Foreign Policy Blogs

Tag Archives: Obama Administration

Is Obama’s Syria Policy Defensible?

Is Obama’s Syria Policy Defensible?

Has Obama has been taking the “least bad” course on Syria? Reflecting on the last two decades of U.S. foreign policy interventions, the answer is yes.

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Why Obama Needs a Second Thought on “No First Use”

Why Obama Needs a Second Thought on “No First Use”

Maybe the U.S. is ready to adopt a “no first use” policy for its nuclear arsenal but its allies, dependent on America’s “nuclear umbrella”, are not.

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The Times Profile That Roiled Washington

The Times Profile That Roiled Washington

A newspaper profile of the President’s foreign policy spokesman has created an uproar based on a distorted notion of the role of foreign policy messaging.

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U.S. Show of Force in the South China Sea

U.S. Show of Force in the South China Sea

In a show of counterforce, the U.S. has sailed an aircraft carrier, two destroyers, two cruisers, and the command ship of the Japan-based 7th Fleet into the disputed waters of the South China Sea.

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Forty Years After the War, Vietnam Welcomes the U.S.

Forty Years After the War, Vietnam Welcomes the U.S.

On April 30, Ho Chi Minh City, commonly referred to as Saigon, marked the 40th anniversary of the reunification of Vietnam, after the army of communist North Vietnam brought down the government of South Vietnam, and drove out the Americans following two decades of unsuccessful military involvement.

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Will ASEAN Renounce China’s Reclamation Efforts in the South China Sea?

Will ASEAN Renounce China’s Reclamation Efforts in the South China Sea?

This week, leaders from 10 Southeast Asian nations will gather on the Malaysian resort island of Langkawi for the 26th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit.

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What a Hillary Presidency Means for China

What a Hillary Presidency Means for China

With the announcement of a presidential bid by Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton on April 12, many are starting to question what impact another Clinton in the White House would have on the world’s largest nation, China.

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Zivotofsky v. Kerry: Will Executive Privilege Trump Israel Advocacy?

Zivotofsky v. Kerry: Will Executive Privilege Trump Israel Advocacy?

The disputed status of Jerusalem will ostensibly be under review by the U.S. Supreme Court today. Zivotofsky v. Kerry asks whether the president’s so-called “foreign affairs power” — based on his textual duty to “receive ambassadors and other public ministers” — ousts Congress from directing foreign policy.

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Tunnel Vision: How the Egyptian Army “Won” the War over Gaza

Tunnel Vision: How the Egyptian Army “Won” the War over Gaza

The Egyptians may not be receiving fulsome applause at the U.N. this week for their diplomacy to date, but quietly, Israeli, Gulf, and American leaders are clapping, in large part due to Cairo’s reaffirmation of a hardline stance against Hamas this past summer.

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GailForce: Aspen Security Forum Part II

GailForce:  Aspen Security Forum Part II

It is no use saying, ‘We are doing our best.’ You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary. Winston Churchill I woke up in the middle of the night a couple of days ago and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I decided to get up and see what was going on in […]

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Obama Should Take Bob Gates’s Criticism to Heart

Obama Should Take Bob Gates’s Criticism to Heart

In earlier posts (here, here, and here), I argued that the Obama administration’s national security process is plagued by extreme insularity, centralization and politicization.  This is a widely held criticism, regularly repeated not just by the president’s detractors but also former administration staffers and friendly commentators.  And the new revelations by Robert M. Gates, the much-respected national security […]

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Obama: Can the “Lonely Guy” Be an Effective Foreign Policy Leader?

Obama: Can the “Lonely Guy” Be an Effective Foreign Policy Leader?

In earlier posts (here, here,here and here), I’ve argued that the Obama administration’s national security process is plagued by extreme insularity, centralization and politicization.  Ultimately, however, these institutional problems are a reflection of the person sitting in the Oval Office. The deepening Obamacare fiasco has raised plenty of questions about President Obama’s leadership qualities.  But two reports this […]

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On the Establishment of the White House Council on Native American Affairs

On the Establishment of the White House Council on Native American Affairs

Executive Order 13647 of U.S. President Barack Obama, signed June 26, 2013, and published July 1, 2013, eponymously established the White House Council on Native American Affairs (the Council). This move reaffirms Obama’s stated commitment to the principles of the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The tasks and duties charged to this […]

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Benghazi and Hillary Clinton’s Day of Dissonance

Benghazi and Hillary Clinton’s Day of Dissonance

Last Wednesday was a day of extremes for the former Secretary of State, who was in Beverly Hills to pick up a public service award from a private foreign policy organization.  There her tenure at the State Department was lauded as activists from a group called “Ready for Hillary 2016” gathered nearby to round out the […]

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The Asia Pivot Has Credibility Problems

The Asia Pivot Has Credibility Problems

Tom Donilon, the U.S. national security advisor, was at the Asia Society in New York last week to talk (transcript here; video here) about the Obama administration’s effort to shift Washington’s strategic focus away from the military quagmires of the Greater Middle East to the dynamism of Asia – a region where, as the president […]

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