My ‘Next Gen’ can beat up yours

Last year CNAS, the little think tank that could, had the nice idea of bringing together smart young national security types from across the spectrum — civilian and military, Democratic and Republican, executive and legislative, human rights pros and intelligence officials. The idea was that many of these people would be working with (and against) each other for decades, so why not get them together to begin building relationships and finding common ground? The other day CNAS announced the current crop, a nice mix of people from the State Department, CIA, White House, defense industry and Capitol Hill.

Now comes another outfit, the Foreign Policy Initiative, promoting its own “Next Generation.” First, I say, get your own damn idea. Second, their next generation, as a colleague points out, is basically a bunch of kids from AEI and the Heritage Foundation and some fellow travellers, such as an aide to Donald Rumsfeld. Where’s the fun in that? I mean, doesn’t the conservative cadre all know each other already? So despite stealing the name, the FPI program looks to be essentially the opposite of the spirit of the original CNAS one.

Speaking of CNAS, my officemate, Robert Kaplan, has a new book out, Monsoon, that is getting this sort of review:

It is worth noting that Mr. Kaplan has become one of the leading lights in national security circles, which helps explain why this work is addressed to the nation’s power brokers. Both his “Balkan Ghosts” and “The Coming Anarchy” were read widely in the White House, even if the results were not what the author intended. Together with “Warrior Politics,” this represents Mr. Kaplan’s most policy-orientated work.

Nevertheless, one would be hard-pressed to find a reader who won’t enjoy it.