Foreign Policy Blogs

U.S. Foreign Policy

Hopeful About the Presidential Hopefuls

Foreign Policy In Focus, a progressive think tank based in Washington DC, published a useful article synthesizing the three US Presidential candidates positions on key foreign policy issues. The author is himself an advocate for a Presidential candidate that is engaged in foreign relations. Howard Salter is the Director of External Relations at Citizens for Global Solutions, a non-partisan think tank based […]

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The Candidate's Advisors Make the Wo/Man

The war in Iraq has grown increasingly unpopular at home, and it continues to be unpopular abroad. [The BBC World Service broadcast a fantastic documentary about how the US-lead war in Iraq changed the world's mind on the US]. So what do the US Presidential candidates propose to do about it? Spencer Ackerman investigated this […]

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Straight Talk Meets Foreign Policy

If you’ve ever heard a State Department briefing, or briefing by any other foreign ministry, you probably don't think of foreign policy as an exercise in “straight talk.” Yet there was John McCain in Los Angeles the other day, driving his “Straight Talk Express” right down the middle of the road. The word “Bush” was […]

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Pakistani Politics and US Policy Goals

Pakistani Politics and US Policy Goals

The political winds have shifted in Pakistan, which leaves the question: How will the dynamics of Pakistan's new political leaders play out with US policy goals in the region? This Economist article provides some good context to recent and coming events in Pakistan. The article points out that that Administration's key ally, Musharraf, faces a […]

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The World Votes

Today's Wall Street Journal carries an interesting summary of how the world's regions seem to feel about Hillary, Obama and McCain. That Barack Obama would be popular in Africa, Indonesia and the Mideast is perhaps no surprise. But he also appears to be quite popular in Europe, where I’m writing from this week. On the […]

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Be Afraid… Be Very Afraid

The Financial Times published an op-ed by Anatol Lieven, a British academic (who sidelines as an American think-tank-er), titled “Why we should fear a McCain presidency.” In the piece, Lieven schools his British compatriots on the danger that “a natural incendiary” like Republican Presidential candidate John McCain poses to trans-Atlantic relations. Leiven explains: “The problem that Mr McCain poses stems […]

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The Insiders' Views of Kosovo's Independence

On February 17, Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia. Although Kosovo acted without UN approval, it quickly gained the recognition of major Western powers, namely the United States and Europe's major powers, while Serbia, Russia, China and over a dozen other countries claimed the declaration was invalid. While Kosovo is now acting as an independent nation, challenges […]

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Looking "Presidential"

Looking "Presidential"

ZAGREB — President Bush leaves for Europe in a few days. Likely one of the last foreign trips of his Presidency, Bush's five-day visit to Kiev, Bucharest, and Zagreb offers him a chance to work on his image and his legacy — each in bad repair. The timing is both good and bad. First the […]

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Race in the US: The Outsiders' View

As many of your know, Senator Obama gave a major campaign speech last week on the subject of race in the U.S. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/pWe7wTVbLUU” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /] Public Radio International's The World program hosted a panel of international journalists based in Washington to discuss how their publics’ view race in America. It is an […]

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The Enigma that is Vice President Cheney

The Enigma that is Vice President Cheney

During his Middle East trip, Vice President Cheney offered several pragmatic remarks concerning the stalemate between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators: "On Sunday, Cheney said the United States would continue to work toward the "long-overdue' goal of creating a Palestinian state. "Achieving that vision will require tremendous effort at the negotiating table and painful concessions on […]

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Globe Trekking for American Public Diplomacy

Globe Trekking for American Public Diplomacy

Last year 22-year old Harvard graduate Amar Bakshi embarked on a world tour that was a bit different than the usual post-college international tour d’hostel. His globe trekking had a specific mission: Find out what the world thinks about the United States. (Bakshi's Itinerary) Armed with a digit camera, a microphone and a laptop, Bakshi […]

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Ex-Diplomats Speak out on Iraq War's Five-Year Anniversary

The Huffington Post published an op-ed authored by three former Foreign Service Officers titled “Why We Said No: Three Diplomats’ Duty.” The authors, Ann Wright, John Brown, and Brady Kiesling resigned as US diplomats in opposition to the invasion of Iraq. You may read Kiesling's letter of resignation, published in the New York Times, here. […]

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ICG on Kosovo

Exactly one month to the day, Serb rioters broke into the U.S. embassy in Belgrade in a public display of their anger towards the United State for their recognition of Kosovo as an independent state.  International Crisis Group completed an excellent briefing this week summarizing the events of the last month and laying out several […]

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For Arabs, A Window into the US Presidential Election

Middle East Online (and Al Jazeera magazine subsequently) published an intriguing article by Rima Merhi, a Lebanese human rights activist and research fellow at the Middle East Institute working on Arab media outreach to American public opinion. Based on the readership of the two publications, it is safe to assume that Mehri is speaking to primarily an […]

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Protests in Tibet

Protests in Tibet

This week violence broke out the capitol city of Tibet. Tibetans demanding independence from China took to the street in a rare act of defiance from almost 50 years of Chinese rule. Tibet's government-in-exile said 80 Tibetans had been confirmed killed by the Chinese while trying to squash the protests. The Economist reports in-depth from Lhasa: “China […]

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