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Archives: Foreign Policy

Why it Matters that the World thinks US under Trump is Laughingstock

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Pew Research Center has found that the confidence of the world public in the US willingness to do the right thing has plummeted…

Is Putin’s Russia the critical threat Americans believe it to be?

Ronald Suny | (The Conversation) | - - U.S. intelligence agencies – 17 of them – agree that evidence shows the Russian government hacked the Democratic National Committee and waged a campaign…

Trump accuses Syrian of Planning Gas attack as Haley attacks Russia, Iran

Trump accuses Syria of Planning Gas attack as Haley attacks Russia, Iran

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The Trump administration is making noise about striking Syria, on the grounds that Damascus is planning to use poison gas again. Trump's Neoconservative…

All Signs from Trump Point to a Coming Conflict with Iran

By John Feffer | Foreign Policy in Focus | - - Behind all of Trump's boneheaded policies in the Middle East is an unmistakable urge for confrontation with Iran. The Saudi war…

Trump’s Great Retreat, from Asia Too

John Feffer | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | - - Asia has been the future for more than a generation. When Americans try to glimpse what’s to come, images of the Pacific Rim…

Is US Winning its Longest War? Huge Bomb Hits Kabul Embassy Row, kills at least 80

TeleSur | - - Health ministry spokesman Ismael Kawoosi said: "They are still bringing bodies, and wounded people to hospitals." A powerful vehicle bomb has hit the diplomatic area of the Kabul.…

Saudi-US War on Yemen: No Victory, but Cholera, Famine, State Collapse

Sophia Dingli | (The Conversation) | - - Yemen and its people are engulfed by utter devastation. In the two-plus years of the conflict between the Houthi movement and its allies, including…

GOP not the party of ‘Security’ as Intel Allies Flee Trump

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Globally, US security partners are beginning to rethink sharing sensitive intelligence with the United States. That decisio should worry all Americans, since it…

American Amnesia in the Garden of War

By John Dower | ( Tomdispatch.com) | - - Some years ago, a newspaper article credited a European visitor with the wry observation that Americans are charming because they have such short…

Trump’s Real sin in DC is not distinguishing between “Good” and “Bad” Dictators

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Donald J. Trump's peculiar comments about and relationship with dictators and loonies among foreign leaders have upset a range of observers, from sincere…

No, MSM: Man-Baby Trump didn’t become President with Missile Strikes

By Bill Moyers | BillMoyers.com | - - It’s been a week now since Donald Trump once again became our president. Here’s how it happened. After he unleashed missiles on a Syrian…

ISIL Now Controls only 7% of Iraq: What will its Defeat Mean for the Country?

Peter Bartu | (OpenDemocracy.net) | - - The west has treated ISIL as enemy number one while local actors see it as a sideshow in a political arena stretching from the Mediterranean…

Can António Guterres Fend Off America’s War on the UN?

By Dulcie Leimbach | (Inter Press Service) | - - UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - When António Guterres was chosen by the United Nations Security Council in October to become the next leader…

Trump, al-Sisi and Tightening up the Pressure Cooker

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - President Trump met Monday with Egyptian field marshal/ president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Trump effused, “We agree on so many things. I just want…

Given Trump’s Betrayal, Can we Crowdfund American Aid and Soft Power Abroad?

David Holdridge | (Informed Comment) | - - The current debate between liberals and the Trump Administration on American soft power abroad is not being framed correctly. Liberals should be arguing for…

Is the Public turning on Trump over Russia Ties, Sessions’ Perjury?

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Americans have become deeply concerned about Russia. Some 75% of them see it as a very or moderately serious threat. This, according to…

The Misuse of American Military Power and Mideast Chaos

By Danny Sjursen | (Tomdispatch.com) | - - The United States has already lost -- its war for the Middle East, that is. Having taken my own crack at combat soldiering in…

Has Trump quietly surrendered to Russia and China?

Michael T. Klare | ( Tomdispatch.com) | - - If there’s a single consistent aspect to Donald Trump’s strategic vision, it’s this: U.S. foreign policy should always be governed by the simple…

Trump & Co.: The weak of will, the strong of arm, the clown?

By David Faris | (Informed Comment) | - - WHERE are Elmer, Herman, Bert, Tom and Charley, The weak of will, the strong of arm, the clown, the boozer, the fighter? All,…

Could NSA Flynn face Criminal Charges over Russia Ties?

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn (Ret.) is the National Security Adviser of President Trump. Very serious questions continue to swirl around his relationship with…