Winner 2013 Webby Awards for Best Political Website
June 20, 2013

 Choose a size
Text Size

Trending:     chris hedges     economy     nsa     politics     robert scheer
Most Read

Reporter Who Brought Down the 'Runaway General' Dead at 33

Sen. Elizabeth Warren's Supreme Court Warning

Warren Opposes Obama Nominee, Lawmaker Urges Gender-Role Class for Kids, and More

Quelle Surprise! Haiti on the Mend

How American University Got Involved in Israel's Public Interest

Most Comments
Most Emailed




The Unwinding


Truthdig Bazaar more items

 
Tags

Tag: Foreign Policy

Benghazi Talking Points

Share
Posted on May 18, 2013 READ MORE


Hillary Alert

Share
Posted on May 18, 2013 READ MORE



_gee_ (CC BY 2.0)

Obama Walks the High Wire, Eyes Closed

To broker a great peace in the Middle East, the president will have to mollify both the center-left and the right in Israel, balance Israeli and Palestinian demands, march with Netanyahu up to the edge of war with Iran, calibrate the ratcheting up of sanctions on Iran, and prevent the Syrian civil war from spilling into Israel, all while maintaining order between the left and right at home.

Posted on Apr 2, 2013 READ MORE



Flickr/Gage Skidmore

What Would a Rand Paul Libertarian Foreign Policy Look Like?

Paul’s strand of libertarianism, insofar as it deeply distrusts big government, typically opposes policies that increase the size and power of government, chief among them ones pertaining to war.

Posted on Mar 18, 2013 READ MORE


North Korean Rocket

Share
Posted on Jan 28, 2013 READ MORE



White House/Pete Souza

Obama’s Place in History Already Assured

The overall failure of American foreign policy during the first Obama presidency was foreseeable.

Posted on Jan 22, 2013 READ MORE



Flickr/New America Foundation

The Neocons vs. Chuck Hagel

If the neocons in the GOP who brought us the Iraq War and conjured up “weapons of mass destruction” to justify it are against Chuck Hagel for defense secretary, the former Republican senator gets bonus points in my book.

Posted on Jan 15, 2013 READ MORE



White House / Pete Souza

We’re Not in Decline or Retreat

We are about to have a major foreign policy debate in the guise of a confirmation battle over Chuck Hagel’s nomination as secretary of defense and the related argument over how long U.S. troops should stay in Afghanistan. President Obama should use this opportunity to stand up for his broader vision of how American power can be sustained and used.

Posted on Jan 13, 2013 READ MORE



AP/File

Richard Nixon at 100: The Man Who Matters

Richard Nixon, who would have turned 100 on Wednesday, endures as the commanding figure of American political life since the end of World War II. His style, achievements and failures persist nearly two decades after his death.

Posted on Jan 8, 2013 READ MORE


Global Governance at Heart of Failed Foreign Policies

The United States and the European Union remain impotent or irresolute observers of the most important issues of political “governance” of concern these days.

Posted on Dec 18, 2012 READ MORE


Not Him Again

Share
Posted on Nov 13, 2012 READ MORE



U.S. Marine Corps/SSgt Jeff Kaus

Final Debate Offers Unclear Choice of Troubling Policies

The United States is intellectually adrift upon an exceptionally turbulent sea running in the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf, and on the larger scene, Washington is blundering into serious trouble with Russia and probably with a China that is on the edge of both foreign and domestic crises.

Posted on Oct 23, 2012 READ MORE


Obama as Commander-in-Chief, Romney as Banal Bully

The third and last presidential debate was a clear win for the President. He displayed the authority of the nation’s Commander-in-Chief – calm, dignified, and confident. He was assertive without being shrill, clear without being condescending. He explained to a clueless Mitt Romney the way the world actually works.

Posted on Oct 23, 2012 READ MORE


Baseball Mitt

Share
Posted on Oct 23, 2012 READ MORE        


Obama Outpoints Romney in Their Final 2012 Debate

The “horses and bayonets” moment is probably the headline. But the larger story of the third and final presidential debate, ostensibly about foreign policy, is that Mitt Romney didn’t really lay a glove on President Obama. For most of the evening, he didn’t even try.

Posted on Oct 23, 2012 READ MORE



AP/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

Hawks of a Feather Flock Together

The final debate of the presidential campaign was a dismal affirmation by both candidates of a foreign policy that has cost many thousands of lives and injuries and plunged the nation deeply into debt.

Posted on Oct 23, 2012 READ MORE



AP Photo/Pool-Michael Reynolds

Presidential Debate Wrap-Up: Obama Sinks Romney’s Battleship

With the race as tight as ever, and in light of last week’s spirited and heated debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, all eyes were on Boca Raton, Fla., on Monday night as the presidential candidates squared off for the third and final time before the election. 

Posted on Oct 22, 2012 READ MORE



Cain and Todd Benson (CC BY-ND 2.0)

Don’t Ask and Don’t Tell

It seems that the first rule of the presidential debate club now is: no disagreeing on what matters most. Here are five critical questions that should be explored (even if all of us know that they won’t be) in the foreign policy-inclusive presidential debates scheduled for October 16th, and 22nd.

Posted on Oct 12, 2012 READ MORE



U.S. Marine Corps/Cpl. Reece Lodder

Romney’s Foreign Policy a Puzzle That Doesn’t Fit Together

It is no surprise to find a businessman who is clueless with respect to America’s international relations, but when a businessman is running for the American presidency, you would expect an effort to read and learn.

Posted on Oct 9, 2012 READ MORE


Hearing an Echo on Foreign Policy

Mitt Romney claims to disagree with President Obama on many aspects of foreign policy. We’re still waiting to hear what those differences might be.

Posted on Oct 8, 2012 READ MORE



Romney Closes Gap, ‘SNL’ Mocks Debate, and More

A look at the day’s political happenings, including Mitt Romney makes a major foreign policy speech and a Republican lawmaker defends slavery.

Posted on Oct 8, 2012 READ MORE



swanksalot (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Drone Kills 4 in Yemen

An apparent U.S. drone strike killed four al-Qaida-linked militants in vehicles Thursday in the wilderness of south Yemen, an official and residents said.

Posted on Oct 4, 2012 READ MORE



200MoreMontrealStencils (CC BY 2.0)

The Real Reason the U.S. Fears Iranian Nukes

Iran wouldn’t be stupid enough to attack the United States or Israel with a nuclear bomb, Glenn Greenwald suggests in The Guardian. If it had such a weapon, it would be for the purpose of deterring American aggression.

Posted on Oct 3, 2012 READ MORE



Photo by Desmond Kavanaugh (CC-BY-ND)

The ‘Unloved America’

Americans shouldn’t be looking for love abroad. The goal should be respect—and we already have that.

Posted on Sep 25, 2012 READ MORE



Spidysg (CC BY 2.0)

Libya: The Questions We Should Be Asking

Apart from Mitt Romney’s ridiculous slur against President Obama after the slaying of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, Americans should focus on the state of affairs suggested by the following questions: When was the last time a Chinese diplomat was killed or even roughed up by an angry mob? When did you last hear about a Chinese embassy being burned down or pillaged?

Posted on Sep 14, 2012 READ MORE



oschene (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Dumb and Dumber

President Obama’s version of “smart power” has been anything but smart. It has maintained imperial overstretch at self-destructive expense, infuriated strategic competitors like China, hardened the position of adversaries like Iran and North Korea, and tried the patience of even longtime allies in Europe and Asia.

Posted on Sep 6, 2012 READ MORE


The Wrong Kind of Experience: Paul Ryan’s Big Foreign Policy Credential

Defending himself against the perception that he has no significant foreign policy experience, Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan has drawn fresh attention to one of the most controversial acts of the past decade.

Posted on Aug 24, 2012 READ MORE


Oh Henry

Share
Posted on Aug 19, 2012 READ MORE        



michael baird (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Washington Puts Its Money on Proxy War

From Asia and Africa to the Middle East and the Americas, the Obama administration is increasingly embracing drones and special operations forces to fight scattered global enemies on the cheap. A centerpiece of this new American way of war is the outsourcing of fighting duties to local proxies around the world.

Posted on Aug 10, 2012 READ MORE


American Cyberwar on Iran

Share
Posted on Jun 9, 2012 READ MORE


U.S. Defriends Bashar Assad

Share
Posted on Jun 1, 2012 READ MORE


Back-Seat Driver

Share
Posted on Mar 6, 2012 READ MORE  |  3 COMMENTS



emilio labrador (CC-BY)

‘Losing’ the World: American Decline in Perspective, Part 1

Significant anniversaries are sometimes ignored. At the moment, we are failing to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the most destructive and murderous act of aggression of the post-World War II period: the invasion of South Vietnam and later all of Indochina.

Posted on Feb 15, 2012 READ MORE  |  18 COMMENTS



bbc.co.uk

Obama Brings Chinese VP to the White House

On Tuesday, Barack Obama played host to China’s Vice President Xi Jinping at the White House to discuss trade, human rights and other diplomatic topics. Why all the fuss over a VP? For one, Xi was returning a gesture that his American counterpart, Joe Biden, recently made.

Posted on Feb 14, 2012 READ MORE  |  17 COMMENTS



AP / Sebastian Scheiner

Sheldon Adelson: An Anti-Semite’s Dream

Eric Alterman writes in The Nation that the casino magnate who has propped up Newt Gingrich’s campaign is the ultimate caricature of “the anti-Semitic clichés that have dogged the Jewish people throughout history.” And yet no one seems to have noticed. (more)

Posted on Feb 13, 2012 READ MORE  |  19 COMMENTS



Mr. Fish

Blurred Vision

My first reaction to the video released recently of the four U.S. Marines urinating on the bodies of dead Afghans was that it was too ham-fisted and bombastic a metaphor to add anything of real value to the ongoing critique and analysis of this country’s über-mortiferous foreign policy.

Posted on Jan 23, 2012 READ MORE  |  6 COMMENTS        



AP / Keystone / Peter Schneider

On to the Next ‘Bubble Fantasy’

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman’s tortured obit this week on the official end of the neocolonialist disaster that has been the Iraq occupation reminds one that the three-time Pulitzer Prize winner often gets it wrong.

Posted on Dec 22, 2011 READ MORE  |  88 COMMENTS



Wikimedia Commons

Obama Administration Exports GLBTQ Rights

A more cynical perspective on Team Obama’s announcement that it would scrutinize other nations’ positions on GLBTQ rights when doling out assistance might take into account the upcoming presidential election and the need for President Obama to make up for some shortcomings on that front on his home turf.

Posted on Dec 6, 2011 READ MORE  |  1 COMMENT



Asian Development Bank (CC-BY)

Pentagon Spends Millions Protecting Uzbekistan Dictator

Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov is notorious for heading one of the world’s most oppressive regimes, and millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars are being given to a for-profit military contractor turned propaganda machine to make sure he remains a faithful and able ally in the global war on terror.

Posted on Nov 26, 2011 READ MORE  |  5 COMMENTS



OWS Censored on Twitter’s Trends? Who Cares?

America is putting too much weight on Twitter Trends; Sarkozy is caught talking smack about Netanyhu; meanwhile, Google+ lost its chance to outshine Facebook. These discoveries and more after the jump.

Posted on Nov 10, 2011 READ MORE  |  1 COMMENT


At a Loss for a World View

The demise of Moammar Gadhafi is big news around the world. Note to the Republican presidential candidates: This will come as a shock, but there are lots of other countries out there, and what happens in some of them is really important.

Posted on Oct 21, 2011 READ MORE  |  25 COMMENTS



Flickr / Weave

Washington: Still a Boy’s Town

Women’s lib hasn’t made it through Washington yet. Micah Zenko at Foreign Policy magazine looked at the percentages of females holding leadership roles related to foreign policy and national security and found that women remain vastly underrepresented among our nation’s policymakers. (more)

Posted on Jul 18, 2011 READ MORE  |  5 COMMENTS


Democracy Building Is Back in Fashion

I heard a brilliant young Harvard scholar, influential in the Obama administration, explain that the future of successful American action in Central Asia lies in a “surge” of civilian political and developmental action to rescue the people of the region from their present backwardness.

Posted on Jul 5, 2011 READ MORE  |  13 COMMENTS



Flickr / isafmedia

Afghan Reconciliation Efforts Have Failed

In 2005, the U.S.-backed Afghan government instituted a reconciliation program aimed at reintegrating insurgents who aggressively opposed the U.S. invasion of their country. With minimal political support and inadequate funding, that program failed, and many who voluntarily left groups such as the Taliban have received none of the promised benefits.

Posted on Jul 2, 2011 READ MORE  |  2 COMMENTS



Libyan Intervention Exposes European Disunity

The European intervention in Libya has provided a needed practical demonstration of the European states’ ability to influence world affairs, while at the same time discrediting the expectation that the European Union itself can or will conduct a united foreign and security policy.

Posted on May 24, 2011 READ MORE  |  7 COMMENTS


The Death of the bin Laden Myth

With the 9/11 attacks, he not only killed thousands of people whose only crimes were to go to work, board airliners or rush to the scene of disaster as first-responders. Bin Laden also took 300 million prisoners: the rest of us.

Posted on May 12, 2011 READ MORE  |  31 COMMENTS


Expert Marksman

Share
Posted on May 9, 2011 READ MORE


Who Is Obama? Now We Know

Barack Obama is not the man many Americans thought he was. This sudden realization has transformed American politics.

Posted on May 6, 2011 READ MORE  |  109 COMMENTS


U.S. Can’t Resist Meddling in the Middle East

The struggle is under way to re-establish American control over the successors to those despots whom popular uprisings have ousted from Tunisia and Egypt, threatening the careers of still other abusive absolute monarchs and presidents-for-life (and their offspring).

Posted on Apr 5, 2011 READ MORE  |  10 COMMENTS


American Ignorance Keeps American Power in Check

The United States, without really realizing, is now back to where it was, an isolated nation. But unlike in the past, this isolation is not deliberate.

Posted on Mar 15, 2011 READ MORE  |  24 COMMENTS


View older articles:  1 2 3 >

View the most popular tags overall?

Newsletter

sign up to get updates


 
 
 
 
Join the Liberal Blog Advertising Network
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A Progressive Journal of News and Opinion. Editor, Robert Scheer. Publisher, Zuade Kaufman.
© 2013 Truthdig, LLC. All rights reserved.