Foreign Policy Blogs
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Humanitarian Affairs - Battling Child Labor in Cocoa and Cotton Fields
As I mentioned in my recent post, Decreasing Child Labor in 2012, child labor continues to hold some 215 million childre...
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Foreign Policy - GailForce: Review of Great Decisions, Drawdown: Exiting Iraq and Afghanistan
I just finished previewing an upcoming PBS program on the drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The segment is part of the Great Decisions in Foreign Policy television series produced by the Foreign Policy Ass...
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Foreign Policy - A Belated New Year’s Resolution for US Diplomacy
“He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such ...
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The Middle East - A Candid Discussion with Houchang Hassan-Yari
With sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran gaining greater mom...
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Africa - The Egyptian Football Tragedy
At a time when all of the continent’s and indeed the world’s sporting attentions should be focused on the African Cup of Nations ...
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Europe - Carlos Slim and Telecommunications in Mexico
Carlos Slim is well known in Latin America and abroad as one of, if not the wealthiest CEO in the world. He was even mentioned on the Colbert Report thi...
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The Americas - Carlos Slim and Telecommunications in Mexico
Carlos Slim is well known in Latin America and abroad as one of, if not the wealthiest CEO in the world. He was even mentioned on the Colbert Report thi...
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Modern Challenges - Iran Diplomacy
What are the prospects for a diplomatic settlement to the simmering dispute with Iran over its nucle...
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The Middle East - Where Bibi and Golda Meet
This week I met with an Israeli military official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, about Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s leadership. While he lauded his economic acumen and abilities as a politician, th...
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Humanitarian Affairs - Decreasing Child Labor in 2012
One of the biggest priorities in 2012 is to decrease child labor. According to the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) most recent global estimate, 215 million children worldwide are involved in under-age empl...
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Modern Challenges - Bird Flu Developments
Members of the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, in an article posted on Science̵...
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Humanitarian Affairs - CEDAW – Treaties as Art
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women – shortened to CEDAW – celebrates its 31st birthday in September 2012 (counting from when it entered into force). If you happen t...
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The Americas - Haiti: Occupy Haiti (II) – Earthquake Anniversary Series!
Part two Please, read part one here first: Occupy Haiti (I) Armageddon, two years on… Reconstruction year 2012R...
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The Americas - Great Decisions 2012 – partnering the U.S. and Mexico
While eyes of the American public are often turned toward the Middle East or Asia on foreign policy matters, America’s interaction with Mexico is perhaps the most ingrained foreign policy relationship. The Foreign Policy...
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Modern Challenges - DNI’s Clapper on Threats: North Korea, Iran Et Al.
Director of National Intelligence chief James Clapper testified today in front of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, on intelligence community conclusions contained in the DNI’s annual Worldwide Threat A...
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Foreign Policy - GailForce: Department of Defense Budget Cuts- Hold On It’s Coming!
2,500 years ago the warrior philosopher Sun Zsu said: “The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road to safety or to ruin. Therefore, it is a subject that must be thoroughly...
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Modern Challenges - Sour Grapes? IDSA Questions NTI Nuke Materials Security Index
After the Nuclear Threat Initiative released its Nuclear Mater...
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Europe - Blame Them, Not Us: Adoption as a Political Tool
On January 18, Russia’s Ombudsman for children, Pavel Astakhov, and Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, stated that they would seek an official moratorium on adoption of Russian children by American families. Cooperat...
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The Environment - Denmark creates new Arctic Ambassadorship
Earlier this month, Denmark appointed Klavs A. Holm as the new Arctic Ambassador, an office which will become permanent. At the same time, Danish Foreign Minister Villy Søvndal announced the closure of the embassies in I...
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Asia - Silk Roads (plural!)
I wish I had uploaded this back in mid-November, but here it is. S. Frederick Starr, Chairman of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at Johns Hopkins University, presented his advice for American leadership in Central As...
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The Americas - Is Latin America Confident for All the Wrong Reasons?
Latin America’s technocrats spent the second half of 2011 on mushy footing, unsure what effect the euro zone crisis might have on the region and afraid that China might experience a “hard landing.” Now some of the region...
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Europe - Great Decision 2012 – Assessing Cyberthreats in the Digital Age
“Is the US at risk?” Here is the extremely relevant question raised b...
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Africa - @TheWorld: Can you hear us now? #Africa
As policymakers, international affairs experts and enthusiasts, we talk a lot ...
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The Middle East - Perry’s Comments were Ridiculous, but what about the Status of Women in Turkey?
In the recent South Carolina GOP Presidential Primary, Fox News’s Brett Baier asked an extremely misleading question to Rick Perry about Turkey’s ‘Islamist oriented’ government, and what policies should the U...
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Humanitarian Affairs - Unsafe Abortions on the Rise
The right to life is unquestionably one of the biggest human rights debates in the United States. Some argue there is never an acceptable reason for the termination of a pregnancy, others will allow it in the case of a m...
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The Middle East - Standing up for Women’s Rights
Amal Hassan, a young mother of three, began fighting to promote women’s rights in Yem...
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Europe - Toy Story: Revolt of the Little Guys
“Political opposition forces are using new technologies to carry out public even...
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Modern Challenges - Know Your Religion
A year ago I stumbled upon an interesting website. After relating a short story, it asked the reader to guess the religious context in which the tale was set. The questions varied from the way women dressed (burqa-esque,...
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The Environment - With New Fiber Optics Cables, Competition Moves to Seafloor
First it was server cooling rooms. Now, new, trans-Arctic telecommunications cables might be the next big thing up north. At this year’s Pacific Telecommunications Coun...
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The Americas - Brazil’s Women Leaders on Top of the World
The way to become a top CEO in Europe or the US has often come from societies that promoted the top achievers in schools and universities into positions of great influence and great wealth. With hard work and luck a pers...
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Asia - Republic Day Reflections
Salman Rushdie’s effigy is burned in Mumbai Just in time for Republic Day, which commemorates...
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Humanitarian Affairs - News…
Pakistan struggles to make progress against polio Child malnutrition and vaccination refusals are hindering Pakistan...
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Asia - I’m Coming Home, I’m Coming Home, Tell the World I’m Coming Home
The return of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to Thailand appears to be a formality at this point; a question of when, not if. It was inevitable as soon as the polls closed in Thailand’s last election this past ...
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The Environment - World Food Programme Names New Chief
Last week, Ertharin Cousin was named by the United Nations to replace Josette Sheeran as the head of the World Food Program...
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Humanitarian Affairs - Balancing justice & politics in Kenya
In an ideal world, the search for justice would always trump the pragmatic work...
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Africa - In Which The Economist Loses a Debate Against Itself
The Economist had a piece on South Africa in the latest issue that unintentionally contradicted itself. I usually try not to let others do my work for me, but these tw...
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The Environment - AltaRock Leads the Way for U.S. Geothermal Research
2012 could be the year that Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) technology takes off and enters the public consciousness. And to highlight this, Altarock, the Seattle based geothermal energy developer, has recently announce...
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Africa - The Afar Saga
Last week, as I was scanning the news media, I landed on tragic news coming out of Ethiopia, a country I am deeply indebted. In Afar region, gunmen have killed five foreign tourists for unknown reason. Indeed that is so ...
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The Environment - NOXL? Yes!
So, the environmental movement drew the proverbial line in the sand: no Keystone XL pipeline. We’ve been fighting the tar sands for years, and will continue, but the Keysto...
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Asia - Great Decisions 2012: Inside Indonesia — A Review
It is the world’s largest Muslim country but remains for the most part secular. It is home to the eighteenth largest economy on the globe but more than sixteen percent of the population lives on less than $2 per day. Ind...
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Asia - Why is suicide rampant in Japan?
The number of suicides in Japan surpassed 30,000 for the 14th year in a row in 2011, according to the National Police Agency. The numbers released this month show 30,513 people took their lives last year, down 1,177 from...
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Modern Challenges - Bird Flu Virus Research Moratorium
The creation of a modified H5H1 bird flu virus that can be transmitted through the air mammal-to-mammal has aroused wide consternation; a biosecurity advisory board to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services rec...
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The Middle East - A Tale of Two Diasporas
Guest Contribution by Reza Marashi The following piece was written by Reza Marashi in Foreign Policy Magazine on January 19, 2012. Mr. Marashi is Director of Research at National Iranian American Council (NIAC) and a for...
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The Middle East - A Familiar, Unproductive Anti-Media Refrain
Israeli and American politicians alike are using the same playbook — attackin...
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Foreign Policy - The Gospel According to Paul
Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has amassed a loyal legion of followers. Con...
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Humanitarian Affairs - A Tale of Two Narratives in Afghanistan
“Transition” is the word on the tip of everyone’s lips in Afghanistan these days—a catchphrase I’ve heard employed more than ...
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The Environment - Canadian intelligence offer arrested in Halifax, possibly with ties to Russia
Royal Canadian Navy Intelligence Officer Jeffrey Delisle was arrested in Halifax last week for espionage. He is being charged under the Security of Information Act with “breach of trust and communicating safeguarde...
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The Americas - Haiti: Occupy Haiti (part one)
Part one Armageddon, two years on…. Haiti’s conventional image rarely extends beyond succinct summations of a corrupt, dangerous, impoverished and unstable place plagued by a litany of tragedies: man-made and natur...
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The Americas - FPA Comments On: “Mexico’s Drug War: Not Another Colombia”
This week COHA.org writer Natalia Cote-Munoz produced a great piece comparing and contrasting Mexico’s current drug war with Colombia’s historical drug conflict in order to differentiate between policies that should be a...
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Media and Culture - Editor’s Murder Verdict Sparks Public Outrage in Turkey
The verdict in a five year-old murder in Turkey is causing a serious public outcry. 18 people were accused in a lengthy trial over the killing of newspaper editor Hrant Dink, and only 2 were sentenced to punishmen...
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Europe - 2012: in Search of Russian Carrots and Sticks
The December protests in Russia against parliamentary election results have marked a momentous change to the current Russian political situation. The protests have revealed the looming necessity for authorities to respon...
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The Environment - FAO promotes climate-smart agriculture
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) plans to encourage climate-smart farming in Malawi, Vietnam, and Zambia, providing these count...
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Foreign Policy - U.S. Companies Fight Internet Censorship
Google, Reddit, and Wikipedia all are using their considerable web presence today t...
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The Environment - IEA Cuts Forecast for Oil Demand Growth
The International Energy Agency has reduced its forecast for growth in oil demand in 2012 to 1.1 million barrels per day from 1.3 million...
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Europe - CSDP Challenges for 2012
The last two years were a bumpy ride for the European security policy. One may claim that the Europeans once again failed not only to convey a clear message about their security goals to the foreign partners, but also to...
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The Middle East - In Order to Fight Hamas, Israel Must Provide for Fatah
The Israeli-Palestinian peace process (negotiations between Israel and Fatah) has reached a stalemate that could prove quite detrimental to the two-state solution. It has allowed Hamas to make a resurgence in Palestinia...
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Foreign Policy - To Understand the New Obama Security Strategy, Think 9/11
Would President Obama’s new security strategy, a plan for a “leaner” U.S. military, unveiled earlier this month, have prevented the Iraq War were it adopted a decade sooner? Sarwar Kashmeri, a Senior Fellow at the Atlant...
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The Americas - Dilma’s Dangerous Idea
In an article for the Economist’s “The World in 2012,” President Dilma Rousseff argues for “the Brazilian model” to be emulated by other developing countries. The essa...
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Africa - Oprah’s Leadership Academy Girls Graduate in South Africa, but Are Boys Being Left Behind?
Call it the O-effect. Passing with flying colors, seventy-two South African girls from disadvantaged backgrounds graduated from the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (the academy’s first graduates) in South Afri...
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The Middle East - A Familiar Refrain
In his NYT op-ed today entitled “Don’t Do It, Bibi”, Roger Cohen issued another stern warning to his favorite target, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. In his piece, he warns about the grave repercussions ...
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Modern Challenges - Phobos-Grunt
The first major space-related event of 2012 is upon us. The failed Russian Mars probe, Phobos-Grunt, crash landed today in the Pacific Ocean – or was it the Atlantic Ocean? After months of speculation, even the exp...
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Asia - Noda retracts assurance to cut Iranian oil
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda retreated Friday from the strong assurances given by Finance Minister Jun Azumi the day before that Tokyo would cut oil imports from Iran. Noda said Azumi was expressing his “...
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Humanitarian Affairs - News…
“Alarming malnutrition” in Sudan conflict zones: UN Malnutrition is stalking civilian popula...
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Modern Challenges - Locking Down the Nasty Stuff: NTI Launches its Nuclear Materials Security Index
In its latest effort to highlight the danger of loose nukes – in this case, weapons-usable nuclear material – the Nuclear Threat Initiative has launched its Nuclear Material...
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Europe - The Last Soviet Citizen
Who was the last citizen of the USSR? Obsessed with the 20th anniversary of the Soviet collaps...
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Africa - UN Peacekeeping Again Under Fire
If reports coming out of South Sudan are true the United Nations may be facing its big...
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Foreign Policy - GailForce: New Defense Strategy
Last week I participated in a Department of Defense Bloggers Roundtable on President Obama’s new defense strategy with Captain John Kirby (USN), Deputy Secretary of Defense for Media Operations; and Dr. George Little, Pe...
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Foreign Policy - Institutions And New World “Netizens”: Act 1
“First They Ignore You — Then They Ridicule You — Then They Fight You — Then You Win” Mahandas Gandhi Will technology fundamentally change the relationship between the nation state and citiz...
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Modern Challenges - Iran: the Case for Talking
In an Arms Control Association issue brief published on January 4, Greg Thielmann ably makes the case for trying to resolve the Iranian nuclear dilemma by means of old-fashioned diplomacy. The ACA’s introduction to...
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Europe - Azerbaijan: Fallout from Tagi Murder, New Internet Protest Movement, and an American Ambassador Goes Home
There is no real progress to report on the investigation into the murder of Rafiq Tagi, although as I mentioned shortly after his death, a number of theories—some of them rational, others not—cropped up immediately on so...
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Foreign Policy - U.S. Navy Saves Iranian Fishermen…Again
For the second time in days the U.S. Navy has saved Iranian fishermen. As you will ...
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Humanitarian Affairs - Female Infanticide Continues to Haunt India
Over the past few years I have written a number of posts on the issue of gender-based discrimination resulting in infanticide, especially regarding the heartbreaking case of India’s alarming rate of ‘missing ...
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Asia - Cambodia’s Poor, Betrayed
This article originally appeared at Dissent Magazine. Approximately 70 people sat outside the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh last week in the sweltering...
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Europe - What Does a “Leaner” US Defense Mean for Europe?
In an era of austerity,US defense is facing cutbacks, or to stick with the admini...
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Media and Culture - Tracing the Contours of North Korea
Borderline: North Korea from Emphas.is on Vimeo. Tomas Van Houtryve, an award-winning documentary photographer, is creating a book of photographs made ...
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Europe - Crime and Non-Punishment
Forget democracy – Russia has dispensed with boring, empty bourgeois rituals like vot...
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The Environment - The icebreaker that could: USCGC Healy slowly leads the way for Russian tanker Renda carrying fuel to Nome
The isolation of Nome, Alaska has garnered the small city a certain degree of infamy. No roads lead to the city of 3,500 from the rest of the state. The only way in is by plane, ship, or dogsled, as was done in 1925 to b...
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Asia - Not Guilty
A Malaysian judge has ruled today that fiery opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is not guilty of sodomy charges brought forth by a former male aide. The verdict opens up the possibility for Ibrahim to stand in the next gene...
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The Americas - Mexico: Rumbo a la elección
Mexico’s presidential election, to be held July 1, looks like a foregone conclusion. President Felipe Calderón’s right-wing National Action Party (PAN) has fallen far out of favor due to Mexico’s terrible drug violence. ...
Ivory Tower survey polls IR scholars on the top foreign policy problems facing the U.S.
Nominations Open: Top 35 Under 35 Young African Leaders in International Affairs
Pulitzer Crisis Reporting Grant Open
