Search

Begin New Search Topic Security Political Geography United States Content Type Policy Brief Publishing Institution Foreign Policy In Focus

1. Terrorism in a Teacup?

Author:
John Feffer
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
The bubble is bursting. I'm not talking about the Greek economy, the collapse of which has bankers and finance ministers trembling from Athens to Antarctica. Nor am I talking about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which reminds us once again that our current energy security rests on shaky foundations.
Topic:
Security, Islam, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Pakistan, United States, and Mexico

2. U.S. Blocks Israel-Syria Talks

Author:
Stephen Zunes
Publication Date:
05-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
Even as American officials reluctantly agreed last month to include Syrian representatives in multiparty talks on Iraqi security issues, the Bush administration continues to block Israel from resuming negotiations with Syria over its security concerns. In 2003, President Bashar al-Assad offered to resume peace talks with Israel where they had left off three years earlier, but Israel, backed by the Bush administration, refused. Assad eventually agreed to reenter peace negotiations without preconditions, but even these overtures were rejected.
Topic:
International Relations and Security
Political Geography:
United States and Middle East

3. Strategic Partnership or Strategic Competition

Author:
Bonnie Glaser and James Nolt
Publication Date:
12-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
As part of our China Focus, we asked two leading scholars to reflect on the tensions and possibilities in U.S.-China relations. Bonnie Glaser is a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. James Nolt is a senior fellow at the World Policy Institute. We asked them first about the potential for a strategic security partnership between the United States and China, then about their economic relationship.
Topic:
Security, Economics, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
United States, China, and Asia

4. U.S.-China Relations — Opportunities, Risks, and the Taiwan Issue

Author:
Thomas J. Bickford
Publication Date:
08-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
China is primarily interested in concentrating on trade and economic development and therefore wants an international environment conducive to continued economic growth. Even with recent defense budget increases, China's ability to project power beyond its borders will be extremely limited for a long time to come. There is a real risk of conflict between the United States and China over Taiwan, and U.S. policy needs to be aimed at avoiding such a conflict.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and Development
Political Geography:
United States, China, and Taiwan

5. August Around the World

Author:
Daniel Smith
Publication Date:
08-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
The prevailing sentiment, less "laid back," refers to "the dog days of summer" from which the rich and well-connected have historically sought relief by getting out of town. Indeed, one can easily picture Caesar Augustus — in whose honor the Roman Senate renamed and lengthened the sixth month in the Julian calendar — abandoning Rome in the same way Congress and the president flee Washington.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and Development
Political Geography:
United States and Washington

6. Security Council Reform Debate Highlights Challenges Facing UN

Author:
Ian Williams
Publication Date:
08-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
Within a day of arriving at the United Nations John Bolton, the former lobbyist for Taiwan and advocate for one permanent seat on the Security Council, the United States, had cut a deal with the Chinese representative. China wants to stop an additional permanent Security Council seat for Japan. The United States had promised Japan its support in return for its loyalty over Iraq, but hated Germany more than it loves Japan. So the two agreed to thwart the attempt by the G-4 (Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan), to secure permanent seats during the current reform proposals.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and United Nations
Political Geography:
United States, Japan, China, India, Taiwan, Asia, Brazil, and Germany

7. A Unified Security Budget for the United States, 2006

Author:
Miriam Pemberton and Marcus Corbin
Publication Date:
05-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
During the last year, the ground under the security debate has begun to shift. A diverse and growing universe of voices, including former national security advisors, representatives of the business community, and the Bush administration itself, now recognizes that expanding the role of nonmilitary tools in our portfolio of security spending is necessary to keep Americans and the rest of the world safe. In the federal budget, though, where the debate takes concrete form, this shift barely registers. Small increases planned by the administration for some nonmilitary security programs would still leave the overall proportion of resources severely unbalanced.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States

8. U.S. Military Bases in Latin America and the Caribbean

Author:
John Lindsay-Poland
Publication Date:
10-2001
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
The United States maintains a complex web of military facilities and functions in Latin America and the Caribbean, what the U.S. Southern Command (known as SouthCom) calls its "theater architecture." U.S. military facilities represent tangible commitments to an ineffective supply-side drug war and to underlying policy priorities, including ensuring access to strategic resources, especially oil. Much of this web is being woven through Plan Colombia, a massive, primarily military program to eradicate coca plants and to combat armed groups (mostly leftist guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia). In the last five years, new U.S. bases and military access agreements have proliferated in Latin America, constituting a decentralization of the U.S. military presence in the region. This decentralization is Washington's way of maintaining a broad military foothold while accommodating regional leaders' reluctance to host large U.S. military bases or complexes.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, and Human Rights
Political Geography:
United States

9. Iraq: 10 Years After Gulf War

Author:
Stephen Zunes
Publication Date:
01-2001
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
Ten years after the Gulf War, U.S. policy toward Iraq continues to suffer from an overreliance on military solutions, an abuse of the United Nations and international law, and a disregard for the human suffering resulting from sanctions. Furthermore, Washington's actions have failed to dislodge Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein from power.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, and Arms Control and Proliferation
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, and Middle East

10. In Focus: Masculinity As Foreign Policy Issue

Author:
Cynthia Enloe
Publication Date:
10-2000
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Foreign Policy In Focus
Abstract:
Feminist analysis reveals some of the chief causes and costs of militarizing U.S. foreign policies. Civilian policymakers' desire to appear “manly” is a chief reason for the Pentagon's remarkable influence over current U.S. foreign policy. U.S. military policies today marginalize women and entrench the masculinization of political life at home and abroad.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, and Gender Issues
Political Geography:
United States