Foreign Policy Blogs

U.S. Diplomacy

Henry Crumpton on US Strategy

When Henry Crumpton speaks, the US Diplomacy blog listens. Henry, also know as "Hank" during his time at the CIA, played a pivotal role in overthrowing the Taliban months after Sept 11th. He is currently the Ambassador-at-Large for counterterrorism at the State Department. Crumpton understands the intricacies of the tribal nature in Afghanistan. He recognizes […]

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Serbian Protestors Set Fire to US Embassy

Serbian Protestors Set Fire to US Embassy

Breaking news: U.S. Embassy broke into and set afire by Serbian protestors. Here's the brief from International Herald Tribune,”Serb rioters broke into the U.S. Embassy Thursday and set fire to an office after a massive protest against Kosovo's independence that drew an estimated 150,000 people. Masked attackers broke into the building, which has been closed […]

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Actions Speak Louder Than Words, an Update on Israel/Palestine

Actions Speak Louder Than Words, an Update on Israel/Palestine

Three months ago, President Bush announced a lofty goal: Peace will be achieved and a two state solution will be at hand by the end of his term. This blog has urged President Bush and Secretary Rice to remain deeply engaged with negotiations. Three months later and it is clear that has not happened. More […]

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A Cuban Gorbachev Emerges

A Cuban Gorbachev Emerges

The United States policy towards Cuba, adopted during the heights of the Cold War, has for decades remained immutable. Even recently, the Bush Administration has ceded little ground in opening relations with the despotic regime of the brothers Castro. Meanwhile, Cuba finds itself in a period of transition. This morning, Fidel announced he will resign […]

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Secretary of State Testifies before House Foreign Affairs Committee

Secretary of State Testifies before House Foreign Affairs Committee

(Associated Press photo) Secretary Rice gave her last testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week. The hearing began with a moment of silence in memory of the recently-deceased California Democrat and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman, Tom Lantos. Howard L. Berman, another California Democrat, was appointed as the Committee's Acting Chairman. He began […]

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Iran Postpones Meeting with the United States

The fourth round of talks between Iran and the United States concerning security issues in Iraq have been postponed, at the behest of Iran. “It had originally been slated for December 18 with Iraqi authorities touting it as a 'technical meeting’ at experts level rather than a meeting of ambassadors. However it was postponed, again […]

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Madison Avenue Teaches Citizen Diplomats a Thing or Two

Madison Avenue Teaches Citizen Diplomats a Thing or Two

Yesterday I attended the National Summit on Citizen Diplomacy in Washington, DC, put on by the US Center for Citizen Diplomacy and the Coalition for Citizen Diplomacy. For those new to the concept, citizen diplomats are unofficial ambassadors who either participate in exchange programs overseas or host and interact with international exchange program participants in the United States. You […]

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Angelina Jolie's Star Power

Angelina Jolie's Star Power

  The United Nations has asked the United States for $265 million for humanitarian relief to Iraqis. The aid would be allocated towards food, health, education, water and sanitation, housing and shelter, and protection. "Nearly five years of war have badly worsened chronic problems in Iraq. UNAMI said an estimated 4 million people need basic […]

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AFRICOM–A Different Kind of Command

AFRICOM–A Different Kind of Command

The Voice of America reported yesterday on the Department of Defense's plans for its U.S. Africa command, or AFRICOM. While NPR reports that the idea to create the new command was “has kicked around the halls of the Pentagon for more than a decade,” the command was recently created so that US-Africa military liaisons be […]

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Transatlantic Relations and Afghanistan

Transatlantic Relations and Afghanistan

  This week, Defense Secretary Gates and Secretary of State Rice combined efforts on improving the dampening European support for NATO troops in Afghanistan. Gates warned the Senate Armed Services Committee, "I worry a great deal about the alliance evolving into a two-tiered alliance, in which you have some allies willing to fight and die […]

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Taking a Deeper Look at the Dimona Suicide Bombing

Taking a Deeper Look at the Dimona Suicide Bombing

When the Rafah border was broken open by Hamas, food and goods were certainly not the only items brought back into the Gaza Strip. It's more than likely that weapons, normally snuck into the territory through underground tunnels, were also brought over. This is particularly troubling after Hamas claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing in […]

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President's FY 2009 Budget Increases Funding for State Department

President's FY 2009 Budget Increases Funding for State Department

After the gloomy report this blog gave last January that the State Department would be forced to cut its diplomatic posts by 10%, good news comes through the wire: “Bush Aims To Hire More Diplomats“ February 4, 2008–President Bush wants to hire nearly 1,100 new diplomats to address severe staffing shortages and put the State […]

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SFRC Hears From Public Diplomacy Nominees

SFRC Hears From Public Diplomacy Nominees

On Wednesday of last week the Senate Foreign Relations Committee heard the testimony of three of President Bush's nominees seeking confirmation to hold State Department positions in the bureau of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.  The first to testify was James K. Glassman, whose nomination for Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy was previously discussed […]

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SOU: Bush's Message for Iran

We all remember these famous words from President Bush's 2002 State of the Union Address: "States like these [Iran, North Korea and Iraq], and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world."  But here are excerpts from two other State of the Union addresses given by President […]

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Re-cap and Analysis of the State of the Union Address

Re-cap and Analysis of the State of the Union Address

Monday's State of the Union Address was heavy on the economy and ideological posturing. However, foreign policy issues were addressed, and this blog would like to touch upon what was said. Stepping back and taking a macro-viewpoint of the speech, Bush did not provide new policy initiatives, which we had wondered about on this blog […]

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