<http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/11/16/soros_china_has_better_funct ioning_government_than_us> Soros: China has better functioning government than U.S. Posted By <http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/blog/68> Joshua Keating Tuesday, November 16, 2010 - 11:35 AM <http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=20> Share If nothing else, Glenn Beck probably has his <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economic-power-shifting-f rom-us-to-china-soros-says/article1800333/> top story set for tonight's show: "There is a really remarkable, rapid shift of power and influence from the United States to China," Mr. Soros said, likening the U.S.'s decline to that of the U.K. after the Second World War. Because global economic power is shifting, Mr. Soros said China needs to change its focus. "China has risen very rapidly by looking out for its own interests," he said. "They have now got to accept responsibility for world order and the interests of other people as well." Mr. Soros even went so far as to say that at times China wields more power than the U.S. because of the political gridlock in Washington. "Today China has not only a more vigorous economy, but actually a better functioning government than the United States," he said, a hard statement for him to make because he spent much of his life donating to anti-communist groups in Eastern Europe. Soros's statement is similar to the frequent "China-for-a-day" <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/opinion/09friedman.html?_r=1> musings of columnist Tom Friedman. On a related subject, Kay King of the Council on Foreign Relations has a new report out on the U.S. congress's impact on national security. King's critiques of congressional procedure, in particular the filibuster, won't be news to anyone who's read <http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/09/100809fa_fact_packer> recent critiques of congressional dysfunction, but she makes a compelling case that because of limited public interest, congress is effectively abandoning its oversight role on national security affairs. Issues like energy, trade, and immigration are typically treated as purely domestic issues by congress, while membership on foreign affairs committees appeal only to members positioning themselves for higher office or those dependent on ethnic or business special interests. King <http://www.cfr.org/content/publications/attachments/Congress_CSR58.pdf> writes: When Congress fails to perform, national security suffers thanks to ill-considered policies, delayed or inadequate resources, and insufficient personnel. Without congressional guidance, allies and adversaries alike devalue U.S. policies because they lack the support of the American peopel that is provided through their representatives in Congress. King provides a number of ideas for reform which will hopefully be a bit more palatable to U.S. sensibilities than taking cues on good governance from Beijing. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [email protected]. -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [email protected] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [email protected] Unsubscribe: [email protected] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtmlYahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
