Section: Foreign Policy (USA)
The Obama Administration Turns Its Gaze South of the Border
As the State Department confronts a number of global challenges ranging from extremism in the Middle East and Russian aggression in Eastern Europe, a surprising provision in the White House’s newly-unveiled budget proposal for Foggy Bottom would boost funding for Central America, where a mass migration of unaccompanied minors to the...
FP’s Situation Report: Obama warns not to overstate Islamic State threat; U.S. considers arming Ukraine; Nigerian army scores a victory; and much more from around the world.
By David Francis with Sabine Muscat Obama: Don’t overstate the Islamic State threat. The terror group moved across Syria and Iraq with ease, and Iraqi and Kurdish forces have made limited gains in turning it back. Still, President Barack Obama warned not to inflate the group’s capabilities. FP’s Kate Brannen: “The Islamic State...
Chechnya’s Lost Boys
When the cold weather came, Liza Mazhayeva was busy with her daily routine: cooking food for four children, two grandkids, and her sick husband, even while doing her best to keep the ramshackle house clean despite its broken roof and windows. Her life was little different from that of thousands of other obedient and God-fearing Chechen housewives...
The Hack that Warmed the World
The client wanted carbon credits: tradable serial numbers that confer the right to pollute the Earth with invisible, odorless gas. Jugga, as the client called himself, planned to steal the credits, quickly resell them, and become rich overnight—but he needed the Black Dragon to hack into a computer system to help him do it. The Dragon, who in...
What Would Ash Carter Do?
As you might imagine, those of us who work at Harvard’s Kennedy School are pleased that our former colleague Ash Carter has been nominated to be the next secretary of defense. Ash and I don’t agree on certain aspects of U.S. foreign and defense policy (for example, he’s favored a more hard-line approach to Iran’s nuclear...
Time to Put Up or Shut Up?
Talk is not cheap for the new Greek government. But it’s unclear when new Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will dispense with market-rattling rhetoric and get down to negotiating the promises he made during his campaign. While Tsipras has been shaking his fist at the painful austerity measures imposed by the European Union, depositors have...
Russia May Need to Say ‘Do Svidaniya’ To Belarus
Over the course of his two decades in power, Aleksandr Lukashenko, Belarus’s autocratic president, has perfected the art of weaving between Russia and the West. But with the fighting in eastern Ukraine approaching his country’s doorstep and Russia’s struggling economy weighing down his own, Lukashenko has begun an unprecedented...
FP’s Situation Report: The Pentagon has a Bergdahl problem; Congress’s make-or-break surveillance moment; American contractors killed in Kabul; and much more from around the word.
By David Francis with Sabine Muscat The Pentagon has a Bowe Bergdahl problem. The Army is deciding whether to charge the former prisoner of war with desertion. Whatever the outcome, critics will slam the White House and revive the controversy over whether President Barack Obama should have traded five detainees for a soldier many believe...
FP’s Situation Report: Jordan calls the Islamic State’s bluff; Hezbollah retaliates against Israel; Democrats jump ship on Iran sanctions; and much more from around the world.
By David Francis with Sabine Muscat Jordan knows when to hold ‘em. Jordanian officials agreed to the release of Sajida al-Rishawi, imprisoned for plotting attacks in 2005, in exchange for the release of Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh and Japanese journalist Kenji Goto. Early Thursday, their fates are still unknown. FP’s Elias Groll...
Ukrainian Brides May Solve China’s Gender Gap, Chinese Media Claims
“Their economy is depressed but beautiful women are running rampant,” the state-run Beijing News reported Jan. 22 in a story suggesting that Ukrainian women could be the solution to China’s woman shortage. The piece, illustrated with charts, bubbles, and cartoon illustrations of lonely Chinese men, was a breezy attempt to make light of...
