Let's Play 20 Questions

Foreign Policy, a mag I peruse, and about as non-partisan as any journal out there, has come up with a list of 20 questions they would like Charlie Gibson to ask Palin. Oh, sure, they're not easy, but then neither is the job for which she's applying.

1)In a broad and long-term sense, would you have responded differently to the attacks of 9/11?

2)Is Iraq a democracy?

3)What’s the difference between a Sunni and a Shiite?

4)What is your preferred plan for peace between Israel and Palestine? A two state solution? What about Jerusalem?

5)How do you feel about French President Nicolas Sarkozy's recent visit to Syria? Do you believe the United States should negotiate with leaders like President Bashar al-Assad?

6)Nearly 40 percent of the world's population lives in China and India. Who are those countries' leaders?

7)Do you support the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Agreement, which would lift restrictions on sales of nuclear technology and fuel to India, a country which hasn’t signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty?

8)Other than more drilling, what steps do you suggest the U.S. take in order to move toward energy independence? Do you believe more investment is needed in alternative energy research? If so, how would you recommend this funding be allocated?

9)How would you balance concerns over human rights and freedom in China with the United States' growing economic interdependence with that country?

10)What's more important: securing Russia's cooperation on nuclear proliferation and Iran, or supporting Georgia's NATO bid? If Vladimir Putin called you on the phone and said, "It's one or the other," what would you tell him?

11)Critique the foreign policy of the last administration. Name its single greatest success, and its most critical failure.

12)What do you think will be the most defining foreign-policy issue in the next five years?

13)What role should the United States play in the global effort to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS? Should it support contraception, or abstinence only?

14)You've said that the federal government spends too much money. What, in your view, is the appropriate level of spending as a percentage of GDP?

15)You're an advocate of reducing environmental restrictions on drilling. How much oil needs to be found in the United States before the country achieves energy independence?

16)What are your picks for the three most enlightening books written on foreign policy in the last five years?

17)Who among the world's leaders can be listed as the top three friends of the United States and why?

18)In your opinion, which U.S. president was the most successful world leader and why?

19)Which U.S. political thinkers, writers, and politicians would you enlist to advise you on matters of foreign policy and why?

20)Who is the first world leader you'd like to meet with and why?


Gibson won't ask these questions, but damned if somebody won't along the way.

Any questions you want answered?