U.S. President Barack Obama is returning to Asia for his first overseas trip since winning re-election. He will attend, for the second consecutive year, the East Asia Summit which is viewed by the U.S. as the emerging eminent multilateral forum for regional leaders from 17 other states to discuss salient strategic and security issues. The […]
If there is one element that Europeans can agree on is the satisfaction of President Obama’s reelection. The European Union is currently facing visceral crises such: Cameron’s attacks on the EU budget, the uncertain future of France’s economic recovery, the movements of independence, and so on. Despite what was supposed to be a tight race, […]
When two of the world’s largest superpowers undergo political transitions at the same time, contrasts are inevitable. One of the best comparisons comes from the above cartoon, which contrasts the bombardment of information from the American press with the deafening silence from China’s new leadership. While many Americans are sick and tired of the relentless […]
With our third and final electoral pageantry behind us, Americans can now gorge on a spate of lucid and provocative articulations of global security in the 21st century. That is, for those bothering to read below the fold. For most of us, our interest peaked with the morning headlines whose typographic excess was reserved for […]
In an otherwise contentious race for the U.S. presidency, free trade has been a surprising point of convergence for President Obama and Governor Romney. Specifically, Obama has emphasized the success of the free trade deals (FTAs) passed last year with Colombia, Korea and Panama, saying these¨…are helping us to double our exports and sell […]
This last debate on foreign policy will not affect the polls. Mitt Romney was able to make himself credible in foreign policy; while Obama was strong in defending his four years of foreign policy. Romney won the first debate, Obama the second, and the third was a tie. This blog will be extremely short as […]
In preparation for the final debate this evening and the FPA live-tweeting of the event — to focus on foreign policy — the Arms Control Association and Bulletin of Atomic Scientists provide nice overviews of the candidates records on key nuclear nonproliferation and arms control issues. Kingston Reif, the director of nuclear nonproliferation at the Center […]
Finally the topic of foreign policy will be confronted. So far it has been a drought for U.S. foreign policy experts and lovers. The question about the attack on the U.S. embassy in Libya causing the killing of four American diplomats has been one of the very few foreign policy themes tackled so far. However, […]
In advance of tonight’s presidential foreign policy debate, U.S. policy towards Africa should be an important question the candidates are considering. It’s an issue the candidates and their teams have undoubtedly thought about and already answered for themselves. But I’ll be (pleasantly) surprised if either of the candidates gives U.S. engagement in Africa much attention. […]
Long-term policy goals by America’s neighbors have made them some of the best performing economies worldwide. Unfortunately, America’s backyard has received little attention from the Obama Administration and even less attention during the Bush years. During the recent electoral debates there have been some mention of Canada and Mexico, but an overarching emphasis on security […]
During Monday night’s town hall style debate between President Obama and Governor Mitt Romney, the domestic issues once again seem poised to take the spotlight until one Mr. Kerry Ladka took to the microphone. Asking President Obama about the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Ladka said: This question actually comes from a […]
In their sole debate before the election, Vice President Joe Biden and GOP challenger Congressman Paul Ryan sparred for 90 minutes on the direction of U.S. policy, both for foreign and domestic. Last night’s debate was a stark contrast to last week’s meeting between the two men at the top of the tickets, with Biden […]
In a time of political, social, and economic turmoil, the focus on global health has blurred slightly. We’ve made great gains against polio, malaria, HIV, and a number of other diseases in the past decade, but there is, as always, much to be done. With tensions high across the Middle East and Europe, an election […]
President Obama over the last four years has had as successful a record on Latin America as the last two presidents before him. It can be argued he has had some added success in the region considering luck and policy with Colombia gaining a handle on its own internal conflict and Cuba slowly reforming to […]
Europe has spoken Mitt Romney is not an attractive option to lead the U.S. for the next four years. The polls published by the reliable German Marshall Fund and the British poll YouGov offer interesting results on the perceptions of Europeans on the two U.S. presidential candidates. According to the Financial Times, the poll from […]