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SHAFR Opinion

Why Do We Fight in Afghanistan?

by Susan Brewer

More people have been asking that question lately. For years Americans have been told that despite setbacks we are making progress there. Making progress toward what, people wonder. What is the mission of the United States in Afghanistan? After more than a decade since the launch of Operation Enduring Freedom, it is worth revisiting what [...]

Posted in Afghanistan War: 2001-present, Biographies / Memoirs / Diaries, Central Asia, George W. Bush administration: 2001-2008, United States | No Comments »

A Center-Left Leader, Missed Opportunities, and Anti-Americanism: A Possible new Direction in U.S. Policy Towards the Western Hemisphere?

by James Siekmeier

I received an email from a former colleague and friend of mine recently who concluded that Lula’s (Luiz Inácio Lula de Silva) two terms in office as President of Brazil (2003-2010) represented a missed opportunity for the United States–and United States-Latin American relations in general. Here was a center-left leader, in one of the world’s [...]

Posted in Americas, Brazil, South America, Uncategorized | No Comments »

A New Cold War at the Water’s Edge?

by Andrew Johnstone

An essential rule for politicians: always make sure the microphone is off.  On March 26 at the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, Barack Obama was overheard discussing missile defence with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. With an open mic, Obama told Medvedev “This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility.”[1] Russia currently [...]

Posted in Barack Obama administration: 2009-present, Domestic politics, Mitt Romney, Post-9/11: 2001-present, Ronald Reagan administration: 1981-1989, Russia | No Comments »

Is the System the Solution? Past Policies, Current Dilemmas, and Inter-American Relations in the 21st Century

by James Siekmeier

More than 20 years have passed since the last full-fledged U.S. military intervention in Latin America (Panama, 1989, in case your memories are hazy).  Starting in the 1980s, democratization flowered in the region for numerous reasons—but mostly internal reasons based in Latin American history and society. Starting in the 1990s, with the end of the [...]

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Visions of War

by Susan Brewer

On December 15th President Barack Obama welcomed home U.S. troops from a war he once had called “dumb.” His speech avoided the reasons why the Iraq War was fought and focused instead on honoring the American servicemen and women who fought it.  Inspiring words–“extraordinary achievement,” “honor,” “sacrifice,” “finest fighting force,” “unbroken line of heroes,” “progress [...]

Posted in Barack Obama administration: 2009-present, Iraq, Iraq War: 2003-present, Middle East, Post-9/11: 2001-present | No Comments »

Newt Gingrich and the (ab)Uses of History

by Andrew Johnstone

It is an honor to join the SHAFR blogging team for 2011-12.  While SHAFR is (as the name makes perfectly clear) a society that focuses on the history of American foreign relations, there is no doubt that we are as well placed as anyone to make connections between historical events and contemporary issues in American [...]

Posted in Presidency, Public Opinion | No Comments »

Issues for the 2012 Presidential Election

by Nick Sarantakes

The United States of America is about to enter a presidential election year.  Actually, it already has entered the political season.  The election of 2012 will most likely turn on economics, but as Andy Johns pointed out in his blog, foreign policy is always important and next year’s contest will be no different.  In addition, [...]

Posted in Barack Obama administration: 2009-present, China, India, Middle East, North Korea, Pakistan, Policymaking--American | No Comments »

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Weekly Digest – 12/7/09

by Nick Ducote
Monday, December 7th, 2009

If President Obama is looking for something that transcends the national divisions over healthcare reform and Afghanistan policy, he might try isolationism. [more]
The Afghan surge makes military action against Iran less likely — and refutes the thesis that America wages war in the Muslim world [...]

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Posted in Afghanistan, Afghanistan War: 2001-present, Around the Web, Barack Obama administration: 2009-present, China, Consumerism, Corporate Relations, Cultural Transfer, Domestic groups and organizations, Domestic politics, George W. Bush administration: 2001-2008, Homeland security, Human Rights, Imperialism/Colonization, International Economic Relations, International Trade and Economics, Iran, Iraq, National Security, Trukey | No Comments »

Weekly Digest: 11-3-09

by Nick Ducote
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

The mess that is Afghanistan just got messier for Washington.  Abdullah’s withdrawal from the presidential runoff leaves Hamid Karzai in power but without legitimacy. [more]
There is a new humanitarian crisis unfolding in Somalia, and the United States is partly to blame. Despite sending $2 million and 40 tons of arms and ammunition to the country’s [...]

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Posted in Afghanistan War: 2001-present, Africa, Around the Web, Barack Obama administration: 2009-present, Culture and international relations, Foreign aid, Horn of Africa, Ideology, International Economic Relations, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Post-colonial Third World, State Department, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Process, Policy, and the Burdens of History in Latin America

by Dustin Walcher
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

After three months in office, Barack Obama traveled to Trinidad and Tobago in April 2009 to attend the Fifth Summit of the Americas.  Already his presidency had been consumed by issues of major importance, both at home and abroad; Obama no doubt spent his days thinking about the global economic crisis, wars in Iraq and [...]

Posted in Americas, Barack Obama administration: 2009-present, Central America & Caribbean, International Economic Relations, International Trade and Economics, Policymaking--International, Post-9/11: 2001-present, Public Opinion, South America, World Trade Organization | No Comments »

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