Project White Horse Forum

2008…an election year and “change” is the sound bite most often heard.  By law we’ll get it in one form or another – by man, woman, party, or promised action.  But will we gain resiliency, or must we accept responsibility for our own survivability?  George Friedman’s article in STRATFOR is worth some reflection in “how you think about the future…” and therefore offered as the second background piece for exploration of the idea of a resilient community.

By George Friedman
Presidents are not to be judged by how they make history. They are to be judged by how gracefully they submit to the rules that history lays down. The consensus or disinterest of candidates is not important. What is important is this: The dominant foreign policy issue facing the candidates is going to hit them out of the blue one day. Their options will be few, and how quickly they recognize what must be done as opposed to what they would like to do is about all they will be judged by.
… It’s not that presidents don’t matter. It’s that they don’t matter nearly as much as we would like to think and they would have us believe. Mostly, they are trapped in realities not of their own making.
Read Friedman’s article at STRATFOR
http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/foreign_policy_and_presidents_irrelevance#top