Benjamin Franklin and the Traditions of American Diplomacy

Every generation forgets Benjamin Franklin's diplomatic contributions to its peril, the author writes. He outlines this American in Paris’ major diplomatic achievements and offers important lessons for today.     

Hussein bin Talal: Soldier-King

King Hussein had come to embody his country and bequeathed a much more robust state than the one he inherited, the author argues.     

New Policies and Old Realities in the Middle East

Shortly after Barack Obama's victory in November 2008, the author addressed the “old realities” of U.S. interests and challenges in the Middle East, as well as the “new policies” the president-elect may choose to establish in this “perpetually troubled region.”This article is a slightly revised version of a lecture given on December 11, 2008, as part of FPRI's Robert A. Fox Lectures on the Middle East. It appeared as an FPRI E-Note in January 2009.     

Blind field test evaluation of Raman spectroscopy as a forensic tool

Analytical instrumentation for Raman spectroscopy has advanced rapidly in recent years to the point where commercial field-portable instruments are available. Raman analysis with portable instrumentation is a new capability that can provide emergency response teams with on-site evaluation of hazardous materials. Before Raman analysis is accepted and implemented in the field, realistic studies applied to unknown samples need to be performed to define the reliability of this technique. Studies described herein provide a rigorous blind field test that utilizes two instruments and two operators to analyze a matrix that consists of 58 unknown samples. Samples were searched against a custom hazardous materials reference library (Hazardous Material Response Unit (HMRU) Spectral Library Database). Experimental design included a number of intentionally difficult situations including binary solvent mixtures and a variety of compounds that yield medium-quality spectra that were not contained in the HMRU library. Results showed that over 97% of the samples were correctly identified with no occurrences of false positive identifications (compounds that were not in the library were never identified as library constituents). Statistical analysis indicated equivalent performance for both the operators and instruments. These results indicate a high level of performance that should extrapolate to actual field situations. Implementation of Raman techniques to emergency field situations should proceed with a corresponding level of confidence.