In this New York Times op-ed, Prof. Ronald Steel, University of Southern California, argues that the U.S. needs to return to treating Russia as a superpower (A Superpower Is Reborn): The limits of Russia's post-cold-war retreat have apparently been reached, and the reversal of the power equation has gone too far to be sustained. […]
I’d like to recommend the Strategic Security blog of the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) to you as a resource for keeping up with national security issues, particularly arms control of proliferation issues. The successful signing of the missile defense deal with Poland this week means that this issue has now returned to the […]
The United States is now officially in the business of protecting Poland from missile attack (The Wall Street Journal – U.S.-Poland Deal on Missile Base Riles Russia): The U.S. signed a pledge to protect Poland as part of a missile-shield deal, cementing the former East bloc country's ties with Washington but thrusting it into the […]
The president of Pakistan has resigned and his departure threatens to throw Pakistan into political chaos (The New York Times – Pakistani Parties Clash Over Reinstating Judge): Political order in Pakistan frayed further on Tuesday, the day after President Pervez Musharraf resigned, raising questions about who in the deeply divided civilian government would be […]
The Center for American Progress and Foreign Policy magazine released their fourth annual Terrorism Index yesterday. An article about the study has been published in the Sept/Oct issue of Foreign Policy Magazine, it can also can be read here. View the complete topline results here. The study surveyed American foreign policy experts on a slew […]
Have you read any good books lately? If you are looking for the next book (or three) to add to your reading list, the State Department has some suggestions (AFSA Reading List): The Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs and the President of the American Foreign Service Association have co-sponsored the creation of a […]
I’ve been searching for an authoritative review of U.S. options in the Russia-Georgia Crisis, but so far I’ve not found one. The blogosphere is filled with wild speculation and suggestions from both the left and the right, and I share the dismay voiced by Michael Cohen of Democracy Arsenal, that commentators seem quick to […]
The Democratic Party just released its party platform titled “Renewing America's Promise.” It will officially be released at the Democratic national Convention in Denver next week. This report encompasses the party's approach to a whole slew of issues affecting the nation. Watch a party representative discuss the report at an event held at the New […]
Future historians may look back on the Georgian Crisis and define the attack on South Ossetia by Georgia as the proximate cause of the conflict while finding that several factors, including oil, ethnicity, nationalism, and alliances were the ultimate causes of the conflict. In Cracks in the Foundation: NATO's New Troubles, Cato Institute Research Fellow […]
After a few months of observing the global phenomenon that is Obamania, I thought I would put forth a few theories on why Senator Barack Obama is so strongly favored as the next US President by people living outside the US. First, a note on why people outside the US care about the US election […]
This post collects sage advice for US policy toward the Middle East: one aspect of US foreign policy that could really use a jump-start. First, a new analysis by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Middle East Scholars Marina Ottoway and Mohammed Herzallah assess the diplomatic efforts of Arab regimes seeking to fill the power vacuum left by the absence […]
Now that the dust is settled we can reflect on the past week or so and see where we stand in this ongoing Georgian crisis. We have learned: – Georgia started the conflict. – Russia reacted in a more or less predictable manner. – The U.S. armed and trained Georgia and therefore can't feign surprise […]
I’d like to make a modest proposal to banish the word “need” from U.S. policy statements about other countries. We have fallen into the habit of telling other countries what they need to do as if authoritatively defining their need makes it so. Take, for example, this recent statement by Secretary Rice (AFP – […]
How will the Georgian conflict involve and influence the U.S. Presidential election campaign? What efforts are governments undertaking in this conflict to influence international public opinion? This subject spans the topic headings of several categories of our “Foreign Policy Blogs” — but let's consider briefly the public information dimension. Against the backdrop of a real […]
According to public diplomacy expert Nicholas Cull, (see this review of his new book) the very act of listening is one of the primary functions of public diplomacy. As an example Cull cited the US Information Agency's research and analysis of foreign opinion, which the director shared with policy makers. More recently, former Undersecretary of State for […]