One thing I mentioned earlier was how the Afghan ambassador to Washington, Said Jawad, slipped in a U.S. committed for democracy in Afghanistan where Barack Obama didn’t provide one. And that’s because the Obama administration is clearly prioritizing basic governance ahead of democratization in Afghanistan. I think that’s a good thing: democratization doesn’t mean anything if it can’t provide for basic material needs of a populace, like security, economic opportunity, and justice. And the only way democratization can occur is if these prior conditions are met As it happens, Chris Brose, a former speechwriter for Condoleezza Rice and now the editor of Foreign Policy’s Shadow Government blog, talked with me about the question for a Bloggingheads episode released today.

On another note, you should really read Shadow Government. It’s by far the best conservative foreign-policy blog around. When you want to grapple with smart and (mostly:) ) intellectually honest conservative arguments about foreign policy — and you should, if you care about this stuff — it’s your main destination.