Foreign Policy Blogs

U.S. Role in the World

Obama: America Is Back

Obama: America Is Back

President Obama delivered his final State of the Union address to Congress last night before facing the voters in November. Although the speech was primarily concerned with economic matters and his efforts to build an “economy built to last,” it also contained …

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U.S. Companies Fight Internet Censorship

U.S. Companies Fight Internet Censorship


Google, Reddit, and Wikipedia all are using their considerable web presence today to protest legislation pending in the U.S. Congress. According to the Google announcement:
Two bills before …

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US Counterterrorism Law May “Backfire”: UN

US Counterterrorism Law May “Backfire”: UN

On New Year’s Eve, President Barack Obama signed into law the post-9/11 practice of detaining terrorist suspects indefinitely without charge. Shock and awe waves rippled through the blogosphere in response to the move, not least because Obama had threatened to veto an earlier version of the bill. Other grumbles included …

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U.S. Navy Saves Iranian Fishermen…Again

U.S. Navy Saves Iranian Fishermen…Again


For the second time in days the U.S. Navy has saved Iranian fishermen. As you will recall, it was earlier this month that the Navy rescued Iranian fishermen being held by Somali pirates. That incident came amid rising tensions and threats from Iran that it would …

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U.S. Ends Iraq War

U.S. Ends Iraq War


The U.S. formally ended the Iraq War today. As The New York Times reports:
Almost nine years after the first American tanks began massing on the Iraq border, the Pentagon declared an official end to …

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The Rise of “Human” Security

The Rise of “Human” Security

 
“Human Security Is The Primary Purpose Of Organizing A State In The Beginning.”
– Surin Pitsuwan, ASEAN
In the wake of the Arab Spring, and in light of the ongoing global economic disorder, world leaders would be well advised to examine their understanding of national security. Recent events paint a picture of …

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2011 Year In Review – U.S. Role in the World

2011 Year In Review – U.S. Role in the World


The Foreign Policy Association has asked the blog team to write year-end summaries and even provided a nice little template for us to follow. So, without further ado:
Summary of the Past Year
What an extraordinary year 2011 has turned out to be. The U.S. appears to have …

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U.S. Defense Decimated by Debt?

U.S. Defense Decimated by Debt?


The Congressional supercommittee charged with finding trillions of dollars in debt reduction has failed in their mission, opening the door to a drastic reduction in the U.S. federal …

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GOP Candidates Debate U.S. Role

GOP Candidates Debate U.S. Role


I’ve been considering a post titled “Late-Blogging the GOP Debate.” I’m using the term late-blogging as opposed to live-blogging. I wasn’t able to watch the foreign policy debate over the weekend and had it saved on my DVR for later viewing. I’m not really sure anyone …

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U.S. Tag-Along Space Policy Begins

U.S. Tag-Along Space Policy Begins


A Russian spacecraft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday, taking NASA astronaut Dan Burbank and Russians Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin on a mission to the International Space Station. This marks the start of the U.S. tag-along space policy in which U.S. access …

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U.S. Observes Veterans Day

U.S. Observes Veterans Day


The U.S. is taking time off today to honor veterans. The Veterans Day holiday is a time to give thanks and to pause and recognize the contributions of the more than 23 million veterans who served our country. The day is also observed all over the …

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U.S. Leading at G20?

U.S. Leading at G20?


President Obama took a break this week from Washington D.C. drama to attend the G20 summit in France. As you can imagine, most of the debate at the summit had to do with the European debt crisis. Given that focus, it was not a summit at …

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Happy Birthday USAID!

Happy Birthday USAID!


If you have followed this blog for a while you may have noticed a few posts on the subject of U.S. foreign aid (most recently: here ,

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U.S. Drone Strike Played A Role Qaddafi’s End

U.S. Drone Strike Played A Role Qaddafi’s End

As Libyans celebrate the end of almost 42 years of dictatorial rule by Muammar al-Qaddafi you may be wondering what role the U.S. played in the dramatic final hours of Qaddafi’s life. According to most reports, as the fall of Sirte became certain, Qaddafi fled in …

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NATO: Lessons Learned in Libya

NATO: Lessons Learned in Libya


Operation Unified Protector, NATO’s mission in Libya, is winding down. Claiming victory, the Obama administration is chiding those who opposed U.S. involvement. While NATO has succeeded in preventing Muammar Qadhafi from further targeting civilians, the mission has exposed a significant alliance weakness: the unfair sharing …

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