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A New Strategy for Iran’s Nuclear Deal
April 11, 2022 4 min. read

Former-President Trump’s decision to remove the United States from the JCPOA was misguided. Now President Biden negotiates with Iran after years of obscure nuclear development. It is time to reconsider foreign policy objectives for Iran’s nuclear program. Trump argued the nuclear deal failed to address Iran’s motive for nuclear weapons, and he stands correct. Trump […]

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How Will U.S. Policy Address Rights?
July 29, 2020 4 min. read

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 […]

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On the Halifax International Security Forum
March 19, 2018 6 min. read

A recent article in the Atlantic penned by Eliot Cohen, a former State Department luminary and currently Director of the Strategic Studies Program at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in Washington DC, lamented the collapse of the global elite and its inability to offer anything of substance to a world in turmoil. He cited the […]

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Death by a Thousand Cuts (and Tweets): The Impending Train Wreck of U.S. Foreign Policy
April 7, 2017 12 min. read

If the “America First” myopic vision becomes reality, the U.S.’ place in the world will become a lonely, isolated one, its security and well-being fundamentally jeopardized.

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On Foreign Policy, and Fixing Political Dysfunction
November 3, 2016 4 min. read

In foreign policy, a nation acts as a singular entity, with citizens’ identity reflected in its conduct. Today, our discourse projects our political dysfunction.

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Clinton and Why the State Department Doesn’t Follow Its Own Rules (Pt II)
September 29, 2016 10 min. read

Diplomacy today is mobile, continuous, and often time-urgent. The technology, on the other hand, is stationary and only intermittently available.

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America’s Diplomats: Film Review by Neil Thompson
February 3, 2016 4 min. read

Many of the diplomats interviewed seem to feel they do a better job of representing America abroad than they do of representing the diplomatic profession to their fellow Americans back home.

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Zivotofsky v. Kerry: Will Executive Privilege Trump Israel Advocacy?
November 3, 2014 9 min. read

The disputed status of Jerusalem will ostensibly be under review by the U.S. Supreme Court today. Zivotofsky v. Kerry asks whether the president’s so-called “foreign affairs power” — based on his textual duty to “receive ambassadors and other public ministers” — ousts Congress from directing foreign policy.

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Beijing Loses Face over Partial Lifting of U.S. Arms Embargo on Vietnam
October 3, 2014 3 min. read

Beijing’s formidable display of aggression this year has once again backfired, as its neighbors continue to beef up their military capabilities and forge defensive pacts both within and outside the region.

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State Department Says XL Pipeline Won’t Affect Oil Sands Development
March 6, 2013 3 min. read

The Department of State has released a 2000-page draft Supplementary Environmental Impact Statement regarding the XL Keystone Pipeline. In the words of the executive summary, the report “concludes that approval or denial of the proposed Project is unlikely to have a substantial impact on the rate of development in the oil sands, or on the […]

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Biden’s Comments on Benghazi Attack Sparks New Debate
October 12, 2012 4 min. read

In their sole debate before the election, Vice President Joe Biden and GOP challenger Congressman Paul Ryan sparred for 90 minutes on the direction of U.S. policy, both for foreign and domestic.  Last night’s debate was a stark contrast to last week’s meeting between the two men at the top of the tickets, with Biden […]

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