Diplomacy

The Black Hawk Down Effect

We all know what went wrong the last time the international community tried to end a crisis in Somalia. But we've forgotten what went right.

BY JOHN L. HIRSCH | AUGUST 12, 2011

All Guns, No Butter

What the debt ceiling deal tells us about the Tea Party's grim vision of American power.

BY JAMES TRAUB | AUGUST 5, 2011

The Last Pilgrims to Havana

Visiting Fidel Castro used to be a proud rite of passage for Latin American leftist leaders like Peru's Ollanta Humala. Now it's an act of charity.

BY YOANI SÁNCHEZ | JULY 27, 2011

Less Is More

Cutting U.S. military aid to Pakistan might be just what the world's most frustrating alliance needs.

BY JAMES TRAUB | JULY 22, 2011

Sorry, Pakistan: China Is No Sugar Daddy

Just because Washington and Islamabad are at odds doesn't mean Beijing is looking to step in.

BY URMILA VENUGOPALAN | JULY 21, 2011

Europe's Economic Meltdown: How Did We Get Here?

A look back at the missteps and bailouts, in pictures.

BY CAMERON ABADI | JULY 20, 2011

A Continent, Sinking

Europe's financial crisis is a Titanic moment, threatening to bring down not only the EU's major economies, but its political raison d'être. Is it too late to save the ship?

BY STEVEN ERLANGER | JULY 20, 2011

The Feminine Realpolitik

Breaking down the walls of Micah Zenko's "City of Men."

BY HEATHER HURLBURT | JULY 18, 2011

What Was at Stake in 1962?

A closer look at the nuclear stockpiles of the world's two superpowers as the Cuban Missile Crisis began.

BY RACHEL DOBBS | JULY 17, 2011

A Just War, and an Unfinished One

Recognizing Libya's rebels was the right move by the United States and its allies -- but it's not the only one they have to make.

BY JAMES TRAUB | JULY 15, 2011

The WikiLeaks You Missed

From blatant bribery in India to Hugo Chávez’s war on Domino’s pizza, here are the highlights from the last four months of the secret State Department cables.

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | JULY 1, 2011

Lift One from the Gipper

Tim Pawlenty has the Reaganite foreign policy talking points down, but do they add up to anything?

BY JAMES TRAUB | JULY 1, 2011

The Road Home from Kabul

Drawing down troops from Afghanistan is the right move. Now it's time to focus on the real threat in the neighborhood: the one coming from Pakistan.

BY JOHN KERRY | JUNE 24, 2011

Let's Make a Deal

The United States and the Taliban should be able to work out a compromise on Afghanistan. But will the Afghans be able to live with it?

BY JAMES TRAUB | JUNE 24, 2011

Three Days in Foros

In August 1991, Soviet hardliners held Mikhail Gorbachev captive at a Crimean resort in a last-ditch effort to save the crumbling Soviet empire. Anatoly Chernyaev, Gorbachev's foreign policy advisor was there when it happened. In this excerpt from the diary he kept at the time -- newly translated into English -- he tells the story of the coup attempt that destroyed the USSR.

BY ANATOLY CHERNYAEV | JUNE 21, 2011

Gorby, the Man Who Changed the World

Life in the limelight for the West's favorite Soviet.

BY EDMUND DOWNIE, SOPHIA JONES | JUNE 20, 2011

Track II Diplomacy: A Short History

How the left-field idea of diplomacy without diplomats became an essential tool of statecraft.

BY CHARLES HOMANS | JULY/AUGUST 2011

On the Economy, Be Careful What You Wish For

A major shift in global economic power is approaching. Can the U.S. cope?

BY IAN BREMMER | JULY/AUGUST 2011

Strategic Patience Is Strategic Blunder

Don't believe the hype: Obama's North Korea plan is a mess.

BY JOEL WIT, JENNY TOWN | JUNE 16, 2011

Obama Can Stop the Killing in Syria

The United States has leverage with the murderous Bashar al-Assad; it has simply chosen not to use it.

BY TONY BADRAN | JUNE 14, 2011

The Missionary Position

Mormonism will affect the foreign policies of Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman -- just not in the way you might expect.

BY MOLLY WORTHEN | JUNE 13, 2011

Giving Away the Farm

The Obama administration is freely giving Russia sensitive information about missile defense that weakens U.S. national security.

BY R. JAMES WOOLSEY, REBECCAH HEINRICHS | JUNE 7, 2011

To Save Yemen

With the right diplomatic approach, the situation in Yemen can be salvaged.

BY EDMUND J. HULL | JUNE 2, 2011

Friend Request

Barack Obama has been saying the right things about democracy in the Arab world. Bahrain, a key U.S. ally, will be the test of whether he really means them.

BY JAMES TRAUB | MAY 27, 2011

Blinded by the Right

The GOP's blatantly partisan love for Bibi obscures a dangerous reality: that unwavering support for Israel actually hurts wider U.S. interests in the Middle East.

BY MICHAEL A. COHEN | MAY 24, 2011

Hope and Change

The Arab Spring wasn't the revolutionary tidal wave that many had predicted -- but it wasn't a complete wash either. Here's how the United States can help preserve its most significant gains.

BY NATHAN J. BROWN | MAY 18, 2011

Too Big to Fail?

Is Syria's repressive dictatorship really so crucial to Mideast peace and stability that we can't let it fail? The Obama administration still seems to think so.

BY AARON DAVID MILLER | MAY 12, 2011

Freedom From Fear

Now that he's accomplished the central aim of George W. Bush's foreign policy, Barack Obama can finally get started on his own.

BY JAMES TRAUB | MAY 5, 2011

The Lies They Tell Us

Can the Pakistani government's web of deceit survive the death of Osama bin Laden?

BY MOSHARRAF ZAIDI | MAY 2, 2011

Freedom #Fail

Why we shouldn't expect Facebook and its Silicon Valley peers to act in the world's best interests.

BY JILLIAN C. YORK | APRIL 29, 2011