On July 16, the State Department released the Draft Report of the Commission on Unalienable Rights. The report, as Walter Russell Mead notes, is “a thoughtful and carefully reasoned document that may serve as an important landmark.” Given the Commission’s charge, though, it should be titled “A Comprehensive Review of U.S. Human Rights Policy,” as […]
Secretary of State Pompeo’s July 8 announcement of a new Commission on Unalienable Rights, alongside Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s Plan to Rebuild the State Department, illustrate the domination of foreign policy discourse by politics. The political process chooses ultimate policymakers, so politics has a proper and large role. However, foreign policy is what a nation does as a […]
The 4th of July is sacred in the civic culture of Americans. On that day of 1776, their forefathers formally terminated allegiance to King George III. Prominent among their grievances against him was that he ‘made Judges dependent on his Will alone’ – by pulling the strings of term and pay. It is this judicial […]
To successfully resolve regional crises, the U.S. must acknowledge and prioritize the core security interests of regional hegemons.
Both Qu Yuan and Zbigniew Brzezinski serve as lessons for the role effective foreign policy strategy can play in a state’s survival.
The unthinkable has happened as rising U.S.-Russia tensions in Syria have started to undermine global security through a key nuclear deal cancellation.
President Barack Obama’s West Point commencement address last week was not an announcement of a new direction in American foreign policy — it was a defense of the policy path already chosen. The most significant takeaway from the speech — if not its biggest headline — was the president’s commitment to international institutions. Obama reminded his audience […]
Recent events highlight the potential for conflict between China and the U.S., and the larger picture of U.S.-China relations remains fundamentally perplexing. Is our relationship one of economic partners complicated by politics, or of adversaries that happen to share economic ties? As our “frenemy,” is China more a geopolitical foe or economic partner, a co-manager […]
Vladimir Putin’s encroachments on Ukraine have drawn Western investment and trade sanctions in response. U.S. sanctions are levied against certain Russian individuals, and serve reasonable diplomatic notice of our opposition. However, we should not look to trade and other economic sanctions as a long term answer to Putin’s aggression. First, it is clear […]
The U.S. cannot address today’s Russian military threat against Ukraine without addressing what military resources we have to back our diplomacy and to deter hostile moves backed by force. Currently, no U.S. discourse guides policy makers toward an answer. The public expects a strong defense when we are afraid or when we are outraged […]
Angela Merkel wants to wall off European data from the NSA. If ever there was evidence of dysfunction in the free world, this is it. The technical foolhardiness of the idea, which the Financial Times noted in its report, makes the initiative more likely to launch a war of words than truly divide the internet. […]
Trade ministers for World Trade Organization (WTO) member nations reached agreement in Bali December 7, setting standards for customs, and addressing food and agricultural issues, among other matters. The measures in themselves are limited, but the Bali deal revives the WTO as a channel to approach trade policy. U.S. policy should reassess other approaches […]
Editor’s Note: The following Op-Ed piece is by Bijan Kian. The Honorable Bijan R. Kian is a globally recognized senior commercial diplomat, business leader and international banker. Twice confirmed by the Senate of the United States, he served under both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama as a member of the Board of Directors of the Export […]
In the July/August 2013 issue of Foreign Affairs, Nicolas Berggruen and Nathan Gardels outline a blueprint for moving toward a more federal European Union. Berggruen and Gardels argue that Europe’s economic future depends on a more federal union. Direct election for the EU presidency, reforming the European Parliament, and reconstituting the European Council as a […]
“Events, dear boy, events.” British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan’s response when asked what he most feared is one of the most popular quotes among foreign policy scholars. How and whether to respond to the ongoing violence in Syria is now the barometer of President Obama’s foreign policy posture. Is it isolationist or interventionist? The […]