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Mali, Hollande, and the Cautious French Press
Tweet Share on Facebook January 22, 2013 CommentA former United Nations correspondent, Leslie Pitterson is currently working on the production of the Great Decisions in Foreign Policy television series on PBS. You can follow her on Twitter @lesliepitterson.
Every January, as is the custom, the president of France invites a group of the nation's journalists to the Elysée palace. The event, 'voeux a la presse,' is a longstanding tradition where the head of state delivers greetings to the press. Comparable to the White House Correspondent's Dinner, it is an occasion where the who's who of the media and the president come together, marking the relationship of the press and the state with laughter and lavish spreads of food and wine. But this year, the voeux came at a less than festive time.
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Mali and the Conundrum of U.S. Military Interventions
Tweet Share on Facebook January 18, 2013 CommentRobert Nolan is an editor at the Foreign Policy Association and producer of the Great Decisions in Foreign Policy television series on PBS. You can follow him on Twitter @robert_nolan.
Perhaps no issue has dominated discussion of U.S. foreign policy over the past decade more than military intervention. When should America intervene in a sovereign country to protect its interests and values, and when should it stand on the sidelines?
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Why Hawks Fear Chuck Hagel
Tweet Share on Facebook January 17, 2013 CommentTed Galen Carpenter, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, is the author of nine books and more than 500 articles on international issues.
President Obama's nomination of former Republican senator Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense has ignited a firestorm of controversy. Most of the heat so far involves Hagel's views on U.S. policy toward Israel. His (relatively mild) apostasy on that issue has produced innuendos of anti-Semitism from Weekly Standard editor William Kristol and other outspoken neoconservatives. That campaign of character assassination is one that would have made even Sen. Joseph McCarthy blush. Prominent political and policy figures familiar with Hagel and his views have ably rebutted such unjust accusations. Most recently, Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, rebuked one of the council's own scholars, Elliott Abrams, for using the anti-Semitic smear against Hagel. On Tuesday, Sen. Charles Schumer voiced his support for Hagel, increasing the probability of his confirmation.
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U.S. National Security Strategy Must Go Beyond Counterterrorism
Tweet Share on Facebook January 17, 2013 CommentDr. Lamont Colucci is an associate professor of politics at Ripon College, recent Fulbright Scholar to the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, and author of The National Security Doctrines of the American Presidency: How they Shape our Present and Future, among other books. You can find out more at lamontcolucci.com.
For the past two weeks this column focused on threats and solutions to immediate national security threats that the United States faces. In both cases grand strategy has been mentioned. The very concept of an American Grand Strategy has almost vanished from any discussion of national security and foreign policy. Neither the current occupant of the White House, nor the many (though not all of) former Republican challengers were discussing, let alone promoting, a grand strategic vision for the United States. Some have come up with pieces of national security and foreign policy, but few have any sense of where the country should journey in order to protect American vital and national interests; few have presented a vision to guarantee American primacy, prosperity, and values.
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The U.S. Can't Stay in Afghanistan Forever
Tweet Share on Facebook January 17, 2013 CommentMichael P. Noonan is the director of the program on national security at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia, and a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Last week the Obama administration floated the possibility of a "zero option" for Afghanistan whereby zero U.S. troops might remain on the ground there starting in 2014. Prior to that trial balloon it was envisioned that the U.S. troop presence might be down in the four-digit range of personnel compared to the current post-surge 66,000-troop level. While some see this as a ploy to pressure the Afghan government to permit a more favorable Status of Forces Agreement (known as SOFA, the provisions governing the treatment of U.S. personnel in the country on a range of issues), others aren't so sure.
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The French Intervention in Mali Is Necessary, But Risky
Tweet Share on Facebook January 17, 2013 CommentStephanie Pezard and Michael Shurkin are political scientists at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation.
The French intervention in Mali, in response to Islamist rebel gains in the West African nation, was necessary. But the action brings significant risk.
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Chuck Hagel's Troubling 'Global Zero' Nuclear Arms Stance
Tweet Share on Facebook January 15, 2013 CommentPeter Huessy is a senior fellow in National Security Affairs at the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, D.C.
During the tenure of the Bush administration, the United States entered into numerous agreements with many countries, including our Cold War adversary Russia, to deal with the growing danger of nuclear terrorism.
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Hagel, Kerry, and Biden Aren't a Good Foreign Policy Team
Tweet Share on Facebook January 15, 2013 CommentAndrew S. Natsios is an executive professor at the George H.W. Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, and the author of Sudan, South Sudan and Darfur: What Everyone Needs to Know. Natsios served as administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development and as President George W. Bush's special envoy to Sudan.
President Obama's nomination of former senator Chuck Hagel for secretary of defense and Sen. John Kerry for secretary of state completes his foreign policy team for his second term. Opinion-makers have had a field day with Chuck Hagel's views on foreign policy (and on gay rights issues), and less on John Kerry's world view, probably because so much had been written about the views, judgment, and style of president's reported first choice for secretary of state, Susan Rice. Washington's chattering class usually gives a pass to a runner up in a nomination fight after throwing the president's first nominee under the bus. But what seems to have been missed in the public discussion of the individual nominees is what the unified team will look like. The one common characteristic all four men share (Obama, Biden, Kerry, and Hagel) who will make, manage, and lead American foreign policy for the next four years: They are all former U.S. senators (three of whom ran for president).
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Estonia's Lessons in Cyberwarfare
Tweet Share on Facebook January 14, 2013 CommentScheherazade S. Rehman is a professor of international finance/business and international affairs at The George Washington University. You can visit her homepage here and follow her on Twitter @Prof_Rehman.
What is a weapon of mass destruction? According to the Encyclopedia Britannica a weapon of mass destruction, known as WMD, is a
weapon with the capacity to inflict death and destruction on such a massive scale and so indiscriminately that its very presence in the hands of a hostile power can be considered a grievous threat. Modern weapons of mass destruction are either nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons—frequently referred to collectively as NBC weapons.
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Can Obama's Foreign Policy Picks Reboot His Static Africa Policy?
Tweet Share on Facebook January 14, 2013 CommentStephen Hayes is president and CEO of the Corporate Council on Africa.
The first Obama administration received far more criticism than praise for its policies towards Africa. Much of that criticism was from Africa itself. There was also sometimes muted, sometimes not so muted, criticism from the so-called Washington "Africa community," of which I am often considered a part. The criticism usually followed party lines, but a surprising number of those who support President Obama found themselves frustrated by what seemed a static approach to Africa. There is hope that the second Obama administration will be different when it comes to Africa.
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