Jamesian Philosophy Refreshed

On August 14th, the vice president of Egypt resigned that post after just one month in office. With everything else that is going on in Egypt, this didn't get a lot of attention in the U.S. The crowds in the streets get attention, the killing to clear protest camps, even the imminent release of former president Mubarak. These things  get attention.. But ElBaradei? Meh. This is important, though, because this particular Vice President was an internationally respected name, and critical to the post-Morsi government's hopes of receiving broad recognition of its legitimacy. Regular readers will recall that I made the same point at the time ElBaradei became VP (something of a lateral move from that of prime minister.) As I noted then, ElBaradei is the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. In that position he was appropriately skeptical of American claims about weapons of mass destruction in either Iraq or Iran, but he took a...

For three days last week the new prime minister of Egypt was the fellow named in the headline of this entry. ElBaradei was appointed to that post by the interim president, Adly Mansour, who until quite recently was  Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court. But on Tuesday, President Mansour shuffled the playing cards of his very new and tenuous government. It appears ElBaradei is now going to be vice president (and it isn't at all clear what that title is going to mean), and the new prime minister designate is the former finance minister Hazem el-Beblawi. Anyway, the significance of ElBaradei's involvement, whatever exactly its contours, is that he is the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. In that capacity he was skeptical of US (Bush administration) claims about weapons of mass destruction in either Iraq or Iran, but he took a hard line on the subject of North Korea, saying "I see a very serious crisis -- a country that's ...