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Stephen Schlesinger
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Stephen Schlesinger is an Adjunct Fellow at the Century Foundation in New York City. He is the former Director of the World Policy Institute at the New School University in New York City (1997-2006). Mr. Schlesinger received his BA from Harvard University and his JD from Harvard Law School. In the early 1970s, he edited and published The New Democrat Magazine. Thereafter he spent four years as a staff writer at Time Magazine. For twelve years, he served as Governor Mario Cuomo’s speechwriter and foreign policy advisor. In the mid 1990s, he worked at the United Nations at Habitat, the agency dealing with global cities. He is coeditor of Journals 1952-2000 by Arthur Schlesinger Jr. published by Penguin in 2007. He is also the author of three books, including Act of Creation: The Founding of The United Nations which won the 2004 Harry S. Truman Book Award; Bitter Fruit: The Story of the U.S. Coup in Guatemala (with Stephen Kinzer), which was listed as a New York Times "Notable" book for 1982 and has sold over 100,000 copies; and The New Reformers. He is a specialist on the foreign policy of the Clinton and Bush Administrations. He is a frequent contributor to magazines and newspapers, including The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Nation Magazine, and The New York Observer. In 1978, he was a finalist for the National Magazine Award. He has appeared on CNN, Fox TV, NPR and other media outlets. His website is: stephenschlesinger.com. He can be reached at StephenSchlesinger@MaximsNews.com.

Blog Entries by Stephen Schlesinger

The Republican Nightmare: A Third and Fourth Party?

9 Comments | Posted January 29, 2012 | 1/29/12

As one assesses the Republican primary race, it seems increasingly evident that Mitt Romney will win the party's presidential nomination. But he will be inheriting a fractured party.

The Tea Party activists have over the past months all but declared that they detest Romney and won't forgive him because of...

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Holbrooke's Saga

3 Comments | Posted January 12, 2012 | 1/12/12

A remarkable book has just been published about one of America's most brilliant diplomats, Richard Holbrooke, entitled The Unquiet American (PublicAffairs Press). Holbrooke, who tragically died last year at age 69 trying to complete his last and perhaps most important mission -- ending the US war in Afghanistan -- was...

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A Memoir at Age 99

Posted December 20, 2011 | 12/20/11

My mother is an extraordinary human being. At age 99, she is still an active and alert woman, full of interest about the upcoming presidential election, an inveterate watcher of TV news and Rachel Maddow and The Ed Show, an avid reader of The New York Times and best-sellers.

But...

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Keaton's Confessions

Posted November 18, 2011 | 11/18/11

My wife and I saw Diane Keaton speak about her new book, Then Again, which is her memoir about her mother, her upbringing and her career and her private times. Many of us now in our sixties carry the indelible image of Keaton from her movies roles reminding us of...

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Occupy Wall Street at the UN?

Posted October 27, 2011 | 10/27/11

In the year 2000, the UN committed itself to the task of halving poverty by the year 2015 through the so-called Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) program. As the UN has moved closer to 2015, however, an economic catastrophe has obviously intervened in the last few years which now threatens...

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Occupy Wall Street: Obama's Jobs Bill

Posted October 16, 2011 | 10/16/11

I live in New York City and went downtown to Zuccotti Park to visit the Occupy Wall Street encampment yesterday. The Park is not a grassy expanse, but instead a long rectangular slab of concrete. On this hard surface people were sleeping or talking or holding signs or chanting anti-banker...

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The Warrior UN

Posted April 11, 2011 | 4/11/11

In the last few weeks, the United Nations has acted as the fire brigade for the world. First, the UN Security Council authorized its member-states to establish a "no-fly" zone over Libya, including bombing, aerial assaults and missile strikes, to protect civilians against attacks by Colonel Gaddafi's...

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Will US Troops Stay in Iraq?

Posted April 8, 2011 | 4/8/11

Several days ago, Secretary of Defense, Bob Gates on a visit to Iraq suggested that some US troops might remain in Iraq beyond the 2011 deadline for withdrawal if the Iraqi government requested it. But yesterday, the UN's official representative in Iraq, former Dutch political leader, Ad Melkert, told a...

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Another Iranian-Style Crackdown in Egypt? Another Tiananmen Square?

Posted February 3, 2011 | 2/3/11

There seems little question that sinister, backstage efforts are being made now by the besieged Mubarak regime to thwart the citizen uprising in Egypt. The sudden appearance of pro-Mubarak gangs, some on horses using whips, others equipped with firearms, clubs, knives and other weaponry, are clear indications that...

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The Cynicism of WikiLeaks

Posted December 4, 2010 | 12/4/10

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is a self-defined "crusader" whose delusions are his singular fate. He set up his WikiLeaks website because he apparently believes all systems of government -- democracies, dictatorships, kingships, whatever -- are fundamentally corrupt and that only his exposures -- whether through the use of stolen videos...

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The Palin Trick: Anger With a Smile

Posted November 25, 2010 | 11/25/10

I have long brooded over the fact that Sarah Palin still grabs headlines over the most egregious comments. She wangs Michelle Obama for pushing for an end of obesity in the United States. She goes after Barbara Bush for being an elitist "blue-blood" for saying that Palin should stay in...

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High Hurdles for India's Seat on the Security Council

Posted November 8, 2010 | 11/8/10

President Obama, in his address to the Indian Parliament, announced that the US would support India's bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. This represents a significant public recognition by the world's only superpower that India -- not only as the globe's largest democracy, but also a...

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Obama's Afghan Deadline Is Working

Posted October 25, 2010 | 10/25/10

One of the largest imponderables of the American commitment in Afghanistan has been President Obama's decision to set a deadline of July 2011 for the beginning of a draw-down in US forces from that South Asian nation. That date, established last year, has engendered much controversy about whether it strengthens...

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The UN Thinks the End Is in Sight in Afghanistan

Posted October 1, 2010 | 10/1/10

There may be a dim, but brightening, beacon, at the end of the Afghan tunnel. At least that's what the UN's emissary to Afghan conflict, Staffan de Mistura, Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Afghanistan, conveyed to a group at a private meeting held by the International Peace Institute, an...

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Capturing the Birth of the UN on Film

Posted July 29, 2010 | 7/29/10

Why has the story of the UN's founding never made it into the cinematic arena? The story of the UN's creation is an extraordinarily dramatic tale that would surely rivet people if they could view how the great leaders of the 1940s -- Roosevelt, Truman, Churchill, Stalin -- and their...

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Maybe Karzai Isn't so Crazy After All

Posted June 12, 2010 | 6/12/10

Saturday's New York Times reports that Afghan President Hamid Karzai now doubts that the US and its NATO allies can defeat the Taliban. As a consequence, these days he is seeking to negotiate some sort of peace settlement with the insurgents. However certain members of his own administration...

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The Party of Anger

Posted March 22, 2010 | 3/22/10

How far can a political party grow and prosper and lead on anger alone? This is the dilemma that faces the Republican Party today. But it is not apparently an issue anymore. That is the way its leadership has determined its fate for the coming years. For it will now...

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The Afghan Withdrawal Date is Smart Policy

Posted March 13, 2010 | 3/13/10

As American forces continue the battle to drive Taliban forces from Afghan territory, a debate persists over whether President Obama was right to set a withdrawal date of July 2011 for US troops leaving the country. What was Obama attempting to do by dispatching an additional 30,000 soldiers to the...

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Light at the End of the Afghan Tunnel?

Posted February 16, 2010 | 2/16/10

President Obama's policy in Afghanistan, subject to so much controversy at home and abroad, seems to have found considerable traction over the last few days. First is the news that the U.S.-British assault on the Taliban stronghold of Marja in the southern Helmand Province has made substantial gains and killed...

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Obama's Resurgent Address

Posted January 27, 2010 | 1/27/10

President Obama gave some spine back to the Democrats in his State of the Union speech. He told his fellow party members "don't head for the hills." He said that health care reform is still vital and that he and his party would not drop their battle for it and...

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