The secret of Matthew Lee’s bubbling energy revealed: Mountain Dew…, more caffeine than Green Tea!!

Hmm, Jim, you edited out the bit about Israel "continuously, with malice and forethought, sabotag[ing] genuine efforts toward middle eastern non-proliferation." I just wanted to remind you, in case you forgot, that around a year ago you, I (in an earlier incarnation as "consciouscat"), and Anarchofascist went through this, starting with this post of yours. I responded here, and it went on from there for another seven or eight posts. My main point was that Israel has repeatedly expressed a desire to see the establishment of a mutually verifiable nuclear weapon free zone in the Middle East. I don't have anything to add to what I said then, other than that it seems to me that nothing has occurred over the last year to warrant a softening in Israel's position.

Dear Bloggingheads,
What is the best book(s) about the UN, if there are any.
tyty in advance

Another fascinating UN Dispatch. Liked the willingness to "stray off the reservation" and the effort to tie those threads back to the UN context. Shoutout to Wonderment for making a good request, and shoutout to Mark for noticing and responding. I look forward to hearing an NPT discussion.

Quoting BeachFrontView: Dear Bloggingheads,

What is the best book(s) about the UN, if there are any.

tyty in advance

The industry standard is Parliament of Man, by Paul Kennedy. Thanks for asking!!

Sorry, I was venting, and after I read what I had posted I realized it was trash and tried to delete it before I was caught out. When it comes to non-proliferation issues I do get frustrated with Israel's position and let my emotions run free. The comment that I deleted was intended to express my disappointment with Israel's and the US's continuing lack of support for establishing a nuclear weapons free zone in the middle east, but instead it became, as you noticed, a rather moronic rant.

This was one of the funnest UN episodes ever. Loved this update on the "news":
http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/148...7:34&out=27:56

Quoting JIM3CH: When it comes to non-proliferation issues I do get frustrated with Israel's position and let my emotions run free. The comment that I deleted was intended to express my disappointment with Israel's and the US's continuing lack of support for establishing a nuclear weapons free zone in the middle east

I can understand your frustration and disappointment, but I don't believe Israel will -- or should -- give up its nuclear deterrent unless and until there are some radical changes in the Middle East, and maybe even beyond. Put bluntly, Israel has the capability now to take down others along with it, if it looks like it's going to sink. Without nukes, that's gone. For those who would argue that Israel has the strongest conventional force in the Middle East so doesn't need nukes, blah, blah, blah, don't forget the tininess of the country (and remember that everything below Beersheba is desert); the tens of thousands of missiles aimed at it now; chemical and biological weapons; the growth of Islamism; Iran and its proxies; the limited effectiveness of conventional weapons against guerrilla armies fighting from within civilian population centers; the fragility of the peace deals with

It took me a while to get to this one, but the discussion of the financial crisis was an interesting change for these two. They each said more about their own personal views on non-UN matters than I've seen in all of the rest of their diavlogs combined, which seems like it might be an unwelcome distraction for a UN-themed program, but in fact it added a lot of texture and background. I feel like I understand where the two of them are coming from quite a bit better now, which is a nice perspective to carry forward for future diavlogs. I often find myself agreeing with Matthew on matters related to the UN, but that section really highlighted what Mark brings to this pairing. Mark provides a stable base for the conversation, without which Matthew sometimes seems like he might spiral off into space. I've said before and I'll say again that these two are among my favorite bloggingheads. The Serbia-Kosovo bit was fascinating... and it appears that Serbia won the vote 77-6-74. Lots of abstentions. I'd love to see some follow up on this in a future diavlog.