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US Cold War Satellites: Keep the Peace?

Thanks to Real Clear History, I found this fascinating story about how the United States used spy satellites to map Soviet Russia’s territory during the Cold War. It is from The Atlantic magazine and features an informative video that explains the 1950′s program in a very …

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China’s Princelings and the CCP

China’s Princelings and the CCP


If you are one of the few to hold a high place in the Chinese Communist Party life has to be good. You are running one of the world’s greatest powers and you don’t have to worry about elections next Fall, or the next Fall, or the…However, there …

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Persian Gulf’s Big and Lil’

Persian Gulf’s Big and Lil’

I recently came across two worthwhile pieces on Persian Gulf states punching above their weight. The first is a New York Times analysis of Qatar, the lil’ oil rich country that could:
Qatar is smaller than Connecticut, and its native population, at 225,000, wouldn’t fill Cairo’s bigger …

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Iran: Forgotten No More

Iran: Forgotten No More


Iran is back in the news again: bungled attempt to kill Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the US on American territory, IAEA’s upcoming report which is expected to detail how the Islamic Republic is working toward a nuclear weapon’s program, President Ahmadinejad’s growing feud with the Supreme Leader, and …

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Adm. Mike Mullen Speaks Out On Pakistan’s ISI’s Duplicity

Adm. Mike Mullen Speaks Out On Pakistan’s ISI’s Duplicity


Speaking of modern challenges, during a Congressional hearing, Adm. Mike Mullen made some damning accusations of the Pakistani government’s role, particularly the ISI, in some serious attacks on American targets:
The remarks by Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff, represented the …

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United States Watching China in Africa

United States Watching China in Africa

The Wall Street Journal recently ran a piece detailing some of the methods behind China’s expansion into the African continent. The informative article not only does a nice job detailing specific cases of African and Chinese government business partnerships, but ties in how what is being exchanged it …

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Turkey: Turning to the East

Turkey: Turning to the East


When eminent scholar Walter Russell Mead tackles a subject he does not do it on the cheap. One of his latest long articles attempts to discern the current trajectory of Turkey’s foreign policy and he takes his readers through quite a ride. Mead, an …

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China’s View of America and Europe’s Debt and Their Efforts To Get It Under Control

China’s View of America and Europe’s Debt and Their Efforts To Get It Under Control

With America’s latest market crash, the debt debate seems so ‘last week’ (hey, it was last week!), there is still much to learn from the tumultuous process. Niall Ferguson attempts to provide an outside perspective on the whole debt limit battle. It’s a pretty important outside perspective too; …

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Iran-Al Qaeda: Partners After All

Iran-Al Qaeda: Partners After All

It’s not exactly yellow cake, but the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the US Treasury Department accused Iran of aiding and partnering with Al Qaeda:
The U.S. for the first time formally accused Iran of forging an agreement with al Qaeda, helping operatives move money, arms and fighters …

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A Rising China: Two Perspectives

A Rising China: Two Perspectives

I just spent my Saturday morning doing some solid nerding. By that I mean, I read two great articles about that rising behemoth, China. The first was ‘China’s Bumpy Road Ahead by international consultant and geopolitical analyst Ian Bremmer. Bremmer, has a blog at Foreign Policy …

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The Challenged American Liberal World Order

Preeminent international relations scholar G. John Ikenberry’s article ‘A World of Our Making‘ is his latest piece defending and promoting the extension of the liberal world order. Ikenberry is a strong believer in international norms and institutions that have been building since the end of World War II …

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Henry Kissinger On China's Past and Future

Henry Kissinger On China's Past and Future

Just as I was finishing the Kissinger/Nixon ‘Detente’ chapter of John Lewis Gaddis’ “Strategies of Containment“, I came across this excerpt from Henry Kissinger’s new book “On China”. Kissinger, whose strategic leadership comes across very well in Gaddis’ book, dishes about his …

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Iran Training Militants in Latin America

While reading one of my favorite foreign policy blogs, The Compass, I came across this interesting story of Iran’s secret training of militant forces in Latin America, specifically Venezuela, by Fausta Wertz. Wertz apparently came across the story in the Arab Times, which states:
Iran’s Revolutionary …

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The Death of Osama Bin Laden

‘World is Safer and Better Place Because of the Death of Osama bin Laden’
President Obama
You got that right, Mr. President. The death of Osama Bin Laden, the perpetrator of numerous crimes against the United States and humanity, including mass murder, at the hands of an American soldier …

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The New Cold War: Saudi Arabia Vs. Iran

Over the weekend, the Wall Street Journal published this fascinating piece on the rising, so far just cold, conflict between Sunni-led Saudi Arabia and Shia-led Iran. Now these two regional powers have been in competition since the fall of the Shah in Iran in 1979, …

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About the Author

Patrick Frost
Patrick Frost

Patrick Frost recently graduated from New York University's Masters Program in Political Science - International Relations. His MA thesis analyzed the capabilities and objectives of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Central Asia and beyond and explored how these affected U.S. interests and policy.

Areas of Focus:
Eurasia, American Foreign Policy, Ideology, SCO