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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 – 9/14/09

by Nick Ducote
Monday, September 14th, 2009

How Secretary of State Clinton is pushing women’s issues to the forefront of American foreign policy. [more]
Why Al-Jazeera News will continue to rise in credibility and viewership around the globe. [more]
A new audiotape, reportedly from Osama bin Laden, denounced President Obama on Monday as no different from his predecessor and warned that anti-American attacks would [...]

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Posted in Afghanistan War: 2001-present, Around the Web, China, Cultural Transfer, Culture and international relations, Financial Policies, Gender, George W. Bush administration: 2001-2008, Imperialism/Colonization, International Economic Relations, International Trade and Economics, Middle East, Post-9/11: 2001-present, Women | No Comments »

Welcome Back Foggy Bottom

by David Milne
Thursday, March 26th, 2009

Foreign policy inspiration often comes from unlikely places. In 1946 George Kennan, the painfully shy, little-known number two at the US Embassy in Moscow, articulated a concept – containment – that guided American policy toward the Soviet Union through the Cold War. During the Bush administration it was Paul Wolfowitz, the number two at the [...]

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Posted in Barack Obama administration: 2009-present, George W. Bush administration: 2001-2008, Harry Truman administration: 1945-1953, John Kennedy administration: 1961-1963, Lyndon Johnson administration: 1963-1969, Op-Eds, Policymaking--American, Presidency, Richard Nixon administration: 1969-1974, State Department | No Comments »

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