The luckiest moments for blog readers come when important thinkers and great writers who have not previously blogged decide to join the rough-and-tumble of the blogosphere. The names Walter Russell Mead and Joshua Muravchik come to mind.
It has just happened again. Elliott Abrams, COMMENTARY contributor and former deputy national security adviser in the George W. Bush administration, has gone live with his Pressure Points blog over on the Council on Foreign Relations’s website. In his introductory post, he describes the blog’s purpose and point of view:
[The] purpose here is to discuss American human rights policy and events in the Middle East from a particular perspective: that we must use our own greatest strengths, defend our values and interests, and probe the weaknesses of our opponents in protecting our national security.
That perspective is built around the conviction that the promotion of democracy, including in the Middle East, is in the interest of the United States despite the many difficulties involved in such a policy; that the association of the United States with the cause of human rights strengthens our foreign policy and should be viewed as a fundamental goal rather than an inconvenience or problem; that Iran, rather than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is now the most consequential problem in the Middle East; and that despite the widespread and sometimes violent criticism of Israel in the region and beyond it, the close association between the United States and the State of Israel remains very much in our own national interest.
It’s hard to conceive of a more important new blog for our times. In an intellectual realm packed with self-appointed experts, the appearance of the real thing is sure to upset all the right people. Start reading now.
