U.S. Foreign Policy

For those of you still in a patriotic mood after the Independence Day holiday, how would you like to read a speech given by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams on July 4, 1821? The American Diplomacy website provides a review and a link to the text of the speech. I thought the speech was […]

Former Secretaries of State James A. Baker III (1989 to 1992) and Warren Christopher (1993 to 1997), wearing their hats as the co-chairmen of the National War Powers Commission, authored an op-ed in the New York Times yesterday, arguing on behalf of the findings of their commission's recent report. They write: “The most agonizing decision we make […]

After a long pause, there is activity once again on the front lines of America's official public diplomacy. Part of this is a seasonal phenomenon — every summer, the little-known U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy issues a report with recommendations, usually appealing for more resources for the State Department's public diplomacy operations. But this […]

José Maria Peredo Pombo, a professor of International Relations at the European University in Madrid, penned an opinion piece about Senator Obama in the online journal “Forum For A Safe Democracy.” In the piece titled “The Multipolar World of Barack Obama,” Pombo gives a historical take on past American Presidents who have tried to affect change: “To […]

I’d like to recommend one of my favorite foreign policy blogs. FP Passport is a group blog by the editors of Foreign Policy magazine. They describe themselves as: Equal parts scout and translator, we draw on the world's leading journalists, thinkers, and professionals to analyze the most significant international trends and events of our times, […]

Former Ambassador Chas Freeman addressed the World Affairs Council in Washington, DC last week. The title of his talk: “America In the World: Magoo at the Helm.” His remarks provide a sobering, yet extremely important account of the changes afloat in the international realm. I’ll let the Ambassador speak for himself. “A great many governments abroad now fear that Washington […]

  As I prepare to depart for my Independence Day holiday, I’ve been giving some thought to what I could post that would be appropriate for the holiday, something celebrating democracy and liberty. The U.S. has contributed much to the world, far more than can be listed in this space, but perhaps it is those […]

I will be on vacation for the majority of July, so I thought I would leave you with a few timely resources on foreign policy and the US Presidential campaign. 1)  Senator Chuck Hagel (R, NE), as part of his recent book tour, spoke at the Brookings Institution last week about “U.S. Foreign Policy and the […]

Last week–as the Bush administration sees it– diplomacy came out victorious in the standoff between North Korea (aka the Democratic People's Republic of Korea) and the five other “parties” attempting to halt its nuclear weapons program. Pyongyang submitted an accounting of its nuclear arsenals to the Chinese government–a first step in reigning in the nuclear weapons program North Korea […]

John McCain's airborne version of the “Straight Talk Express” flew off to Columbia yesterday — and it wasn't Columbia, South Carolina, but the actual country of Columbia. Both candidates, in fact, are taking advantage of a break in the political calendar at home to do some foreign travel. For Obama, who is about to set […]

It is fitting that progress on disarmament talks with North Korea has been made this week as this also marks another important milestone, the signing of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty forty years ago this week. The treaty created a framework for countries to pledge not to seek nuclear weapons and for existing nuclear powers to […]

  Is the U.S gearing up for a major confrontation with Iran? In this week's issue of The New Yorker, journalist Seymour Hersh reports that President Bush authorized an increase in covert operations inside Iran after receiving funding from Congress (The New Yorker – Preparing The Battlefield): Late last year, Congress agreed to a request […]