U.S. Foreign Policy

Policemen stand guard beside razor wire outside Gaddafi stadium before the second Twenty20 Cricket match between Pakistan and Zimbabwe in Lahore, Pakistan, May 24, 2015. Zimbabwe is the first test-playing nation to tour Pakistan since a 2009 terror attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore left the driver dead and several players injured. REUTERS/Mohsin Raza

Terrorism in Pakistan has declined, but the underlying roots of extremism remain

Friday, January 15, 2021

Law enforcement officers unload part of approximately 3,200 lbs. of cocaine, which was seized at the Port of New York/Newark on February 28, 2019 in a joint operation involving U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the New York Police Department (NYPD), and the New York State Police (NYSP), in Newark, New Jersey, U.S., in this image released on March 11, 2019. Courtesy U.S. Customs and Border Protection/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY.

The wicked problem of drug trafficking in the Western Hemisphere

Michael Sinclair

Friday, January 15, 2021

A NATO solider (L) speaks on radio at the site of a car bomb blast in Kabul, Afghanistan August 22, 2015. A car bomb outside a Kabul hospital killed at least 10 people and caused widespread casualties among Afghan civilians, although it appeared to have targeted a vehicle carrying foreign citizens, witnesses and security sources said. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood

In Afghanistan, different priorities means vastly different policies

Vanda Felbab-Brown

Friday, January 15, 2021

A member of Libyan forces allied with the U.N.-backed government fires a weapon on a pickup truck during a battle with Islamic State militants in Giza Bahreya, in Sirte, Libya October 27, 2016. REUTERS/Hani Amara

The key trends to watch this year on nonstate armed actors

Vanda Felbab-Brown

Friday, January 15, 2021

Philippine President Benigno Aquino (C) and Al-haj Murad Ebrahim (C, partially obscured), chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), look at weapons during the Ceremonial Turnover of Weapons and Decommissioning of MILF Combatants at the old capitol in Simuay town of Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao province, southern Philippines June 16, 2015. Aquino attempted to revive a stalled peace process with Muslim insurgents on Tuesday, calling on lawmakers to grant autonomy for the predominantly Christian nation's restive southern region before time runs out. MILF handed in a token 75 weapons at the ceremony on Tuesday, where Aquino attempted to push forward his autonomy proposal for the region, known as Bangsamoro. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco

Want global stability? Modify the U.S. approach to dealing with nonstate armed actors

Patrick W. Quirk and Lauren Mooney

Friday, January 15, 2021

NO FILM, NO VIDEO, NO TV, NO DOCUMENTARY - Counter protesters face off with protesters as several far-right groups, including militias and white supremacists, rally Saturday, August 15, 2020, in Stone Mountain, GA, USA, while a broad coalition of leftist anti-racist groups organized a counter-demonstration. Photo by Jenni Girtman/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS/ABACAPRESS.COM

White supremacist terrorism: Key trends to watch in 2021

Daniel L. Byman

Friday, January 15, 2021

U.S. Army and China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) military personnel attend a closing ceremony of an exercise of "Disaster Management Exchange" near Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China.

America’s governors and mayors have a stake in US-China relations

Cheng Li and Xiuye Zhao

Thursday, January 14, 2021

A U.S. soldier assigned to the Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 1st Armored Division watches as a UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopter prepares to land during an advise and assistance mission in southeastern Afghanistan, August 4, 2019. Picture taken on August 4, 2019. Courtesy Alejandro Licea/U.S. Army/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY.

US policy toward Afghanistan: Consider the trade-offs, including with other policy areas

Vanda Felbab-Brown

Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Hands holding a a globe like a Rubik's cube

Renewing US global engagement in a changed world

Tuesday, January 12, 2021

(L-R) U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Deputy National Security Advisor Tony Blinken, National Security Advisor Susan Rice and Secretary of State John Kerry listen as President Barack Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki address reporters after their meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, November 1, 2013. Obama told visiting Al-Maliki on Friday that the United States wants an inclusive, prosperous Iraq free of violence. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS)

The US must now repair democracy at home and abroad

Monday, January 11, 2021