U.S. Foreign Policy

Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during their meeting on the sideline of the 11th edition of the BRICS Summit, in Brasilia, Brazil November 13, 2019. Sputnik/Ramil Sitdikov/Kremlin via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC2LAD9NM7N7

Unpacking the China-Russia ‘alliance’

Michael E. O’Hanlon and Adam Twardowski

Friday, December 13, 2019

Kurdish fighters gesture while carrying their parties' flags in Tel Abyad of Raqqa governorate after they said they took control of the area June 15, 2015. Syrian Kurdish-led forces said they had captured a town at the Turkish border from Islamic State on Monday, driving it away from the frontier in an advance backed by U.S.-led air strikes that has thrust deep into the jihadists' Syria stronghold. The capture of Tel Abyad by the Kurdish YPG and smaller Syrian rebel groups means the Syrian Kurds effectively control some 400 km (250 miles) of the Syrian-Turkish border that has been a conduit for foreign fighters joining Islamic State. Picture taken June 15, 2015. REUTERS/Rodi Said TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - GF10000129146

ISIS and the false dawn of Kurdish statehood

Ömer Taşpınar

Friday, December 13, 2019

Sadako Ogata, former U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, speaks during an interview in Tokyo, October 29, 2015. Japan, which accepted less than a dozen asylum seekers last year, should show more leadership on refugees and craft an immigration policy given its need for foreign workers, the former U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said on Thursday. Ogata, 88, whose great-grandfather, then-premier Tsuyoshi Inukai, was assassinated by radical naval officers in 1932, also said that while Japan's military had a global role to play, it should not be one that involved fighting overseas. REUTERS/Thomas Peter - GF20000037482

A tribute to Sadako Ogata

Roberta Cohen and Francis M. Deng

Friday, December 13, 2019

An empty speaker's lectern is seen in the rain outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, October 10, 2013. U.S. House of Representatives Republicans are weighing a short-term debt limit increase with no added policy changes, such as deficit-reduction requirements, according to a source with knowledge of the discussions. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS) - GM1E9AA1RTL01

An up-close look at what impeachment proceedings can mean for foreign policy

Friday, December 13, 2019

Assistant Secretary of State David Stilwell speaks at Brookings.

Highlights: Assessing China’s role in East Asia

Thursday, December 12, 2019

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an interview with Reuters in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., April 27, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - HP1ED4S02VJ7Y

Trump’s trial should put the GOP on the spot

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks to U.S. troops during an unannounced visit to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, November 28, 2019. REUTERS/Tom Brenner - RC2JKD9WFP81

What the Washington Post gets wrong about the US and Afghanistan

Michael E. O’Hanlon

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

President Hage Geingob of Namibia addresses the United Nations General Assembly in the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S., September 21, 2016. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri - HT1EC9L17ZA2K

Africa in the news: Namibia, Guinea-Bissau, Sudan, and Nigeria updates

Saturday, December 7, 2019

A Ukrainian national flag flies over the parliament building (Verkhovna Rada) during a parliament session to review a proposal by President Petro Poroshenko to introduce martial law for 60 days after Russia seized Ukrainian naval ships off the coast of Russia-annexed Crimea, in Kiev, Ukraine, November 26, 2018. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich - RC1BD2505A10

Why care about Ukraine and the Budapest Memorandum

Thursday, December 5, 2019

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he welcomes South Korea's President Moon Jae-In in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., May 22, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque - RC1CC2C4EAA0

What is going on with the United States alliance with South Korea?

Michael E. O’Hanlon

Wednesday, November 27, 2019