Just back from Boston visiting the old haunts of Cambridge and Harvard for a reunion seminar. It was the 50th anniversary of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and the key note was given by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. In one of the most powerful public address I have ever seen at Harvard - or indeed anywhere else - Archbishop Tutu explored what a new US administration might do to help its relations abroad. In the end he said standing up and saying sorry, we made a mistake over Iraq could be the most powerful message any new President could send out to both its allies and enemies. Its interesting that as the presidential debate hots up in the US its increasingly difficult to find anyone who admits to having been in favour of the Iraq invasion. Even Hilary Clinton wants to forget she voted for Iraq. Yet what’s equally strange is the continued reference that all will be put right next Autumn in the Presidental election. As if that simple act in itself will restore balance and order. Yet the real issue might be that the level of foreign news and coverage in the US media, particularly TV, has contined to decline and apart from a few honourary exceptions like NPR on radio, the level of quality journalism on foreign news, which was already low, is disappearing. Its most visible on an issue like global warming and climate change which still lags way down public awareness compared to Europe. Al Gore has to be credited for raising it up the public agenda (and political agenda) but its still seen and discussed as something you might choose to believe in or not - like fairies and Santa. ‘Do you believe in global warming?’ I was asked several times as if its a personal ethical viewpoint similar to they way some US citizens view Darwinism versus Creationism. Facts, expert reports and collaborated scientific research do not get the level of public exposure they warrant so the public discuss the environment as if its contested opinion.
