The embattled Assad regime escalated its horrific attempts to crush Syria’s opposition movement this week after Russia, one of its few allies, blocked action by the U.N. Security Council. On Friday, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned against any foreign intervention, saying that other countries should “not interfere under any circumstances.” This warning came after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on February 7 and afterward said that his message to Assad about the need to end the violence “has been heard.” But Assad has …
With the crisis in Syria escalating, CNN reports that the U.S. State Department has closed its embassy there, pulling out all remaining staff due to security concerns. With the regime’s systematic attacks growing more violent and the potential for sectarian civil war to unfold, the United States should help ease the suffering of the Syrian people and speed the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime by increasing sanctions, providing humanitarian relief to Syrian refugees, and providing diplomatic and economic support—all while holding back from direct military intervention. The decision to close …
When in November 1942 the British Army broke and routed Rommel, and sent him fleeing through Libya, Winston Churchill recognized that it was not the end of the war. But it was, he said, the end of the beginning. We are at the same place in Libya today – not at the end, merely at the end of the beginning. If Libya comes to be dominated by Islamists, or falls into chaos, the destruction of Gaddafi’s tyranny will evoke less satisfaction. But as Churchill said in another connection, the chains …
It is no secret that when it comes to the use of power, the Obama Administration vastly prefers “soft” power to the military variety. In a recent article in Politico, Michael Clauser, executive vice president of the Society of National Security Professionals, writes that proposed cuts to the Pentagon budget will “reignite a key Washington budget debate: the proportionality of military spending relative to nonmilitary international affairs.” As the Pentagon still spends almost 20 times more on defense than the State Department does on other nonmilitary-related international affairs activities (for …
There is no such thing as secret diplomacy anymore, maybe not even plain old diplomacy. This week’s mammoth WikiLeaks dump of State Department Internet traffic has ensured that henceforth all diplomacy may end up in the public domain at the push of a button. WikiLeaks is nothing less than an assault on the rights of free, sovereign nations to manage their foreign policy and conduct diplomacy in the interest of a safer world. U.S. national security and ability to be a global leader has suffered as a consequence. What American …
This week the House Strategic Communications and Public Diplomacy Caucus got off to a good start in its latest efforts to explore the Obama administration’s new strategy for engaging foreign publics. Room 121 in the Canon House office building was quickly filled as the Caucus held its first briefing on Thursday. Launched in March, the bipartisan group of Representatives is committed to improving the U.S. performance in the war of ideas. The Caucus hosted Administration officials from the primary agencies involved in the White House’s interagency strategy for public diplomacy …
The Obama Administration continues to talk up the prospects for strong U.N. sanctions on Iran at the same time that it is becoming increasingly clear the United States is unlikely to persuade Russia and China to approve anything stronger than a mild slap on the wrist for their Iranian friends. Yesterday President Obama said “We are going to be pushing very hard to make sure that both smart and strong sanctions end up being in place soon to send a signal to Iran and other countries that this is an …
On April 5, in a speech at Harvard University Secretary of State Clinton’s lead diplomat for Africa Johnnie Carson outlined policy guidelines for sub-Saharan Africa. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Carson is a seasoned, three-time ambassador to Africa with an illustrious career as a diplomat and an analyst of African affairs. His speech stressed the importance of strengthening African governments and institutions, promoting economic progress, addressing health challenges, preventing and resolving conflicts, and meeting transnational challenges from climate change to drug trafficking. In short, Carson followed the familiar, …
Increasing spending on the State Department and international affairs while freezing discretionary domestic spending is probably not likely to endear President Obama further to constituencies on either side of the Congressional aisle. Yet, the State Department is one of the few winners in President Obama’s FY 2011 budget request, continuing a five year commitment made last year to increase capacity at Foggy Bottom. The way the funding request is structured tells you much about the President’s priorities in foreign policy, which hold fairly closely to traditional Democratic priorities. It certainly …
