Foreign Policy Blogs
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Humanitarian Affairs - Is Dialogue Possible?
On June 11th, the United States High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that more than 6,000 Nigerians had fled to Niger to escape armed clashes between governmen...
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Africa - There’s trouble in River City, and it’s spelled D-A-M
There is a village in Afghanistan by the name of Kobakai, a few winding hours from Kabul, where the lives of the residents changed because of one thing: water. With help from outside groups such as CARE, one morning the ...
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Africa - In Mali, Now Comes the Hard Part
Beginning in January, French and Malian forces took just over a month to rid Mali’s north of Islamic militants. The Tuareg-dominated MNLA however claims a remote, remaining area. With elections scheduled the end of...
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The Middle East - Israel, Palestine, and Justice
Amidst all the news reports and speculation about a renewed push for a two-state solution to end the Arab-Israeli conflict, many have been very vocal about why the two-state solution is simply not the right way to end th...
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Africa - Mandela and Mugabe: A Study in Contrasts
[Robert Mugabe and Nelson Mandela] Nelson Mandela has been hospitalized for more than a week and S...
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Humanitarian Affairs - Down About Darfur
The Secretary General’s latest quarterly report on the Africa Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) makes for grim reading. Citi...
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The Middle East - Iran Has a New President: Key Priorities, Managing Expectations
Hassan Rohani, the 65 year old Western educated cleric and a former chief nuclear negotiator, is the 7th President of the Islamic Republic of Iran since 1979. Iran’s state-run television reported that Mr. Rohani wo...
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Foreign Policy - We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks (2013)
While Julian Assange is the person with the rock star persona, Bradley Manning is t...
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Humanitarian Affairs - The dark side of “paradise”
The South Pacific: a region of inviting sandy beaches, turquoise waters – and unacceptable levels of violence against women. Life is especially diffic...
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Foreign Policy - FPA’s Must Reads (June 7-June 14)
Silent War By Michael Joseph Gross Vanity Fair Did the U.S. bid to stop nuclear proliferation unleash an even great threat? T...
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The Middle East - Canada Recognizes Iran’s 1988 Massacre as Crime against Humanity
The summer of 1988 has a special significance in Iran’s tortured history under the Islamic Republic. It marked the height of Iran’s weakened military status in the waning days of its war with Iraq. Iran was also w...
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The Middle East - The Diaspora’s Role in Iran’s Struggle for Democracy
Blogger’s Note: The following is a co-authorship piece by Soushiant Zangenehpour and Alireza Ahmadian. The 2009 (S)election Shock: What happened?Nearly four years ago today, the world witnessed an orchestra...
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Africa - Time for Mugabe to go
The violent, mismanaged and tyrannical rule of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe must end. As the opposition parties in the country unite to dig their heels in bracing to defend against another example of the blata...
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The Middle East - Hezbollah Enters the Syrian Fray
On Monday Arab governments in the Persian Gulf pledged to put sanctions on the Lebanese Shiite group ...
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Foreign Policy - Polisario Threatens its Way to Congress: There’s Something Wrong with this Picture
A few weeks ago, the U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution calling on Morocco and the Polisario Front to “contin...
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The Middle East - After the Revolts: Arab-West Relations (Part 2/2)
By Manuel Langendorf & Abul-Hasanat Siddique After decades of secular dictatorships, how wil...
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Europe - The Dilemma of the Snowden’s leak
Should Europe care about the Snowden’s leak? Absolutely, but don’t expect too much from the EU and its Member States to fully defend privacy rights of European citizens. Earlier this week, Edward Snowden, a f...
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Foreign Policy - Foreign Policy in Theory and Practice
“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 ong...
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Asia - Think: ‘Independent’
In its 65 years of independence, this election year was the first time Pakistan managed to vest power from one democratically elected government...
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Humanitarian Affairs - Of Human Rights and Robots
Since the creation of the modern international community following World War II, the prevention of war and conflict has been its major preoccupation. These goals have been achieved largely through two distinct veins of i...
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Africa - Why Obama’s visit is important for South Africa
As Barack Obama is about to embark on his historic tour of Africa, many South Africans are asking why it should matter to them. There are numerous reasons why a visit from the President of the United States is an ...
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Asia - Obama-Xi: Staying Engaged
It’s been a busy week for the United States regarding engagement with Asia; President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded a two-day meeting — or “summit” with a small “s” — at Sunnylands, the fo...
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Asia - As Election Approaches, Cambodia’s Parties Offer Little Hope
PHNOM PENH — As one approaches the intersection of Norodom an...
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The Environment - Can a Solar Tariff Spark a Trade War?
The struggle for positioning in the solar energy marketplace took another turn. On June 4 Karel de Gucht, the European Commissioner for Trade, announced a new 11.8 percent tariff to be applied to imported Chinese ...
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The Americas - Investing in Credibility: The Story of the Americas
The hyper-expansion of the BRICS nations was seen by some as an overreaction to instability in the global economy in the late 2000s. Countries like Brazil became a hot commodity for investors when Europe and the US econo...
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Media and Culture - Rich Debates
As questions of economic inequality elbow their way from the classroom to the headlines of the evening news, the qu...
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Foreign Policy - FPA’s Must Reads (May 31-June 7)
Dear Leader Dreams of Sushi By Adam Johnson GQ Kenji Fujimoto, an alias, was Kim Jong...
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Foreign Policy - Demonstrations denote divided Turkey
In a country where two continents meet and empires have risen and fallen for millenia, Turkey continues to struggle with its contrasts. A predominantly Muslim country with a secular government, a growing economy increasi...
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The Middle East - Ten Pictures About the Civil War in Syria, Bleeding Into Lebanon
The Civil War in Syria could soon turn to favor the Assad regime’s unyielding hold on power. The minority Shia-Alawite regime has recaptu...
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Asia - India and Pakistan: Dangers Ahead for the Revived Spirit of Lahore
Nawaz Sharif’s return to the helm in Islamabad is sparking optimism that a more stable and constructive India-Paki...
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The Environment - Permanent Arctic Council Secretariat opens in Tromso, strengthening Norway’s position in Arctic
The Arctic Council, the most important multilateral organization in the circumpolar north, opened the offices for its permanent secretariat in Tromsø, Norway on Monday. This is an important moment for the now 17 year-old...
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The Middle East - A Candid Discussion with Jamshid Barzegar
Jamshid Barzegar on the Authenticity of Iranian Elections Jamshid Barzegar is a Senior Iran Analyst and Editor at the BBC Persian Service. He was previously he...
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Modern Challenges - GailForce: President Obama’s Terrorism and National Security Strategy Part II
This week marks the 71st anniversary of the Battle of Midway. The battle took place 4 – 7 June in 1942 and proved to be the turning point in the war against Japan, just 6 months following the devastating Japanese attac...
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The Middle East - A Candid Discussion with Reza Taghizadeh
Reza Taghizadeh on Iran’s Energy Policy in Disarray Reza Taghizadeh is a senior Iran analyst at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, covering Iranian geopolitical a...
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Foreign Policy - When reporters keep silent instead of scoops
During the Bosnia conflict, reporters in Sarajevo kept quiet about at least two great stories. We did so with an unwritten rule of realizing that sometimes, silence is more important than scoops. The first was most of kn...
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The Americas - The Era of Excuses in Latin America
After mostly sidestepping the global financial crisis in 2008, many in Latin America welcomed the 2010s as “Latin America’s decade.” But it’s been quick to fizzle out. Now, with the World Bank and IMF projecting ho-hum g...
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The Middle East - The Obama Administration’s Push for Arab-Israeli Peace, 2.0
Credit: Jim Young/AP, Pool Much attention has been paid to United States Secretary of State John Kerry’s recent visits to Israel and the Palestinian territories. As Kerry shuttled back and forth between officials o...
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Africa - Zim Elections
[Reuters. Robert Mugabe signs Zimbabwe's new Constitution into law in Harare in May 2013.] In the wake of a court order mandating that Zimbabwe hold Presidential elections by the end of July, President Robert Mugabe has ...
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Europe - Nagorno-Karabakh: Expect Status Quo in 2013-14
Two decades of international community administered talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, a predominantly Armenian enclave inside Azerbaijani territory, have failed to reach a resolution. Meanwhile,...
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The Middle East - Turkey Protests Rock Erdogan’s Government
Dear Readers, You’ve probably heard of or seen the massive p...
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The Environment - The Contested Space of NATO in the Arctic
DefenseNews has a thought-provoking analysis of NATO’s announcement earlier this month that it had no p...
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Humanitarian Affairs - (Don’t) keep the change
How often have you opened your wallet or purse, taken out any banknotes and then instead of spending them or paying them into your account, actually...
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Foreign Policy - Internet Censorship in China
Across the world, internet users remain concerned — probably increasingly so — about what it might mean to lose control over their personal information online. In the United States, these fears may translate ...
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The Americas - Cuba Focuses on Cuba (and US on US)
Pamela K. Starr of the Pacific Council looks toward the future of Cuba and of the relationship between Washington and Havana in a new report, just released...
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Humanitarian Affairs - Reducing “Food-prints” on World Environmental Day
The U.N. Environmental Programme (UNEP) recently highlighted some appalling figures pertaining to issues of food...
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Foreign Policy - Surprises in the Benghazi E-Mails
Two weeks ago I discussed the talking points that Ambassad...
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Foreign Policy - The Intervention Calculation: Mali
Brussels was the scene of an international donor conference last week to pledge €340 million in support of stabilizing Mali. The conference comes aft...
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Asia - Balochistan: The Ignored
Citizens of Balochistan protesting the election results Photo Credit: Facebook Balochistan Balochistan – the province comprising some 44 percent of the entire land mass of Pakistan and merely five percent of the populat...
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Asia - President Thein Sein of Myanmar Comes to Washington, D.C.
President U Thein Sein of Myanmar visited Washington, D.C. last week and met with President Barack Obama in what was billed by many in the media as “an historic event,” taking into account that President Sein is the firs...
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Modern Challenges - GailForce: President Obama’s Terrorism and National Security Strategy
Photo: Getty Images On 23 May, President Obama gave a long awaited and much overdue talk on his strategy for conducting t...
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Asia - They Call It Myanmar: Lifting the Curtain (2012)
“Asia’s rice bowl.” That was the name of Burma (now called Myanmar) some time ago. Now isolated and under stern military rule, Burma...
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Modern Challenges - A Death in London and Extremism Within
A colorful mosaic of flower petals brightens an otherwise grim corner in the Woolwich section of London. Its mirror image rests outside a quiet home in Middleton, Greater Manchester. Each bouquet serves as a worthy tri...
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The Middle East - A Candid Discussion with Eric Trager
Eric Trager on the Muslim Brotherhood’s view of Iran and Iran...
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The Middle East - Beyond the Amended Arab Peace Initiative
Credit: Ali Yenidunya/enduringamerica.com Although the Arab-Israeli peace process has been and continues to lie in a coma, a few weeks ago a notable attempt was made to jolt it back to life. On April 29th, Prime Minister...
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Asia - India, Pakistan and China: The importance of regional powers in a post-U.S. Afghanistan
By Tyler Hooper With U.S., NATO and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) personnel set to withdraw the bulk of their military personnel from Afghanistan in 2014, regional powers such as China, India and Pakista...
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Foreign Policy - FPA’s Must Reads (May 10-17)
Each week the editors at FPA choose five must reads from around the web and five of the best of ForeignPolicyBlogs.com. So if you're looking for reading for the weekend, we've got you covered....
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Europe - Cameron Visits U.S. in High Wire Act on Europe, Syria
The gesture itself was subtle, but as the collection of briefing notes were set to one side, so with it went a thin layer of pulped political barricade. What remained were two government leaders seated across a table, a...
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Africa - Repression in Zim?: An Election Must Be Nigh
There is an old cliche about three similar events making a trend. Well, it appears we have a trend in Zimbabwe, where, not coincidentally, there is supposed to be an election this year. In recent weeks a young activist, ...
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Modern Challenges - “Self-Radicalization,” the Boston Bombings, and Why Nobody is to Blame
I like to write my own blogs, and too often have too much to say to readers who want it short and sweet. But the push to attribute past and future attacks on U.S. citizens on U.S. to “self-radicalization” is ...
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The Environment - Will Ghana Overcome its New Energy Challenge?
Ghana has been forced to cope with increased energy shortages as a result of damages to the West African Gas Pipeline, dating back to Aug. 28, 2012. The $1 billion, 650 kilometer long pipeline, built to carry gas from Ni...
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Humanitarian Affairs - Call Me, Maybe
When asked what items they never leave the house without, many people (in the West at least) would likely answer, “my mobile (cell) phone.” It would be pr...
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The Americas - Opening Up to the BRICS Generation
When French politician Pascal Lamy set the process in motion to replace himself as the head of the World Trade Organization (WTO), it was an interesting outcome that the two last candidates for the position were both fro...
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The Middle East - Selling Organs in Iran
Iran’s legal system is consistently under scrutiny from outsiders who view many of the Islamic Republic’s laws restrictive and unnecessary. With its extensive censorship, women’s rights and security issues, Iran’s libera...
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Foreign Policy - No clear path for Maldives
Last April I wrote about the tiny island natio...
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Foreign Policy - Surprises in the Benghazi Talking Points
On Friday, ABC News published all 11 versions of the Benghazi talking ...
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Foreign Policy - Weighing Afghan Experience, Civil-Military Relations Debate Continues
Can military and civilians successfully collaborate in conflict zones? This has been an open question for decades, but especially recently in Iraq and Afghanistan, where new approaches and the length of the conflicts pr...
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The Environment - Arctic Council Meeting Tomorrow: Who and What to Follow
Every two years, the Arctic Council (AC) Ministerial Meeting convenes in a city in the host country. The last meeting was in Nuuk, Greenland, and tomorrow morning, the AC will meet in Kiruna, Sweden. After the short two-...
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Europe - Europe’s Ghosts
The struggle to keep the Eurozone intact threatens the future of a united Europe. It is not, however, the only ...
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Foreign Policy - 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...
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Foreign Policy - U.S. Supports Syrian Online Resistance
The internet went dark in Syria last week. Although media reports blamed the outage on a...
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Humanitarian Affairs - Considering Seafarers’ Right to Communicate
For much of the world’s employed, maintaining communication with those closest to them while completing their employment requirements is not a contemplated issue. Many workers can use their own personal or workplace phon...
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Asia - Why Austerity Always Fails: Lessons from Thailand
Watching the news these days and hearing about yet another au...
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The Environment - White House releases national Arctic strategy
“We in the lower forty-eight and Hawaii join Alaska’s residents in recognizing one simple truth that the Arctic is an amazing place.” That’s how U.S. President Barack Obama begins his written statement ...
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Asia - Shadow of Afghanistan (2012)
This documentary is all over the place. It is in part a history of modern Afghanistan and also a film about independent journalists – so...
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The Middle East - Respecting Prayer in Jerusalem
A turning point may have been reached in Jerusalem with the development of a recent plan...
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Africa - ICC Rift with Africa Growing in Pursuit of Kenyatta
On Saturday, March 9, 2013, Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya’s richest man and son of the country&...
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The Americas - Pena Nieto’s Latest Reform
The flurry of reform continues in Mexico. On Wednesday, President Enrique Pena Nieto announced plans to ease the flow of credit to small businesses. Mexico’s sky-high interest rates have long kept small businesses from g...
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Europe - Exit Surkov: The end of postmodern Putinism?
Speculation swirls around today’s sudden resignation of Vladislav Surkov, the Kremlin’s chief ide...
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Europe - Le 9 mai
Even though we are still commemorating great political, social and military achievements, their meanings and symbolisms are fading away. History is all around us, is present and shapes our lives everyday, but remains unk...
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Europe - Le 8 mai
May 8th, 1945 symbolized the end of World War 2 on the European continent. It is a symbol of victory over the Nazis, not Germany. This day is of supreme importance to the making of Europe as we know it. Pictures can only...
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Africa - Rich Africa? Poor Africa? Yes.
[Image from 99 FM] The current issue of Foreign Affairs has an article, “Africa’s Econo...
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Modern Challenges - Solving Syria – A dilemma for the West
With nearly 70,000 dead Syrians since the beginning of the unrest, the Syrian conflict certainly join a select group of international massac...
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