Barack Obama

Defeating Extreme Poverty

An exclusive excerpt of USAID's 2013 Annual Letter.

BY RAJIV SHAH | MARCH 18, 2013

Israel's Demographic Destiny

Israel can be Jewish, democratic, or a state in control of the Palestinian territories. Choose two.

BY AARON DAVID MILLER | MARCH 13, 2013

What Vali Nasr Gets Wrong

A former State Department insider has written a blistering account of the Obama administration’s missteps in Afghanistan. But is he right?

BY SARAH CHAYES | MARCH 12, 2013

Camelot in Tokyo

Can Caroline Kennedy shake up Japan’s sexist politics?

BY COCO MASTERS | MARCH 6, 2013

Syria's House of Cards

After two years, 1 million refugees, and more than 70,000 dead, some Syrians -- and one American president -- are still looking to protect their own interests rather than save a country.

BY AMAL HANANO | MARCH 6, 2013

Battle-Tested

Insiders debate America's misfires in Iraq and Afghanistan.

MARCH 4, 2013

The Prince of the White House

Eleven rules for how Barack Obama, or any U.S. president, can have his way on national security.

BY ELLIOTT ABRAMS | MARCH 4, 2013

Mad Libs: War Edition

FP asked more than 70 top military thinkers to fill in the blanks on the world's global conflicts -- from the drone wars to the budget wars.

MARCH 4, 2013

Obama's Grand Strategy

America's relative decline means that defense and social spending will have to compete head to head, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. 

MARCH 4, 2013

What Is Egypt?

As America's new secretary of state arrives in Cairo, it's still not clear the United States knows what it's dealing with.

BY STEVEN A. COOK | MARCH 1, 2013

How to Win a Cyberwar with China

It's time for the Obama administration to start playing offense, or it might soon have a real war on its hands.

BY DAN BLUMENTHAL | FEBRUARY 28, 2013

Dead-End Road

Rogue states have a pretty convincing track record of ignoring sanctions, so what makes Congress and the White House think they'll work on Iran?

BY TY MCCORMICK | FEBRUARY 28, 2013

It’s Not an Intifada

Palestinians aren't ready to rise up -- yet.

BY JONATHAN SCHANZER | FEBRUARY 28, 2013

How Not to Withdraw from Afghanistan

Lessons from America's other war.

BY JIM MCDERMOTT, LAWRENCE WILKERSON | FEBRUARY 26, 2013

Handle with Care

Japan is Washington's most important Asian ally. But in some ways it's also the trickiest.

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | FEBRUARY 21, 2013

Marco Rubio Is Not Ready for Prime Time

If the Florida senator wants to save the Republican Party, he's got to come up with a foreign policy for the real world.

BY AARON DAVID MILLER | FEBRUARY 19, 2013

Refusal to Lead

In a dangerous and changing world, President Obama is just wishing away the problems America faces.

BY MARCO RUBIO | FEBRUARY 15, 2013

Don't Fear the Migrants

What America really needs to worry about is when they stop coming.

BY FRANK JACOBS | FEBRUARY 14, 2013

Concrete Action

How President Obama can get more bang for America's infrastructure renewal buck.

BY RICHARD DOBBS, JAN MISCHKE, ROBERT PALTER | FEBRUARY 13, 2013

If Obama Were a Truth-Teller

Here’s what he would say on Tuesday night.

BY DAVID ROTHKOPF | FEBRUARY 11, 2013

Speech by Numbers

A quantitative look at the last 12 State of the Union addresses.

BY TY MCCORMICK | FEBRUARY 11, 2013

Neocons vs. Realists Is So 2008

Your guide to the new foreign policy divide.

BY THOMAS WRIGHT | FEBRUARY 11, 2013

Barack Obama's Lincoln Moment

What the commander of America's first modern war tells us about our first post-modern war.

BY JOHN ARQUILLA | FEBRUARY 11, 2013

Whoppers of the Union

Fact-checking a decade's worth of the president's big speech.

BY DANIEL W. DREZNER | FEBRUARY 11, 2013

Arm the Syrian Rebels. Now.

Obama's cabinet had a plan to take down Bashar al-Assad. What went wrong?

BY MICHAEL DORAN, SALMAN SHAIKH | FEBRUARY 8, 2013

The Five-Year Engagement

As Obama begins his second term, one thing is clear: the administration's Iran policy is failing. What now, Mr. President?

BY JAMES TRAUB | FEBRUARY 8, 2013

Embrace the Fatwa

If the United States is serious about negotiating with Iran, it's going to have to start listening to the supreme leader. 

BY SEYED HOSSEIN MOUSAVIAN | FEBRUARY 7, 2013

Israelis Love to Argue...

And four other tips for Barack Obama’s first presidential visit to Israel.

BY NATAN SACHS | FEBRUARY 6, 2013

What Richard III Can Teach Us Today

The world is grown so bad that wrens make prey where eagles dare not perch. Can Shakespeare’s fallen tyrant help us set it to rights?

BY JOHN WATKINS | FEBRUARY 6, 2013

Second Time's the Charm?

Congratulations, John Kerry. You own the peace process now. Here's how not to screw it up.

BY AARON DAVID MILLER | FEBRUARY 1, 2013