton has written a memoir, Surrender Is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations and Abroad, and an ongoing string of fire and brimstone pieces for the Wall Street Journal regarding the foreign policy mistakes he feels the U.S. is making.
What makes Bolton's rantings so interesting is the fact that they started when the Bush administration was still in office -- an administration that is arguably one of the most conservative in decades. Bolton thinks the former president became distracted with Iraq and was influenced by "pragmatists;" becoming soft in dealings with North Korea and Iran, and losing site of the Middle East peace process.
Bolton has emerged as the keeper of the neocon flame -- hence, The Last of the Famous International Neocons. With Don Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and Dick Cheney off center stage, Bolton has continued to push neocon unilateralist views -- opposition to treaties and international institutions ranging from the Kyoto climate convention to the International Court of Criminal Justice, along with opposition to negotiations with North Korea and Iran over their nuclear programs.
With the Obama administration making overt invitations to Syria and Iran for direct negotiations, you can bet Bolton will continue to push the neocon unilateral agenda, or just yell at himself now that he doesn't have a staff to push around.
No comments:
Post a Comment