Samantha Power made her name as an advocate of human rights and the author of a Pulitzer Prize-winning book on the subject. Although she has resigned her formal position as an adviser to Barack Obama, it is reasonable to assume that she will return to serve if Obama is elected president. Paul covered Power's foreign policy thought in a series of posts accessible here. An April 2003 Boston Phoenix symposium on Iraq elicited a statement from Power that merits consideration:

[F]or the United States, of all countries, to be talking about human rights just rings very, very hollow in light of all the objections to our policy in Israel — the perception that we’re hard on one side and not on the other, and that we don’t contest the settlements or human-rights abuses committed by Israeli soldiers, and so on. Plus the fact that we have turned our back on international treaties and not been a global citizen, I think, makes people, even democrats, the leading lights in these repressed societies, very squeamish about being associated with the United States.

The worst thing for the dissidents in Iran would be for America to take their side. It would tarnish the whole enterprise. Syria’s another question. Syria’s really tricky. I think if we could get our policy in Israel straight, then you get a sort of credibility to convene Arab governments that have a civil society with — hopefully, you still have a few allies in Europe and elsewhere — and actually start to have the difficult conversation about how one can liberalize.

Is this much more than sophomoric drivel? For an extended exposure to Power, see the 90-minute video of Power discussing her new book with Azar Nafisi that was recently broadcast on C-SPAN.

PAUL adds: So the bottom line is: if we crack down on Israel we might gain some credibility when it comes to trying to liberalize Syria (assuming we still have a few allies), but we would remain unworthy of siding with Iranian dissidents.

This is sophomoric drivel to be sure, but it's dangerous sophomoric drivel.

UPDATE: One can observe the continuing influence of Power's thought on Obama's proposed foreign policy in Noah Pollak's "Obama's hollow doctrine," which takes up the theme of "dignity promotion" that Power touts at length in the video. As Pollak suggest, "dignity" in this context is a meaningless concept that can be used to advance any desired agenda.

MORE: Corroborating one of my points above, Sam Stein reports that in a talk at Columbia University School of Law last night, Power anticipated her possible service in an Obama administration:

[[T]o the delight of many in the crowd, [Power] even hinted that she could be part of that hypothetical [Obama] cabinet. "Because of the kind of campaign that Senator Obama has run," Power said, "it seemed appropriate for someone of my Irish temper to step aside, at least for a while. We will see what happens there."

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