Section: Foreign Policy (USA)
FP’s Situation Report: Islamic State victory in Libya is no sure thing; What can get done at Obama’s terror summit?; Syrian rebels call in U.S. airstrikes; and much more from around the world.
By David Francis with Sabine Muscat An Islamic State victory in Libya is far from certain. The terror group moved across Iraq and Syria with ease. But after drawing heat for beheading Egyptians, the path to take Libya is much more difficult. FP’s Kate Brannen and Keith Johnson: “The Islamic State’s success in Iraq and Syria was fueled...
The Geopolitical Stakes of America’s Trade Policy
This century’s defining battle could be won or lost without a shot fired. As President Barack Obama’s National Security Strategy makes clear, the rules-based system we have led since World War II is competing against alternative, more mercantilist models. Unlike past challenges to American leadership, this competition is primarily...
What Putin Learned From Reagan
There was a great power that was worried about its longtime rival’s efforts to undermine it. Its leaders thought the rival power was stronger and trying to throw its weight around all over the world. In fact, this longtime rival was now interfering in places the declining state had long regarded as its own backyard. To protect this...
The Geopolitical Stakes of America’s Trade Policy
This century’s defining battle could be won or lost without a shot fired. As President Barack Obama’s National Security Strategy makes clear, the rules-based system we have led since World War II is competing against alternative, more mercantilist models. Unlike past challenges to American leadership, this competition is primarily...
Beyond Bribery
Last month Greeks delivered a sharp blow to the European Union by voting in the left-wing Syriza Party, which has vowed to end years of painful austerity policies. But Syriza owes much of its popularity for its opposition to something else: elite corruption. As one news report put it, “Many in Greece feel slashed public spending has hit the most...
FP’s Situation Report: Egypt and Libya pound Islamic State targets; More similarities between Copenhagen and Paris attacks emerge; Ukrainian military and separatists battle for a key eastern city; and much more from around the world.
By David Francis with Sabine Muscat Egypt and Libya pound Islamic State targets in eastern Libya. Egyptian and Libyan warplanes bombed targets in Libya one day after Islamic State militants executed 21 Coptic Christians, opening a new front in the fight against the terror group. The Washington Post’s Erin Cunningham and Heba Habib: “The...
Democracy Lab Weekly Brief, February 16, 2015
To keep up with Democracy Lab in real time, follow us on Twitter and Facebook. Robert Orttung and Christopher Walker remind us that Ukraine is not the only place where Russia has stirred up trouble to sabotage democratic reforms. Min Zin reports on the remarkable rebirth of Burma’s student protest movement. Juan Nagel asks whether...
FP’s Situation Report: The Islamic State rises in North Africa; Terror hits Denmark; Cease-fire holds in Ukraine; and much more from around the world.
By David Francis with Sabine Muscat The Islamic State demonstrates its reach in North Africa. Militants released a video showing the mass execution of 21 kidnapped Egyptian Coptic Christians, lined up on a beach and summarily beheaded. The group’s growing presence in North Africa shows why President Barack Obama asked Congress to broaden...
Putin’s Frozen Conflicts
High-level negotiations in Minsk have just produced a new ceasefire in the war in Ukraine. Few believe that the agreement will hold for long. But even if it does, the Western powers are showing little inclination to make efforts to roll back the separatist enclave in the beleaguered country’s east. Russia, meanwhile, shows no real sign of...
New Model Dictator
For most of the West, Vladimir Putin is a bogeyman. His love affair with the thuggish separatists in eastern Ukraine has blotched his image across the democratic world. In November, he had to slink away prematurely from the G20 Summit in Australia after he was snubbed by just about every leader who counted. Yet the reception he got during his...
