Foreign Policy In Focus

FPIF is a project of
Institute for Policy Studies (202)234-9382

 

Subscribe to
World Beat

FPIF's weekly ezine


Support FPIF


UPCOMING EVENTS

December 7, 2008
IPS Mandate for Change Election Series: The Election and U.S. Policies Toward Africa and Latin America
4:00-6:00PM
Washington, DC



Recent Reports

usb cover
A Unified Security Budget for the United States, FY 2009


Lessons from Iraq (May 2008)


Just Security (June 2007)


FPIF Picks


Review by Benjamin Tua


Review by Kyi May Kaung


Postcard from...


Montevideo
By Joshua Frens-String


the UN
By Nora McKeon


 

FPIF in the NewsFPIF in the News

Jul 23, 2008
FPIF Peace and Security Editor Miriam Pemberton was quoted in a review in Truthout of Lessons from Iraq: Avoiding the Next War, a book she co-edited.

Jul 21, 2008
IPS Director John Cavanagh was quoted in "Obama's Evolving Foreign Policy," an article in The Nation.

Jul 21, 2008
FPIF Co-Director Emira Woods was quoted in an article in the Washington Independent about AFRICOM.

Jul 21, 2008
FPIF Research Fellow Erik Leaver was quoted by Reuters in an article about U.S. military spending and prospects for the government cutting back on it after the next president takes office.

Jul 16, 2008
FPIF Peace and Security Editor Miriam Pemberton was interviewed on KPFK Radio (Los Angeles) about Iraq, Guantanamo, Afghanistan, and Lessons from Iraq: Avoiding the Next War, a book she co-edited.

 

Obama and the Minority Majority
Columnist Laura Carlsen writes that the U.S. elections mark the end of white elite politics and the foreign policy that goes with it.


Obama and the World

Barack Obama is on his way to the White House after a historic victory on Election Day. But the Obama administration will face steep obstacles, including a huge economic crisis and an overheated planet. After covering the campaign in detail, FPIF now looks at the foreign policy challenges and opportunities of the next administration.

Change you can believe in or policy status quo? John Feffer analyzes the new administration's options in The North Korean Conundrum.

Latin Americanists Urge Obama to Revamp Policies: Author Cynthia McClintock and more than 200 scholars are urging the new president to respect Latin America's new progressive leadership.

The Case for U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan: Sameer Dossani argues that instead of scaling up an already disastrous war, the United States could change course in a way that would ultimately do a lot more to ensure the world's safety.

Obama's Top Three Foreign Policy Priorities: FPIF analysts participate in a virtual roundtable on the most crucial global issues of our time.

more...


Confronting the Financial Crisis

The global financial crisis is emptying the pockets of people in rich, poor, and middle-income nations alike. In its wake, FPIF offers new solutions to the crisis and innovative alternatives to the now officially defunct “Washington Consensus.”

 

Annotate This: The Chinese Economy: Samuel Bleicher analyzes a New York Times editorial that advises China to adopt an American-style mass consumer economy, which would be a recipe for economic, environmental, and probably political, disaster.

As long as U.S. officials continue to refuse to face the reality of a post-market fundamentalist world, they will further contribute to the crisis, write Robin Broad and John Cavanagh in Swear Off Market Fundamentalism.

Salil Shetty argues, in Bailout for the World's Poorest People, that with the world's most impoverished people bearing the brunt of a crisis they had no role in creating, donor countries should come up with a $300 billion package to cushion the economic shock.

In The IMF is Dead; Long Live the IMF, Sameer Dossani argues that without bothering to learn from the mistakes that until recently had it desperately seeking a new mission, the IMF again is turning into the world's financial firefighter.

more...


Fiesta!

Visual artist Daniel Heyman talks about his new exhibit on the representation of torture in the Iraq War.


Mark Vallen interviews artists Guy Colwell, Stephen Fredericks, Juan Fuentes, and Art Hazelwood about a new exhibit on the socially conscious art movement in The Art of Democracy.

In her poem "Prelude," Kathy Engel takes us from Nicaragua to the West Bank to the South Bronx, as she explains a new counter-terrorism approach.


FPIF Strategic Dialogue

On Pakistan

The United States must support the ongoing talks between Pakistan and its local Taliban, according to Mehlaqa Samdani. Sharad Joshi asserts that Pakistan is in danger of giving away too much to its local Taliban in the current talks. In a continuation of the discussion of Pakistan's negotiations with extremists within its borders, three experts, Mehlaqa Samdani, Sharad Joshi, and Tarique Niazi, take issue with each other.


Youth and Activism

Dedrick Muhammad and Farrah Hassen argue that we can't ignore Christian Zionists' influence on U.S. policy toward the Middle East in Christians United for Israel and Attacking Iran.


In Hungry for Justice, Indian guest workers, brought to the United States to help rebuild following hurricanes Katrina and Rita, hold a hunger strike to protest abuse by Signal International.


Peace and Security
Pakistan's Anti-Muslim Taliban
Mustafa Qadri
The Taliban may claim to fight for Islam but most of their victims are Muslims.

Georgia, Iraq, and Athenian Justice
Adil E. Shamoo and Bonnie Bricker
Russia didn't have to look back to ancient times to learn how to invade another country.

On the Brink of Peace in the Middle East?
Benjamin Tua
A convergence of interests in the region provide a golden opportunity for the United States to reverse its policy and help bring peace to the Middle East.

Multilateralism
Extraordinary Rendition, Extraordinary Mistake
Sangitha McKenzie Millar
By sending suspects to countries where they've been tortured, the United States has harmed individuals, broken laws, and tarnished its own reputation.

Nuclear Recycling Fails the Test
Robert Alvarez
The debate over nuclear power is heating up, along with the planet. Can nuclear fuel recycling be part of the mix? Not a chance.

Food Safety on the Butcher's Block
Christine Ahn and GRAIN
Washington is using new free trade agreements to push U.S. food—and food safety standards—down the throats of other countries.

Global Economy
The World Bank Takes the Money and Runs from Chad
Daphne Wysham
After funding a predictable boondoggle of a pipeline, the international lender hightails it out of an impoverished African nation.

The Dracula Round
Walden Bello and Mary Lou Malig
Will the WTO's Doha talks come back from the dead?

Derail Doha, Save the Climate
Walden Bello
From the point of view of environmental sustainability, global trade has become deeply dysfunctional.

Africa
Sinafrique
Leif Brottem
A Malian timber scandal points to a positive side of China's controversial growing presence in Africa.

Congress Challenges AFRICOM
Beth Tuckey
Congress is asking the right questions about the need for the Pentagon's new Africa Command.

Ballots vs. Bullets in Kenya and Zimbabwe
Briggs Bomba
The world's attention has been riveted in 2008 by election crises in Kenya and now Zimbabwe. What's next the the battle of the ballot vs. the bullet?

Americas
Mexico's Oil Referendum
Manuel Perez-Rocha
Opposition parties organized a non-binding referendum to fight government efforts to gut a constitutional ban on private investment in the oil industry.

Three Amigos Summit
Manuel Pérez Rocha and Sarah Anderson
The NAFTA-expanding Security and Prosperity Partnership is too cozy with big business.

Cuba's Post-Castro Revolutionary Transition
James Early
It's time to honestly step forth and engage Cubans and their government on the terms they negotiate inside their own country.

Asia
U.S. Strategy in Bangsamoro
Herbert Docena
Why would the United States hedge its bets by supporting greater autonomy for the Moros in the Philippines?

Musharraf's End: New Beginning?
Mustafa Qadri
Pakistan's latest military dictator has finally fallen, but the problems that plague the country are unlikely to disappear with him.

Mad Cows, Mad People
Gavan McCormack
What's the relationship between the beef crisis in South Korea, the humanitarian crisis in North Korea, and the global food crisis?

Eurasia
A New Helsinki Accord
Anton Caragea
In the aftermath of the Georgia crisis, Europe needs to think big and craft a comprehensive new agreement on borders and sovereignty.

What To Do Now in Georgia
Ian Williams
It's time for the UN to step up to the plate and help resolve the conflict.

Russia's Anti-Democratic Paradox
Anna Arutunyan
The United States must start treating Russia as it is, rather than as the United States would like it to be.

Syndicate FPIF RSS RSS 2.0 Feed

Our Latest

The Chinese Economy
Samuel Bleicher
Nov 18, 2008

Group Grope
Vol. 3, No. 46
Nov 18, 2008

Somalia Resurfaces
Michael Shank
Nov 17, 2008

Keep Secretary Gates? This Simple Test Should Decide
Miriam Pemberton
Nov 17, 2008

Obama and the Minority Majority
Laura Carlsen
Nov 14, 2008

Swear Off Market Fundamentalism
Robin Broad and John Cavanagh
Nov 14, 2008

Latin Americanists Urge Obama to Revamp Policies
Cynthia McClintock
Nov 13, 2008

Review: 'The Much Too Promised Land'
Benjamin Tua
Nov 13, 2008

Bailout for the World's Poorest People
Salil Shetty
Nov 13, 2008

The IMF is Dead; Long Live the IMF
Sameer Dossani
Nov 12, 2008

Rebounding with Obama
Vol. 3, No. 45
Nov 11, 2008

Turkey Between East and West
Ragan Updegraff
Nov 10, 2008

The Case for U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan
Sameer Dossani
Nov 10, 2008

How to Spend the Honeymoon
Walden Bello
Nov 7, 2008

Obama's Top Three Foreign Policy Priorities
FPIF Senior Analysts
Nov 7, 2008

Winter Soldier: Domingo Rosas
Domingo Rosas
Nov 6, 2008

Letter to President Obama on Human Rights
Julie Mertus
Nov 5, 2008

Postcard from...Montevideo
Joshua Frens-String
Nov 5, 2008

Bombers Without Borders
Vol. 3, No. 44
Nov 4, 2008

A Bold Step for U.S. Good Will in Iraq
Adil E. Shamoo
Nov 4, 2008


The Food Crisis

Food prices are up all over the world. Is the current food crisis a temporary problem or a sign of something more serious?


Sports and Foreign Policy Sports and Foreign Policy

Forty years after the historic 1968 Olympics, the eyes are on Beijing. FPIF explores what impact the Olympics will have on China, the role of sports and politics, and what governments and social movements hope to achieve at this year's games.


Military Footprint Focus U.S. Military Footprint

The United States maintains more than 700 bases around the world and is pushing to set up even more. What are these bases doing, how is the Pentagon rethinking their functions, and how can we reduce this military footprint?


Religion and Foreign Policy
Religion and Foreign Policy

A look at the role of religion in global affairs. Read about missionaries, monks, and the intersection of monotheism and modernity.


World Social Forum Focus
WSF Focus

A new stage in the evolution of the global justice movement was reached with the inauguration of the World Social Forum (WSF) in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in January 2001. Six years later, what's the result?

Erinc Yeldan, Bret Benjamin,Guacira César de Oliveira, Patrick Bond, Jamal Juma', Melanie Joseph, Rita Thapa, Adam Ma'anit, Walden Bello, Emira Woods


China Special Focus
China Focus

With China emerging as the new global go-to guy, FPIF assesses this growing influence and its impact on U.S. foreign policy.

Introduction, Central Asia, Arms Sales, Partnership or Competition?, Southeast Asia, India's Nuclear Deal, East Asian Security, China's Labor Law, Taiwanese Independence, Cross-Straits Unification, China and the Environment, Kung-Fu Nationalism, Debate on Labor, China in Africa, China and Human Rights, Frankenstein Alliance, Conclusion


This page was last modified on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 5:11 PM
Contact FPIF's webmaster regarding the functionality of this website. Copyright © 2008, Institute for Policy Studies
1112 16th St NW, Suite 600, Washington DC, 20036 [map] | (202) 234-9382 | (202) 387-7915 fax | info@ips-dc.org

Material published and distributed by FPIF represents the views of the author(s) and does not necessarily represent the views of the board members or staff of IPS or of the FPIF editors. FPIF is committed to sponsoring a broad public dialogue about U.S. foreign policy and the role of the United States in the world.