Foreign Policy Blogs

North America

US and Canada Put Forward NORAD Modernization for Enhanced Homeland Defense

US and Canada Put Forward NORAD Modernization for Enhanced Homeland Defense

Pursuant to last February’s Biden–Trudeau virtual summit, defense heads from the US and Canada reaffirmed on August 14th that NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) modernization is an integral part of North American homeland defense. In coping against the growly complex security threats posed by strategic competitors’ technologically advanced weapons, such as hypersonic glide vehicles, […]

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On NAFTA and the USMCA

On NAFTA and the USMCA

As Mexico became the first nation to ratify the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement, let’s take a look at what NAFTA was and how the USMCA hopes to improve…

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Op-ed: It’s not a bug, it’s a feature: Why Trump is gutting American Diplomacy

Op-ed: It’s not a bug, it’s a feature: Why Trump is gutting American Diplomacy

In the 2019 edition of Great decisions, Ambassador R. Nicholas Burns outlines the impoverished state of American diplomacy in the Trump era, as well as the severe cuts and reductions endured by the State Department. The diplomatic corp of the United States, Burns argues, is not able to fully carry out its vital functions in […]

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Op-Ed: What Is American Nationalism?

Op-Ed: What Is American Nationalism?

Marking the centennial Armistice Day, Emanuel Macron called nationalism the opposite of patriotism.   Whatever his inspiration, his comment should spur Americans to consider what nationalism means to us. Macron may have been channeling historian Timothy Snyder, in his cite of novelist Danilo Kis: “… nationalism ‘has no universal values, aesthetic or ethical.’”  Snyder quoted […]

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American foreign policy and Congressional volatility

American foreign policy and Congressional volatility

United States foreign policy has lacked an aspirational guiding principle for a generation.  One reason might be the historic volatility of political parties, unlike anything in the past century. United States foreign policy has a record of long-term trends that depend in part on the political parties in power.  During the Cold War, for example, […]

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America today: Will the center hold? If so, what might it look like?  

America today: Will the center hold? If so, what might it look like?  

There is much to make us wonder whether the American Center will hold. Yet, many will say, hold on, Armageddon is not nigh. We’ve been “here” before.

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Trump Organization First, America Second

Trump Organization First, America Second

Trump’s lack of definitive action to distance himself from his business interests could be deemed unconstitutional under the emolument clause.

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Time for a North American Energy Initiative

Time for a North American Energy Initiative

This blog regularly focuses on the foreign policy reverberations of the U.S. energy boom.  As discussed in earlier posts (here and here), these include the gradual paring back of U.S. strategic commitments in the Persian Gulf*, the diminution of Russia’s great power aspirations**,  as well as a boost to America’s soft-power prospects and global standing.  But […]

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The Other Side of Immigration (2009)

The Other Side of Immigration (2009)

It’s the economy, stupid. That mantra from Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential race pretty much sums up the core issue when it comes to immigration from Mexico to the United States. Many Mexicans abandon the countryside in their native country to seek a better life in the United States. The main reason: they cannot compete with […]

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Mexico’s Economic Rebound: Good News, Bad News

Mexico’s Economic Rebound: Good News, Bad News

  Recently, the general gloom about Mexico has been replaced by a bit of positive reportage. Mexico’s economy grew faster than Brazil’s last year, and it is set to do so again in 2012. Largely, that’s because NAFTA is once again paying dividends for Mexico. Higher wages in China and volatile transport costs have made Mexico the […]

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