Steve Clemons tries to cut through the smog surrounding the domestic debate on oil prices:

This debate over oil and energy policy disgusts me because both Obama and McCain are trying to force short term, knee jerk responses to a major policy challenge for the nation.

To get the price of oil down, candidates should work harder at thinking through what the characteristics of a new equilibrium in the Middle East and globally might look like. What kind of deal can be done with Iran that preserves Israeli security, Iran's domestic energy interests, and does not leave Iran with a domestic capacity to covertly manufacture nuclear weapons? There's much that can be done.

Elizabeth Kolbert agrees in The New Yorker with the futility of the short term strategy:

A D.O.E. report issued last year predicted that it would take two decades for drilling in restricted areas to have a noticeable effect on domestic production, and that, even then, "because oil prices are determined on the international market," the impact on fuel costs would be "insignificant."

Of course Kolbert also believe that decreasing the price of oil at this point wouldn't be a positive thing:

If the hard truth is that the federal government can't do much to lower gas prices, the really hard truth is that it shouldn't try to. With just five per cent of the world's population, America accounts for twenty-five per cent of its oil use. This disproportionate consumption is one of the main reasons that the United States--until this year, when China overtook it--was the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases.

Regardless of where you stand on her latter argument, it's pretty difficult to argue that the candidates shouldn't be focusing on longer-term strategies, if for no other reason than "a new equilibrium in the Middle East and globally" sounds like a pretty good thing.

by Katherine Miller, executive director of communications, UN Foundation

After four long days in Bellagio, a couple of things are clear. Conferences are conferences -- meaning that even the world's nicest conference facility is still, well, a facility. But there is a certain magic about Bellagio and that was clear by the end of the conference. So while I'm glad to be home, it is also because I'm excited about being back and work and trying to make the ideas that came out the mHealth session something real and help deliver better health care to the developing world.

Work that is even more exciting because the group of people who attended the conference -- including representatives from Noikia, Vodafone Group, Gates Foundation, QualComm, Microsoft, and many other companies and NGOs -- all made real, measurable commitments to helping promote the issues related to mHealth both back within their own organizations and with the general public.

The "commitment wall" was amazing to watch grow. One-by-one, representatives from each of the 30 different groups represented got up and announced what they were going to do to help continue the work from Bellagio. After each sticky note went up on the board, the room applauded and each new person who got up seemed more excited than the last. The mood continued to lift as people also realized the commitments weren't just "I promise to promote mHealth" but instead were things like, "I pledge to host 4-6 meetings at my company's offices over the next 6 months and invite experts from the global health field to speak about mHealth." Smart and measurable were the overall theme of each of the 65 different ideas that went on the wall.

It will take several weeks, maybe even months, before we can discuss some of the projects that the groups committed to but they were audacious and innovative. Many harness existing technologies in entirely new ways and others may completely reinvent the mHealth field. The ideas that sprung forth are also exciting because they include large-scale partnerships that could revolutionize health care delivery in the developing world.

But the coming months will be filled with lots of information about the Bellagio projects. The Technology Partnership team is going to start a "road show" with findings and outcomes from the conference. The Rockefeller Foundation is going to publish a book from the entire four-month long eHealth conference and we'll be reporting back to Dispatch readers both here and at the UN Foundation, so stay tuned for updates on the progress the post-Bellagio team makes on mHealth.

I just made it home after a whirlwind day of travel from Rwanda to Liberia to Senegal to Mexico. One of the most fascinating stops was in Liberia, where the United Nations Peacekeeping presence is very, very heavy.

More UNMIL after the jump.

>>Iraq - On the third day of negotiations, political leaders in Iraq may have come to an agreement allowing provincial elections to proceed this year. The solution was put forth by a representative from the UN, who suggested that the law should contain an article calling for a solution to the controversial Kirkuk issue before the end of October, essentially decoupling the issue from the legislation. If a deal is worked out today, the elections can be held this year.

>>Iraqi Refugees - Through a resettlement program announced today by the UNHCR, some of Iraq's most vulnerable refugees will be moved to Iceland and Sweden. The refugees affected by this effort are Palestinian, persecuted in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein primarily because of his support before being deposed.

>>Russia - After several days of fighting in South Ossetia, Russia stated today it will not stay on the sidelines if conditions worsen. South Ossetian separatists have claimed that Georgian troops are targeting civilians as they shell Tskhinvali.

• Who is "Failing" in the Horn?
• Traveling with President Clinton in Monrovia, Liberia

• Russia - Russia warns it won't stand back in Georgia region
• Russia - Inflationary challenge troubles Russia
• Russia - Putin leads tributes to Nobel laureate Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
• China - Torch tours quake zone, next stop Beijing
• China - China confident of safe Olympics
• China - Booming China Suddenly Worries That a Slowdown Is Taking Hold
• America - Bush signs Libya compensation law
• Israel - Olmert and Abbas to meet in Jerusalem on Wednesday
• South Africa - Supporters rally for ANC leader
• South Africa - Jacob Zuma bid to have latest corruption charges thrown out
• Iran - Iran Issues New Warnings After Defying a Deadline
• Korea - Troops out in Seoul for Bush trip
• Korea - Bush Says It's 'Important to Engage' China
• India - Rupert Murdoch to launch Indian TV stations
• Japan - Japanese lawmaker in 'Nazi' gaffe
• Japan - Fukuda calls for stimulus package
• Iraq - Proposal May End Stalemate on Iraqi Provincial Elections
• Syria - Syria's Assad to meet Erdogan for peace talks
• Syria - Top Syrian official assassinated
• Germany - You're under a vest! German policewomen get 'bullet-proof bra'
• Italy - Italy Begins Military Effort to Quell Crime
• Turkey - Turkey picks army boss, public tension seen easing
• Nigeria - Nigeria weighs plans to boost oil output
• Zimbabwe - Power-sharing deal close in Zimbabwe: report
• Sweden - Refugees to move from Iraq desert to Iceland, Sweden
• Myanmar - At least 20 killed in Myanmar jade mine landslide
• Taiwan - Getting in Shape for Games, China Strengthens Ties With Neighbors