Foreign Policy Blogs

Tag Archives: United States

A “Little America” in Afghanistan

A “Little America” in Afghanistan

I just watched a fascinating video from Reuters TV about a tiny town in Afghanistan named “Little America.”  Located in the Helmand Province in Southern Afghanistan, “Little America” was the largest development project in Afghanistan’s history.  First populated by Americans during the Cold War, it was developed to counteract Soviet influence in the region.  The US spent hundreds […]

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Baghdad Set to Host Next Round of Talks on Iran

Baghdad Set to Host Next Round of Talks on Iran

Today, Iran and the 5+1 group of permanent UN Security Council members (plus Germany) will sit down in Baghdad to discuss the terms of Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. Iran’s ambassador to Baghdad, Hassan Danaiifar, explained that merely hosting the talks demonstrated a historic chapter in the history of Iraq. But what does the event actually mean […]

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Exclusive Interview: Rashad Al-Dabbagh of the Syrian American Council

Exclusive Interview: Rashad Al-Dabbagh of the Syrian American Council

The following interview was conducted by Foreign Policy Blog’s Rob Lattin with the Syrian American Council’s (SAC) Communications Director Rashad Al-Dabbagh. The SAC is a non-partisan, non-sectarian grassroots organization devoted to promoting educational, civic, economic, and human development, as well as advancing civil liberties and human dignity in Syria.  It also seeks to build bridges […]

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A new ‘rough patch’ in US-South Africa relations?

A new ‘rough patch’ in US-South Africa relations?

The US-South Africa bilateral relationship over the past eighteen months has been a diplomatic minefield. Issues include everything from military equipment and nuclear energy/weapons to oil, communication companies and the global north versus the global south. The most recent, and the most serious issue regarding US-SA relations is Iran. According to a press release sent […]

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Chester A. Arthur, Communism, and Egypt’s Constitutional Court

Chester A. Arthur, Communism, and Egypt’s Constitutional Court

Just as the blogosphere was starting to become familiar with the likely frontrunners in Egypt’s upcoming presidential race, the election commission disqualified three of the most most visible candidates, upholding this decision on Tuesday. The commission deemed candidates ineligible for various reasons: Salafist preacher Hazem Abu Ismail’s mother was an American citizen, Muslim Brotherhood financier Khairat al-Shater […]

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A Candid Discussion with Lloyd J. Dumas

A Candid Discussion with Lloyd J. Dumas

Dr. Lloyd Jeff Dumas is a Professor of Political Economy, Economics, and Public Policy in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences at the UT-Dallas. Dr. Dumas sat down with Reza Akhlaghi, Senior Writer at FPA, to discuss his new book, “The Peacekeeping Economy: Using Economic Relationships to Build a More Peaceful, Prosperous, and Secure […]

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Reports Spread about North Korea Helping Iran Test a Uranium Bomb

Reports Spread about North Korea Helping Iran Test a Uranium Bomb

The following was taken from Jspace.com.  The article was written by Jspace Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Rob Lattin, who also blogs about Israeli and Middle Eastern foreign policy for Foreign Policy Blogs.  While US and Israeli leaders were talking tough on Iran at last week’s AIPAC Policy Conference, reports and rumors began swirling that Iran may very well […]

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“Leading from Behind”: What Would Walter McDougall Think?

“Leading from Behind”: What Would Walter McDougall Think?

A little under two weeks ago the Boston Herald published an online editorial suggesting that President Obama “abandon his ‘lead from behind’ stance.”[i]  This facilitated some personal reflection on the President’s supposed foreign policy strategy and America’s role as the global leader.  For those unfamiliar with the term “leading from behind,” it was supposedly coined […]

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The Second Coming of State Capitalism and its Challenge to the Washington Consensus

The Second Coming of State Capitalism and its Challenge to the Washington Consensus

One thing history has consistently taught us is that paradigms shift and new eras are born in a repeating cycle that’s as old as hills. One thing history has also taught us is that some shifts are far more epochal than others; some have the capacity to distort the pathway of history and others not. […]

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Pork Over Doing the Right Thing: The US Foreign Aid Budget

Pork Over Doing the Right Thing: The US Foreign Aid Budget

To absolutely no one’s surprise, the US Congress is still going after foreign aid in an attempt to seem tough on spending, as The New York Times reported this week.  Although there appear to be few developments since I wrote about this issue in July, the discussions and subsequent hand-wringing are back in the open.  […]

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Bashing the European Union in the United States

Bashing the European Union in the United States

Since the recession, bashing the European Union has become a sport for U.S. commentators. Just skim the most recent headlines, and one is led to believe that the old continent is on the brink of economic, political and social collapse. The truth is that very few commentators really seem to grasp the revolutionary character of […]

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‘The Path of Glory Leads but to the Grave’: The Most Important Battle Ever Fought in the History of Transatlantic Relations

‘The Path of Glory Leads but to the Grave’: The Most Important Battle Ever Fought in the History of Transatlantic Relations

On a moonless night in the morning hours of September 13, 1759, a procession of boats steered silently down the St. Lawrence River. The boats contained the small British expeditionary force under the command of 32-year-old, red-haired Major-General James Wolfe, who in a low voice repeated line after line of Thomas Gray’s ‘Elegy in Country […]

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‘The Truth’ and 9/11

‘The Truth’ and 9/11

As C.S. Lewis states in The Abolition of Man, once you step outside of the Tao, by which he means the world of objective value, you and your civilization fall ultimately down a slippery slope into the abyss of value indeterminacy and the rule of a Nietzschean will to power. According to Lewis, “A dogmatic […]

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U.S.-India Strategic Relations: Taking the Long View

U.S.-India Strategic Relations: Taking the Long View

All is not as friendly as it appears Just as U.S.-India ties were at a nadir following New Delhi’s nuclear tests in 1998 – and just as the United States and China were declaring their own strategic partnership – Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee famously characterized Washington and New Delhi as “natural allies” who would […]

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Defining Irony: Iraq Set to Take the Helm of the Arab League

In an unintended twist of fate, Libya’s expulsion from the Arab League has left the fragile state of Iraq at the helm of the Arab League. It remains to be seen whether they’ll be ready to lead.

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