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	<title>Free Content &#8211; Kapok Tree Diplomacy</title>
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	<description>Exploring the conduct of international relations and the ideals of democracy &#38; individual liberty in the context of the Christian worldview.</description>
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		<title>Competing Visions for U.S. Grand Strategy</title>
		<link>https://kapoktreediplomacy.com/hp_wordpress/competing-visions-for-u-s-grand-strategy/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[truepath]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Mar 2015 14:06:16 +0000</pubDate>
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		<category><![CDATA[Dominion]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[grand strategy]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kapoktreediplomacy.com/hp_wordpress/?p=715</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[What are the competing visions for a U.S. grand strategy, their objectives, premises and preferred instruments? Robert J. Art lays out eight possible grand strategies for consideration: Dominion, Global Collective Security;]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">715</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Theodore Roosevelt “Citizenship in a Republic&#8221; Speech</title>
		<link>https://kapoktreediplomacy.com/hp_wordpress/theodore-roosevelt-citizenship-in-a-republic-speech/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[truepath]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 09 May 2013 12:51:23 +0000</pubDate>
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		<category><![CDATA[arena]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[defeat]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kapoktreediplomacy.com/hp_wordpress/?p=637</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better.  The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, ]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">637</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>We are the Stars of a Brave, New Digital World</title>
		<link>https://kapoktreediplomacy.com/hp_wordpress/stars-of-a-brave-new-digital-world/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[truepath]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 04 Mar 2013 17:11:43 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Christian Perspective]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kapoktreediplomacy.com/hp_wordpress/?p=558</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Like the morning fog that settles across San Francisco Bay, the technological haze that permeates our society is clearly palpable during my morning commute to the Pentagon. About 50 human ‘techno drones’ stare into their smart phones and various personal technology devices for nearly the entire 75 minute bus commute, relationally disconnected and seemingly oblivious to their fellow travelers or anything else for that matter. And who can blame them? They have a job to do. And so do I. We are stars of our own personal Truman Show, watching a version of real life unfold before our very eyes while thousands of online marketers, friends, employers, government agencies and total strangers curiously watch our every move.]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">558</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Welcome to the Kapok Tree Open House</title>
		<link>https://kapoktreediplomacy.com/hp_wordpress/welcome-to-the-kapok-tree-open-house/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[truepath]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 02 Mar 2013 14:10:17 +0000</pubDate>
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		<category><![CDATA[Kapok Tree Introduction]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kapoktreediplomacy.com/hp_wordpress/?p=539</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Thanks for stopping by the Kapok Tree Open House!]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">539</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Ecuador and China: BFFs and Champions of the 21st Century Socialist Agenda</title>
		<link>https://kapoktreediplomacy.com/hp_wordpress/ecuador-and-china-bffs-and-champions-of-the-21st-century-socialist-agenda/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[truepath]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 26 Feb 2013 02:43:23 +0000</pubDate>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kapoktreediplomacy.com/hp_wordpress/?p=498</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Ecuador is a beautiful country with a rich and diverse culture, geography and history. My wife is from Ecuador, and I can’t say enough about the friendliness and generosity of her family and many others that I’ve met from Ecuador.  My hope is to someday visit the country, God willing, and take in all the sights, sounds, smells and experiences that up until now, I have only experienced through the anecdotal, photographic and video evidence. 

However, I feel that my timetable and window for visiting the country is rapidly closing. If things continue in their current economic and political direction under President Correa, there may not be any socio-political stability left, not to mention the inevitable deterioration of the economy that always accompanies centrally-managed socialist states. See Cuba and Russia for good examples.  Moreover, I may have to learn Chinese in addition to Spanish to get around the country. So what exactly is going on in Ecuador? Didn’t Rafael Correa make everything better?

President Correa’s Vision

Leftist President Rafael Correa of Ecuador easily won a second term as president of Ecuador on February 16th with 56% of the vote compared to the 23% of his closest competitor, Guillermo Lasso, a banker from Guayaquil.[1]  Now President Correa will be able to continue his radical socialist agenda for another four years in Ecuador, especially if his party strengthens their hold on the Assembly. Not everyone in Ecuador is happy about that.

“There is a lot of apprehension that if he wins the Assembly, there will be a greater concentration of power,” said José Hernández, an editor of Hoy, a Quito daily newspaper. “He will try to flatten everyone who is in his way. He will try to dominate more because that’s his personality, and that’s what he wants to do.”[2] So just who is Rafael Correa?]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">498</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Crafting a National Security Grand Strategy and Navigating Its Effective Integration as a Policy Across the Whole of Government</title>
		<link>https://kapoktreediplomacy.com/hp_wordpress/crafting-a-national-security-grand-strategy-and-navigating-its-effective-integration-as-a-policy-across-the-whole-of-government/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[truepath]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 22 Feb 2013 20:07:12 +0000</pubDate>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kapoktreediplomacy.com/hp_wordpress/?p=425</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[I think a good starting place to assess executive department policy integration begins with the strategy formulation phase for what types of policies the executive is going to endorse and promote. For the purposes of this post, by executive I mean ‘the President of the United States.’ Ultimately the strategic planning system identifies the ends, ways and means of a sound and compelling strategy that “integrates the processes and documents” of the people working under him and the “people and organizations with which he directly coordinates” (Meinhart 2006, 304, 311). As a scholar, I would want to know how the executive came up with the policy, what the goals were, and what the strategy was to advance the policy.

            Yarger adds that the overarching strategy must be proactive and anticipatory, resource-balanced, driven by political purposes, hierarchical, comprehensive and derived from “thorough analysis and knowledge of the strategic situation and environment” (2006, 107-111). ]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">425</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>How well do the thoughts and intentions of the Framers of the Constitution on responsibility for national security still hold up today?</title>
		<link>https://kapoktreediplomacy.com/hp_wordpress/how-well-do-the-thoughts-and-intentions-of-the-framers-of-the-constitution-on-responsibility-for-national-security-still-hold-up-today/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[truepath]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 22 Feb 2013 18:23:58 +0000</pubDate>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kapoktreediplomacy.com/hp_wordpress/?p=421</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[The Framers for their part did have a lot to say about the delineation of powers in these areas. The Constitution is a good place to start in determining how those powers are enumerated and what limits if any apply to them. 

The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution says: 

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” (Passed 12/15/1791).

The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution says:

“nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” (Passed 7/9/1868) 

These amendments lay out the case for citizens’ right to privacy and limits on government instrusion in this matter without spelling out what constitutes “unreasonable.”]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">421</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Were the rulings of the International Military Tribunal (IMT) more dependent upon customary or statutory international law?</title>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[truepath]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 19 Feb 2013 19:53:18 +0000</pubDate>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kapoktreediplomacy.com/hp_wordpress/?p=386</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Customary international law (IL) derives from a “combination of ‘state practice’ and opinio juris, the belief that a certain type of conduct under IL is an obligation (Byers 4).  According to Byers, new rules require “widespread support” before they become part of customary IL (4). Cerone adds that the Martens Clause of the Hague Conventions binds “belligerents to remain under the protection and the rule of the principles of the law of nations” until such time as custom becomes statutory in some form or fashion (qtd. in Mertus &#038; Helsing 219-220). Thus, custom serves as a “gap-filling” measure that universally binds all states and may apply to scenarios where IL has not yet been formalized into statutes (Mertus &#038; Helsing 220). ]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">386</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Strengths and Weaknesses of Truth Commissions vs. Amnesty Laws as States Recover from the Atrocities of War</title>
		<link>https://kapoktreediplomacy.com/hp_wordpress/strengths-and-weaknesses-of-truth-commissions-vs-amnesty-laws-as-states-recover-from-the-atrocities-of-war/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[truepath]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 18 Feb 2013 13:02:46 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Free Content]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[International Relations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prevent/Contain Intl. Conflicts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[amnesty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bosnia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[forgiveness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hayner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hybrid commissions]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[negotiated peace settlements]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[peace]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[prosecution]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[reconciliation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[retributive justice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[revenge killings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[South Africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stability]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[truth commissions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[war]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kapoktreediplomacy.com/hp_wordpress/?p=348</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Truth Commissions (TCs) – TCs may be appointed or sponsored by national, international, NGO, or hybrid commissions (Bercovitch &#038; Jackson 156). The strengths of truth commissions may include their low cost, flexibility, “wide range of purposes” that they serve, ability to “reconstitute the moral order and provide a measure of justice when trials are not an option,” usefulness in dealing with “disappearances and killings by anonymous death squads,” potential to end a culture of impunity, role in providing a new transitional government “room to maneuver,” and the “emotional therapy” they provide a “traumatized society” (Bercovitch &#038; Jackson 159). But are TCs ‘compromise justice’ that actually weaken the ability to make peace?

Hayner’s analysis of 15 recent TCs is useful for delineating their strengths and weaknesses. Hayner notes that in Uganda (1974) the TC had “little impact on the practices of the Amin regime” (612); in Bolivia many abuses “were overlooked” (614); the Uruguay TC was “not a serious undertaking of human rights” (616); the Zimbabwe report “has never been available to the public” (617); the Chilean report resulted in a formal apology by the President and many recommendations being implemented (622). Furthermore, the Chad TC may have been established “to improve the new president’s image” and suffered from lack of funds (624-625); the El Salvador TC resulted in general amnesty only five days after publication of its report (629); and the South African ANC II report denied any “systematic policy of abuse” (633).]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">348</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Can Samuel P. Huntington’s ‘Clash of Civilizations’ model explain trends in foreign affairs after the 9-11 attack?</title>
		<link>https://kapoktreediplomacy.com/hp_wordpress/can-samuel-p-huntingtons-clash-of-civilizations-model-explain-trends-in-foreign-affairs-after-the-9-11-attack/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[truepath]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 17 Feb 2013 23:45:13 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Free Content]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[International Relations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Post Conflict Reconstruction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Afghanistan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[al-Qaeda]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christian]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Clash of Civilizations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[economic reforms]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[globalization]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[good governance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[human rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[international relations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[interstate conflict]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[invasion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iraq]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Israel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kurds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Muslim]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[peace building]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[peace operations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[political process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[poverty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[preemption]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kapoktreediplomacy.com/hp_wordpress/?p=341</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[The conduct of international relations post 9-11 has certainly been dramatically shaped by the US. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, in the former as a pre-emptive attack to remove WMD and the Ba’athist regime of Saddam Hussein, and in the latter to hunt down al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists and eliminate the training bases that harbored these non-state actors. In both cases, massive reconstruction projects have been undertaken to prevent Iraq and Afghanistan from becoming failed states and help them adopt political and economic reforms of a Western orientation.

But these U.S. interventions are not the only factor explaining the conduct of IR after 9-11. Paul Diehl notes that the demand for peace operations and subsequent escalation in third party interventions rose dramatically following the Cold War due to “superpower retrenchment in providing aid to other states,” an explosion of failed states and civil wars that spawned out of the power vacuum, an increased advocacy for democracy and free markets, greater international concern for human rights, and globalization (52-55).]]></description>
		
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