There are so many things I want the new Obama/Clinton foreign policy team to do. But each individual item scares me a little… I think I am still very gun shy from the neo-con years. I worry that any one progressive move in international affairs will allow the right to cripple the new presidency for months. (Clinton’s early stumble on gays in the military is illustrative of this fear.)

If we simply roll out each policy initiative on its own, they will get picked apart by the right-wing echo chamber.

So… I think the answer is to roll out massive change in a single day. We need a major plan for re-engaging America with the world. And the new agenda should have so many facets that it leaves the neo-cons quaking in their boots wondering where the hell to aim first. (Newt Gingrich’s plan for the first one hundred days of his speakership gets sort of at what I mean here.)

So here are the policy changes I would include in the Rose Garden announcement on “America Rejoins The World Day.”

• Close the Guantanamo prison camp
• Lift the embargo on Cuba
• Work toward full diplomatic relations with Cuba
• Work toward full diplomatic relations with Iran
• Re-sign the International Criminal Court treaty and submit it for ratification
• Submit the Law of the Sea Treaty for ratification
• Submit the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty for ratification
• Announce a “no first use” policy on nuclear weapons
• Invite the Russians to join a new round of strategic arms reduction negotiations
• Pay in full all outstanding United Nations dues and peacekeeping assessments
• Dramatically increase funding for the U.S. foreign policy apparatus including State Department, USAID, and Peace Corps.

What else should be on the re-engagement list?

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