Foreign Policy Blogs

Regions

Kurdistan’s Prime Minister seeks dialogue to end the present crisis

Kurdistan’s Prime Minister seeks dialogue to end the present crisis

The Kurdistan Regional Government is presently calling upon the international community including the United States, the EU and the UN to intervene in order to bring the Central Government in Baghdad to the negotiating table: “The restrictive policies adopted by Baghdad against Erbil are in violation of Iraq’s obligations and responsibilities under international and humanitarian […]

read more

In oligarchic Ukraine, Manafort is a symptom of a wider disease

In oligarchic Ukraine, Manafort is a symptom of a wider disease

Nearly eclipsing the fourth anniversary of the beginning of the Euromaidan protests last Tuesday was the latest in the ongoing scandal surrounding former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. According to newly released records, the beleaguered political consultant traveled to Moscow at least 18 times during his nearly decade’s worth of work for the pro-Russian politician […]

read more

Is Democracy Dying?

Is Democracy Dying?

A man paints over the logo of the Cambodia National Rescue Party at its headquarters in Phnom Penh. Photo: Getty Images. In the days following the dissolution of the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), I headed to Phnom Penh to witness the changes on the ground since my last visit over two years ago.  On […]

read more

Time for Reckoning a Long Hidden Massacre

Time for Reckoning a Long Hidden Massacre

  This week, Tehran announced it would continue a missile development program that defense analysts say could allow Iran to launch nuclear weapons. It was a public threat that has understandably stirred strong response from the US and the west: the risk of nuclear proliferation by a fanatical regime is indeed a threat to millions […]

read more

French Employee Suicides after the France Telecom Tragedy

French Employee Suicides after the France Telecom Tragedy

Since 2006 and peaking after 2008, several employee suicides took place after the privatization of France Telecom. Now part of international telecommunications giant Orange, sixty France Telecom employees committed suicide over a three year period as cut backs destabilized that company and developed into what could be described as a toxic work environment. In 2016 […]

read more

The End of ISIS is in Sight. What is Next?

The End of ISIS is in Sight. What is Next?

Given that the last strongholds for ISIS (known as Daesh in the region) in Raqaa, Syria and Mosul, Iraq have fallen, it is likely the group in its current territory-based form will gone by the end of 2017.  Only weeks ago, Daesh was allowed to leave central Syria before the Syrian Army closed the 5-kilometer gap […]

read more

Does Trump’s foreign policy enable Iranian aggression in the Middle East?

Does Trump’s foreign policy enable Iranian aggression in the Middle East?

From Syria to Iraq, Trump’s Middle East policy enables Iran to spread its tentacles across the region. During the elections, Donald Trump was highly critical of former US President Barack Obama’s foreign policy to the Middle East. From Obama refusing to follow his own red line policy on Syria to the Iranian nuclear deal, Trump […]

read more

How Innovation Can Drive Stability in the Middle East

How Innovation Can Drive Stability in the Middle East

When Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt instituted a blockade against Qatar this summer, many in Qatar and the broader international community feared it would greatly disrupt Qatari society by breaking supply chains, limiting access to food and other resources, and preventing free travel across the region. However, Qatar has defied the […]

read more

On the Ground (Indirectly) in Harare

On the Ground (Indirectly) in Harare

  Communicating with friends and colleagues in Harare, I am hearing the following (all quotations are direct from people I have communicated with, but I hope you’ll forgive my granting of anonymity in light of the circumstances): Get out of your minds your 1970s African coup cliches. Most of the streets in suburban Harare (and […]

read more

Another War in the Middle East?

Another War in the Middle East?

The sudden resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Sa’ad al-Hariri on October 4, 2017 from Riyadh appears to have taken by surprise just about everyone in the Middle East.  The significance of Hariri’s announcement taking place not in his own capital but rather in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was lost on virtually no one. As speculation that […]

read more

Crisis in Zimbabwe: Is Mugabe Finally Out?

Crisis in Zimbabwe: Is Mugabe Finally Out?

What is happening in Zimbabwe? It appears that 93-year old “President for Life” Robert Mugabe might finally be out of power. The military has refused to acknowledge a “coup,” but when the military leadership provide the spokesmen for the government, when generals are asserting who will and will not be acceptable as potential heads of […]

read more

The Middle East’s Cold War Is Not Going Well for the Saudi’s

The Middle East’s Cold War Is Not Going Well for the Saudi’s

On Saturday afternoon November 4th from the Saudi capital of Riyadh, now former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri declared he resigned due to threat of assassination, saying, “I have sensed what is being plotted covertly to target my life.” The BBC reported that Hariri made multiple trips to Saudi Arabia (KSA) over the couple of […]

read more

Straight Talk On Somalia Insecurity

Straight Talk On Somalia Insecurity

There is a broad-based consensus that security in Somalia has been deteriorating at an alarming rate. In the past few weeks, hundreds of people have been killed by truck bombs at two prominent locations in Mogadishu. The lethal potency of the explosives and the scale of death and devastation resulting from the Oct 14th one […]

read more

Daniel Kritenbrink Appointed New U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam

Daniel Kritenbrink Appointed New U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam

New United States Ambassador to Vietnam Daniel Kritenbrink arriving at Noi Bai International Airport in Ha Noi on November 4, 2017. Photo: Tuoi Tre Here in Da Nang, economic leaders from around the Asia-Pacific region are gathering for this week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ summit hosted by the Vietnamese.  Established in 1989, APEC […]

read more

Should funding to UNRWA be made conditional on ending incitement?

Should funding to UNRWA be made conditional on ending incitement?

A new comprehensive study by the Center for Near East Policy Research & the Israel Resource News Agency, commissioned by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, highlights new Palestinian Authority school books used in UNRWA schools, which shows unprecedented incitement to terror. How should the 68 UNRWA donors react?‘ Most recently, the Center for Near East Policy […]

read more