Obama Administration: Israel Should Do More to Mend Fences With its Neighbors

The Obama administration is offering some advice to its most important ally in the region: Israel should do more to mend fences with its neighbors. That message was sent recently by Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. But as The World’s Matthew Bell reports from Jerusalem, Israelis aren’t buying it.

‘True giant of American foreign policy’

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Veteran US diplomat Richard Holbrooke has died following surgery to treat a torn aorta. Ambassador Holbrooke was best-known for helping to broker the Dayton Peace agreement hich ended the Bosnian war. At the time of death he was President Barack Obama’s special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Mr Obama called the 69-year-old a “true giant of American foreign policy”. Jeb Sharp reports on what Holbrooke was able to achieve in the first two years of the Obama Administration. Download MP3

• Ambassador Holbrooke’s life in pictures
• Jeb Sharp’s How Wars End – part V: Bosnia
• Marco Werman interview with Holbrooke (March 2010)

Global Political Cartoons: November 27 – December 3, 2010

The Wikileaks effect on American diplomacy: from “How wonderful to see you again, Mr. leader-of-country-x!” to “You lying, stealing windbag. Who have you cheated since we last spoke?” Oh where oh where are you, Julian Assange? And, penguins and polar bears take their case once again to latest summit on climate change.

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Liberian proverbs, Ajami, and courteous interruptions

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In this week’s World in Words podcast, reporter Jason Margolis judges a competition to determine Liberia’s most inventive proverb. Also, is it a language? No! Is it a dialect? No! It’s Ajami: Arabic script used as a writing system for many African languages. And, language lessons at the United Nations. Download MP3

Valedictory dispatches

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Here’s a satisfying day-dream: you have quit your job, but you’re encouraged to write down your opinion about the whole thing – and then publish it to your colleagues. Well, that was long standard practice for British diplomats. Britain’s former ambassador in Washington, Sir Christopher Meyer (pictured) told The BBC that for him, the quality of dispatches varied as much as the quality of those that wrote them. Alex Gallafent reports. Download MP3

Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize

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Today, Barack Obama became the third sitting U.S. President to win the Nobel Peace Prize. The Norwegian Nobel Committee praised Obama for “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” The announcement drew both warm praise and sharp criticism. We’ll gauge international reaction to the announcement and the World’s Jeb Sharp puts it into historical perspective. What do you think of Obama’s win? Leave a comment below. Download MP3 Photo: White House

• Obama’s Nobel win: Full citation
• World leaders react to Obama’s win
• Global editorial cartoonists react to Obama’s prize
• Jeb Sharp’s weekly history podcast

An interview with Madeleine Albright

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To get what you want in foreign policy, according to former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, you’ve got military force at one end of the spectrum. And at the other end are words of reason. Somewhere in the middle is diplomacy, economic sanctions, foreign aid, and…pins. Brooches. Madeleine Albright’s extensive collection of brooches. Some are delicate, some are gaudy. Secretary Albright stopped by our studios to chat with Marco Werman.Download MP3

• Video: Madeleine Albright tells the story of “Tito’s Ring”
• More about the book
• New Yorker Magazine Slideshow