We were thrilled to hear that this April the Obama Administration will be sending a delegation to represent the United States at a preparatory meeting for the United Nations Durban Review Conference in Geneva, Switzerland. The Durban II Conference will review the commitments established by each country in the original U.N. World Conference Against Racism held in Durban, in 2001. In 2001, the United States led a walkout of the Durban Conference because of the anti-Jewish and anti-Israel message that dominated the conference.

What a wonderful turnout we had for last Saturday's Responsible US Global Engagement call! 184 chapter leaders and activists of CGS and our co-sponsoring organizations took time out on a Saturday to phone in and hear about our priorities for the beginning of the Obama administration, as well as those of some other organizations that are working on the same issues. Most importantly, we went over some specific ways CGS members in every state can help achieve these foreign policy goals.

Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. Barack Obama was criticized by the McCain campaign for not having visited the Middle East, which they believed displayed a lack of foreign policy intelligence and experience. So, Obama and his campaign scheduled meetings in Jordan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel and Kuwait to show that he is directly informed and has had personal contact with American troops.

This week, I attended two fascinating briefings on how the American public is thinking about the world. The first was a press conference to unveil research sponsored by the UN Foundation and the second was a small working group organized by the Stanley Foundation.