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The mayor of the Polish city of Gdansk, a well-known critic of his country's rightwing government, died on Monday, one day after he was stabbed by a man who rushed on stage during an open-air charity event. Thousands of people witnessed Sunday's attack on Pawel Adamowicz, 53, who was rushed to hospital where he underwent a five-hour long operation before succumbing to his injuries. He was stabbed in the heart and stomach. The 27-year-old suspect, who was arrested, is a Gdansk resident with convictions for bank robbery and had spent time in prison. Gdansk city press officer Dariusz Wołodźko said...

There’s every reason to assume that US President Barack Obama has never heard of the pre-WWII demagogic question “Why die for Danzig?” The same can be as safely assumed regarding his Secretary of State John Kerry. Oddly enough, however, their policy appears to draw inspiration from the same ideological wellspring that gave the world the above rhetorical tease. The slogan, very famous (or infamous) in its day, made its debut on May 4, 1939 as the title of an op-ed in the Parisian newspaper L’OEuvre. Its author was French socialist Marcel Déat and his message was that another follow-up appeasement...

If Barack Obama becomes president, his defense agenda and team will cut defense spending, rely on international organizations for our security and push for radical social change. His Pentagon appointees will come from liberal think tanks, Ivy League schools and the Clinton administration

At the Democratic presidential nominating convention in Denver last week, Richard Danzig, a top national-security adviser to Barack Obama, seemed to be everywhere. The former Navy secretary reassured visiting diplomats, rapped with security experts and made the case that Obama's foreign policy is more complex than his detractors have made it out to be. He chatted with NEWSWEEK's Adam B. Kushner at a hotel near Invesco Field, where Obama accepted the Democratic nod Thursday night. Excerpts: Kushner: You were on Obama ' s first world tour. Why do you think that, except for the rules of diplomatic protocol, Obama was...

In defiance of traditional party labels, Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, may ask the defence secretary of President George W Bush to stay on if he wins the White House. Obama’s top foreign policy and national security advisers are pressing the case for keeping Robert Gates at the Pentagon after he won widespread praise for his performance. The move would be in keeping with Obama’s desire to appoint a cabinet of all the talents. After appealing for unity with former rival Hillary Clinton and her supporters and big donors last week, Obama, 46, is turning his attention to wooing...

June 21, 2008 Exclusive: Barack Obama and the Blustery Day Satire by Shawn GoodwinChildren's stories.They lift up dampened spirits and create flights of fancy for both the young and the young at heart.Everyone needs an escape from reality once in a while, even the most powerful men and women in the free world. Of course, it is expected that these movers and shakers would take a trip to Fantasy Island when they were in the privacy of their own homes.To think that potential members of a possible Presidential administration would turn to a children's book to make policy decisions is...

By James A. Barnes, National Journal © National Journal Group Inc. Monday, March 31, 2008 If potential presidents can be judged by how they run their campaigns, then how they staff those efforts may provide important clues to the kinds of talent they would recruit for their administrations. Because Democratic front-runner Barack Obama is a relative newcomer to national politics, an examination of his inner circle of political and policy advisers offers new windows into his thinking, leadership style, and sources of expertise. The Democratic front-runner's team has a relatively shallow bench, but its political achievements thus far are quite...

"Winnie-the-Pooh seems to me to be a fundamental text on national security." --former Navy Secretary Richard Danzig, one of Barack Obama's key foreign policy advisers, June 11 The gathering of oh-so-sober pro-Obama foreign policy experts was drowning in solemnity and earnestness. Speaker after speaker had laboriously dilated on the important distinction--unappreciated by the oh-so-stupid-and-bad Bush administration--between soft power and hard power. And this is to say nothing of the synthesis of soft and hard in ... smart power! Richard Danzig, the luncheon speaker, hoped to wake the slumberers from their torpor. So he took A.A. Milne rather than Joseph Nye...

June 20, 2008Know your enemy By Raymond Ibrahim Barack Obama's National Security Advisor Richard Danzig recently made a fool of himself by claiming that Winnie the Pooh is a "fundamental text on national security." His flippancy only emphasizes the fact that doctrinal writings influence the conduct of war. To anticipate the enemy's thinking, you have to know the foundational texts in which his mind has been marinated. Although military studies have traditionally valued and absorbed the texts of classical war doctrine -- Clausewitz's On War, Sun Tsu's The Art of War, even the exploits of Alexander the Great as recorded in Arrian...

A runaway metaphor is not the worst sin in the world. But if former Navy Secretary Richard Danzig really is a potential national security adviser under President Obama, he's doing his potential future boss no favors when he talks like this: Richard Danzig, who served as Navy Secretary under President Clinton and is tipped to become National Security Adviser in an Obama White House, told a major foreign policy conference in Washington that the future of US strategy in the war on terrorism should follow a lesson from the pages of Winnie the Pooh, which can be shortened to: if...

Let me be the first to defend the good name and honor of one Winnie the Pooh. He is indeed smarter than the average bear. According to my two-year old son, this is no empty slogan. So mighty is the wisdom of Pooh, it now even informs the philosophy of Barak Obama military advisor and former Navy Secretary Richard Danzig. The Honorable Mr. Danzig offered us the following observations about my little boy’s favorite story book character and stuffed animal model. Mr Danzig told the Centre for New American Security: “Winnie the Pooh seems to me to be a fundamental...

Winnie the Pooh, Luke Skywalker and British football hooligans could shape the foreign policy of Barack Obama if he becomes US President, according to a key adviser. Richard Danzig, who served as Navy Secretary under President Clinton and is tipped to become National Security Adviser in an Obama White House, told a major foreign policy conference in Washington that the future of US strategy in the war on terrorism should follow a lesson from the pages of Winnie the Pooh, which can be shortened to: if it is causing you too much pain, try something else. Mr Danzig told the...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Barack Obama is considering former top military leaders among his possible running mates, according to a senator who met Tuesday with the Democratic presidential candidate's vice presidential vetting team. North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad told The Associated Press said the team asked him about potential candidates from three broad categories _ current top elected officials, former top elected officials and former top military leaders. Conrad would not disclose which names they discussed, and the Obama campaign has been keeping the process a closely guarded secret. "We talked about many names," Conrad said, including "some that are out...