Last month, in Washington D.C., I met one of my favorite journalists, James Fallows, from the Atlantic Magazine. Mr. Fallows was returning from a 3-year post in China, where he reported on the country’s foreign policy, culture, its rising economy and its climate issues. We spoke briefly about about a 2008 article he wrote after […]
At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Singapore last Sunday, Barack Obama acknowledged what many had suspected all along: that a comprehensive climate deal in Copenhagen, next month, is “beyond reach.” On a 3-day visit to China this week, Obama and Chinese president Hu Jintao suggested that Copenhagen will be used instead as a […]
How about some entertainment news? I know you don’t come to the Foreign Policy Association for entertainment news, but I thought perhaps my U.S. Role readers would be interested in a new television project by the CBS network. They are producing an end-of-the-decade look at America’s position in the world that will feature reports from […]
Steven A. Cook of the Council on Foreign Relations has a piece in The New Republic on “The Third Intifada.” The last paragraph is a chilling summary of his excellent analysis: For Washington, which is working hard to bring Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table, the Middle East impasse is about to get a lot worse. […]
President Obama has departed for a trip to Asia that will provide his first opportunity to put his stamp on U.S.-China relations. Security, the environment, and the economy will also be on his agenda as he visits Japan, Singapore, and South Korea. Our relationship with China has always been complex and even contradictory at times […]
An overseas trip by a U.S. president is always costly, logistically challenging, and full of colorful backdrops. President Obama’s trip to Japan, Singapore, China and Korea is no exception. If anything, there will be more excitement than usual, since it is his first trip to the region as President and there is still tremendous foreign […]
I’m taking a moment to honor Veterans Day. Originally established by President Woodrow Wilson to mark the end of World War I the day now recognizes the service and sacrifice of veterans of all our wars. The VA website has a nice historical overview if you would like to learn more. As a “military brat” […]
World leaders gather in Berlin this week to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, that iconic symbol of the Cold War. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is hosting current leaders like Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as well as past Cold Warriors George H.W. Bush and his counterpart, Mikhail Gorbachev. Prominent […]
Yesterday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered a speech to the Atlantic Council to mark the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The speech focused on the administration’s new agenda for freedom and democracy promotion, seeking a renewed US-European partnership to combat global terrorism, human rights violations, climate change and the spread […]
I have written before about the out-of-balance role of contractors in development and in US foreign policy in general – with the hope that the ongoing QDDR will take a hard look at how much is contracted out, to what sorts of entities and with what kind of alignment with development goals and foreign policy interests. Yesterday, […]
In light of Senator Jim Webb’s trip to Myanmar and former president Bill Clinton’s recent and well publicized visit to North Korea, I thought this report in The Washington Times was interesting. It examines the practice of using “proxy diplomats” to deal with international crises and questions the political implications of using such unofficial agents. […]
Foreign policy has once again returned to the headlines as President Obama continues his decision-making process on Afghanistan and Secretary of State Clinton recently completed a tour of the Middle East. I’d like to call your attention to an interesting report in today’s Washington Post that compares and contrasts the promise and performance of the […]
One of the biggest mistakes any political analyst could make is to read only other political analyses. To do so is limiting in many ways and, more importantly, just downright boring. So, if you want to read something that is insightful and interesting, take a look at Issue 9 of A Public Space, edited by Brian Edwards of Northwestern […]
The U.S. often takes on the role of defending basic freedoms in the world at large. One of the better examples of this is our championing of religious liberty abroad and one of the primary tools we have used to do that is the annual publication of the report on International Religious Freedom by the […]
As you know, President Obama has not yet made a decision on whether to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan and there are any number of reports in the media about his decision-making process. The White House is signaling that President Obama is nearing his decision on Afghan war strategy: White House press secretary […]