End the "War on Terror" and Talk to the Taliban

President Barack Obama pledged in his first TV interview—with the Arab satellite channel Al Arabiya—that America under his watch would "listen with respect and not dictate" to the world. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has further announced that this country will no longer just throw around its military might but will pursue a "smart power" approach by tempering the use of hard weaponry with the "soft power" of persuasion and cultural attraction. Or, as Madame Secretary's husband Bill has put it, America will now lead through the power of example instead of the example of power.
The first exceedingly complex test of Obama's smart power strategy will be how to end George W. Bush's misguided "war on terror" in Afghanistan and Pakistan, keeping al-Qaida at bay without being swallowed by the quagmire of tribal politics. An array of experts from New Delhi to Paris offers their views in this section.     

The Executive Divided Against Itself: Cohabitation in France, 1986–1988

From March 1986 to May 1988 France was headed by a leftist President and a rightist Prime Minister. The background to this unusual situation is presented, and the experience itself — referred to as cohabitation — is discussed in detail.
The complex game that the two executive leaders played during the period was regulated by the constitutional rules, conditioned by the electoral calendar and the narrowness of the prime minister's coalition majority, and moderated by public approval and the existence of a bipartisan foreign and defense policy.
The 1986–1988 experience did not overtax the constitutional system, but cohabitation under different conditions could be destabilizing. Cohabitation is like the possibility of the US president being selected by the House of Representatives: not highly probable but possible, not necessarily dangerous but possibly so, and something that arouses little enthusiasm.     

Elements of the Defense Attorney's Craft: An Adaptive Expectations Model of the Preliminary Hearing Decision

The way criminal defense attorneys handle cases prior to final disposition is a subject that has gone largely unexplored by researchers. This study focuses on the decisions of attorneys to waive preliminary examinations in nine felony courts. Employing both interviews and case-level data, analysis of this decision emphasizes the adaptive behavior of attorneys to local court policies, client concerns, tactical issues, and time pressures. Underlying the specific rules of choice guiding this decision are more fundamental concerns of attorneys regarding efficiency, professionalism, and the minimization of later regrets associated with waiving preliminary hearings.     

THE PARLIAMENTARY OMBUDSMAN AFTER TWENTY-FIVE YEARS

Twenty-five years after it was established in 1967 the Parliamentary Commissioner scheme is now criticized not so much on the grounds that it lacks teeth; the problem rather is that the system could be used with advantage a good deal more extensively than it is. The parliamentary Ombudsman has been under-used largely because it has generated only bounded enthusiasm among MPS, the 'gatekeepers' and potential 'magnets' for the office. Survey evidence suggests that MPS' attitudes are related mainly to their dissatisfaction with the limitations on the ombudsman's 'spatial' jurisdiction and the length of time taken by the office to investigate complaints. MPs' disapproval of these aspects of the scheme, however, may be symptomatic of a divergence between members' desire for 'quick-fix' solutions to constituents' problems and the emphasis placed on the 'audit role' of the office by successive commisioners. Greater awareness of the functions of the office by both the general public and among MPS; an extension of the Commissioner's jurisdictional remit; a faster average 'throughput' time for investigations; and possibly the introduction of a two track procedure for inquiries are all arguably required if the full potential of the Parliamentary Commissioner scheme is to be realized.