State Department

Debating Hillary

Has Hillary Clinton -- the subject of a major new profile in Foreign Policy -- been a good secretary of state? Seven top foreign-policy watchers assess her legacy.

JUNE 20, 2012

Does Obama Have a Strategy for Africa?

Not yet.

BY JOHN NORRIS | JUNE 19, 2012

Head of State

Hillary Clinton, the blind dissident, and the art of diplomacy in the Twitter era.

BY SUSAN B. GLASSER | JULY/AUGUST 2012

No More Half Measures

A compromise solution that removes Syria's Bashar al-Assad but replaces him with a crony is now fully off the table. It's time for Washington to back the opposition.

BY DANIEL BYMAN | JUNE 14, 2012

Bipolar Policy on Equatorial Guinea

The Justice Department turns up the heat against a resource-rich dictatorship as the State Department helps its leader buff his image.

BY KEN SILVERSTEIN | JUNE 13, 2012

Sit this One Out

Why Obama shouldn't use drones to go after Mali's Islamic radical separatists.

BY JAMES TRAUB | JUNE 8, 2012

U.N. Human Rights Council Condemns Actual Human Rights Abusers!

Or, in praise of small victories.

BY JAMES TRAUB | JUNE 1, 2012

Barack O'Romney

Ignore what the candidates say they'll do differently on foreign policy. They're basically the same man.

BY AARON DAVID MILLER | MAY 23, 2012

Nation-Building in the Yemen

Drones alone won't be enough to stop Yemen from falling into the failed state abyss.

BY JAMES TRAUB | MAY 18, 2012

Blame Canada

Why did Canada and the EU abandon Chen Guangcheng? (Hint: Pandas ain't free.)

BY MARK MACKINNON | MAY 16, 2012

Annan's Mission Impossible

Why is everyone pretending that the U.N. plan in Syria has a prayer of succeeding?

BY SALMAN SHAIKH | MAY 8, 2012

The Debacle That Wasn't

What if the Chen episode was actually a U.S.-China breakthrough?

BY DAVID ROTHKOPF | MAY 7, 2012

Friends Like These

This week's tensions aside, China and the United States still need each other more than they admit.

BY DAN BLUMENTHAL, LARA CROUCH | MAY 4, 2012

The bin Laden Files

What the al Qaeda leader's final correspondence tells us about his legacy.

BY DAVEED GARTENSTEIN-ROSS | MAY 3, 2012

Down with CISPA

America needs to stop preaching civil liberties abroad while passing privacy-destroying bills at home.

BY TREVOR TIMM | APRIL 27, 2012

Why Women Are a Foreign Policy Issue

The most pressing global problems simply won't be solved without the participation of women. Seriously, guys.

BY MELANNE VERVEER | MAY/JUNE 2012

Mad Libs: Women in Politics

FP asked top female politicians around the world to fill in the blanks on sexism, women leaders, and breaking the glass ceiling.

MAY/JUNE 2012

The New al Qaeda Franchises

Al Qaeda itself may be diminished after the death of Osama bin Laden, but its affiliates are still sowing instability around the world.

BY LOIS PARSHLEY, HANNA TRUDO | APRIL 23, 2012

Smart Sanctions: A Short History

How a blunt diplomatic tool morphed into the precision-guided measures we know today.

BY URI FRIEDMAN | MAY/JUNE 2012

Backed Into a Corner

Hey America, there's a pretty good reason why Iran doesn't trust you. Maybe it's time for a different approach.

BY HOSSEIN MOUSAVIAN | APRIL 13, 2012

A Tormenting in Moscow

Why is Russia harassing President Obama’s new ambassador?

BY LEON ARON | APRIL 12, 2012

Clinton Embraces the Navy

Will U.S. competition with China for naval dominance spark a new Cold War on the high seas?

BY ROBERT FARLEY | APRIL 12, 2012

State of Disrepair

If the State Department really wants to lead U.S. foreign policy, it needs to stop complaining about the military and act more like it.

BY KORI SCHAKE | APRIL 11, 2012

The LWOT: Alleged 9/11 plotter to face death penalty trial

Foreign Policy and the New America Foundation bring you a weekly brief on the legal war on terror. You can read it on foreignpolicy.com or get it delivered directly to your inbox -- just sign up here.

BY JENNIFER ROWLAND | APRIL 6, 2012

The Least Bad Option

Let's face it, there are no good solutions to the mess in Syria.

BY JAMES TRAUB | MARCH 30, 2012

What It Takes to Be a Great Secretary of State

(And why we can't have one in the Obama administration.)

BY AARON DAVID MILLER | MARCH 28, 2012

The World in Photos This Week

A tragedy in Toulouse, spring has sprung, and a general testifies.

MARCH 23, 2012

The Most Controversial Israeli Settlements

A tour of the region's most contested residences.

BY OREN KESSLER | FEBRUARY 27, 2012

Rude Awakening

Promoting democracy in places like Egypt or Iraq is about changing the status quo. So why are we so surprised when it turns out that not everyone is in favor?

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | FEBRUARY 22, 2012

The Military-Political Complex

Why is Barack Obama standing to the right of conservatives when it comes to cutting the defense budget?

BY JAMES TRAUB | JANUARY 20, 2012