U.S. Foreign Policy Archive

A spate of high-profile diplomatic feuds and military actions related to the South China Sea has raised concern about the direction of U.S.-China relations. At the Shangri La Dialogue held in Singapore from June 3-5, U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter charged that China risked “self isolation” through its behavior in the South China Sea. For their part, Chinese officials and media have dismissed such criticisms. President Xi Jinping has firmly defended Chinese actions in the South China Sea, warning that “China will not accept freedom of navigation as an excuse to undermine China’s sovereignty and national security interests.” One […]

Last week, authorities in Bahrain stripped Sheikh Isa Qassim, the country’s most prominent Shiite cleric, of his citizenship. His crime: “Serving foreign interests” and spreading sectarian discord. The move wasn’t in isolation. One week prior, a Bahraini court suspended the activities of al-Wefaq, Bahrain’s main Shiite opposition group, on charges of terrorism, extremism and violence. Days before, Bahraini police detained Najeel Rajab, president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, during a raid on his home. Zainab al-Khawaja, a political dissident, also fled the country earlier this month after being released from prison. In May, an appeals court extended the […]

To borrow a phrase from Winston Churchill, the United States may not be at the beginning of the end of its presidential campaign, but it is at the end of the beginning. After a long, tumultuous series of primaries and caucuses, the two major parties have settled on their presumptive nominees, to be confirmed at each party’s convention this summer. Now American voters must look “under the hood” of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, exploring both candidates’ policies and inclinations in detail, before making their choice in November. Thus far, foreign and security policy have received more attention than is […]

Last week, New York Times reporter Mark Landler compared the foreign policy statements of a candidate for president, presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, with those of the actual U.S. president, Barack Obama, in regard to the Orlando terrorist attack. His conclusion, which unsurprisingly matches that of his most recent book on the allegedly contrasting foreign policy perspectives of Clinton and Obama, is that Clinton has shown herself to be the more hawkish of the two. Clinton, he argues, is more solicitous of military force and harsher in characterizing the terrorist threat facing America. It’s the kind of comparison that immediately […]

In his defiant speech to Syria’s parliament earlier this month, President Bashar al-Assad, as he always has, cast all of Syria’s rebels as terrorists. “Just like we liberated Palmyra and many other areas before it, we are going to liberate each and every inch of Syria from their hands,” he said. The speech struck a decidedly different chord from Assad’s last national address, in July 2015, when he admitted that his army was tired, running out of soldiers, and had given up territory. A little over a month after that speech, Russia intervened in Syria, propping up Assad through airstrikes […]

In a recent article for Defense One, national security expert Stephen Biddle argued that much of the debate on U.S. strategy in Afghanistan focuses on the wrong thing—the timetable for withdrawal—rather than on America’s ultimate strategic goals. The real objective, Biddle wrote, “is to end the war on terms Americans and Afghans can live with. But calendar deadlines and fixed withdrawal schedules make this almost impossible.” The only alternative to the collapse of the Afghan government and a likely victory by the Taliban, Biddle continued, is a negotiated settlement. This conclusion is solidly grounded in the long, bloody history of […]

When Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, delivered her first speech after the weekend massacre at an Orlando LGBT nightclub, she listed a predictable collection of problems contributing to the killings, from the availability of assault rifles in the U.S. to the proliferation of extremist ideologies emanating from the Middle East. Then she delivered a surprisingly blunt message to America’s Arab allies: It is “long past time,” she declared, for Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar to stop their citizens from funding extremist organizations, as well as from “supporting radical schools and mosques” that send young people into extremism. The […]

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington last week was striking in its normalcy. In contrast to the drama of the early years of the transformation in this bilateral relationship, it’s become commonplace to see Indian and American leaders praise the partnership and work through often tedious bilateral issues. The strategic trajectory is becoming clear: Cooperation is growing on managing the global commons and ensuring a peaceful Asia. Over the past two decades during which the relationship between the world’s two most-populous democracies has been transformed, references to their shared values have been abundant. In the past, however, invoking […]

Today the United States is more receptive to major change in its global strategy than it has been for decades. Things unthinkable or relegated to the political fringe only a few years ago are now on the table. This includes the reconfiguration of both partnerships and adversarial relationships. As his administration winds down, President Barack Obama made modest openings toward some of America’s longstanding opponents like Cuba and Iran, and sealed rapprochements with one-time adversaries like Vietnam. Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, has pushed in the opposite direction. Rather than forging new ties, he has called longstanding ones […]

In this week’s Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein, and host Peter Dörrie discuss the United States’ relationship with Pakistan, evolving U.S. strategic partnerships, and the possibilities for unrest in the run-up to Kenya’s presidential elections next year. For the Report, Jan-Werner Müller joins us to talk about the growth of populism and the role it plays in European politics. Listen: Download: MP3Subscribe: iTunes | RSS Relevant articles on WPR: High Hopes, Great Disappointments: U.S.-Pakistan Relations Under Obama Are the Winds of Change Blowing for U.S. Strategic Partnerships? Protests and Clashes Likely Just the Start of Political Unrest in […]

U.S. President Barack Obama’s recent trip to Hiroshima, Japan, was symbolically important for historical reasons. It is also an example of the Obama administration’s ongoing efforts to manage old partnerships and solidify new ones as it rebalances its strategic focus to Asia. But the U.S. is not alone in eyeing countries in the region as potential partners. The following 10 articles are free for non-subscribers until Thursday, June 16. Managing U.S. Partnerships in Asia Looking Back to Look Ahead: The U.S.-Japan Alliance in Today’s Asia Following Obama’s visit to Hiroshima in May, Sheila Smith wrote that, symbolism aside, many still […]

Earlier this year, in Jeffrey Goldberg’s extended profile of President Barack Obama and his views on U.S. foreign policy, Pakistan was barely mentioned, except for one striking reference. Obama, Goldberg wrote, “privately questions why Pakistan, which he believes is a disastrously dysfunctional country, should be considered an ally of the U.S. at all.” Obama’s view is ironic, because he tried hard to strengthen Washington’s relations with Islamabad. The Obama administration came into office hoping to transform the relationship from a transactional, security-focused arrangement into a deeper, strategic partnership. His efforts, however, have largely proved unsuccessful. Obama’s Pakistan policy was doomed […]