State Department

Locked Up in Rwanda

An American lawyer is arrested in Kigali for genocide denial. Is it a sign of President Paul Kagame's creeping authoritarianism?

INTERVIEW BY ELIZABETH DICKINSON | JUNE 1, 2010

The State Department Can’t Be Trusted with Iran Sanctions

The U.S. Treasury is far more willing and equipped to make sanctions truly biting.

BY JONATHAN SCHANZER | MAY 14, 2010

How Sudan's Election Got Messy

Diplomats, politicians, NGOs, and even the South Sudanese themselves went into this week's vote with one goal: to get it over with. But it's not that easy.

BY MAGGIE FICK | APRIL 12, 2010

The LWOT: U.S. Confirms Awlaki on CIA Hit List; Gitmo Military Trial Begins

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 ANDREW LEBOVICH | APRIL 8, 2010

Giving Putin His Due

Sidelining the Russian prime minister will do little to help President Dmitry Medvedev -- or the White House.

BY PAUL SAUNDERS | MARCH 25, 2010

Sudan Is Still Up to No Good

Sudanese leader Omar Hassan al-Bashir is playing a breathtakingly cynical double game: harboring a notorious Ugandan death cult while pledging to work for peace in Darfur.

BY JOHN NORRIS | MARCH 11, 2010

Obama's Middle East Democracy Problem

The Obama administration’s quiet approach to promoting freedom in the Arab world is about to meet its first major test.

BY BARBARA SLAVIN | MARCH 5, 2010

Cristina Gets Her Handshake

But it won't do her any good. Why the Clinton visit isn’t enough to bolster Argentina's sagging president.

BY ANNA PETHERICK | MARCH 4, 2010

Uribe Checks Out

Washington's most reliable ally in Latin America, the Colombian president, is on his way out. That's a good thing.

BY ADAM ISACSON | MARCH 4, 2010

Bipartisan Spring

Washington may be deeply polarized on domestic matters, but when it comes to foreign affairs, a remarkable consensus is taking shape.

BY ROBERT KAGAN | MARCH 3, 2010

Adios, Amigos

How Latin America stopped caring what the United States thinks.

BY MICHAEL SHIFTER | MARCH 2, 2010

Europe's Parliament Takes a Stand

Long a backwater, the institution has begun to flex its muscles on issues central to the transatlantic relationship. America should listen up.

BY HENRY FARRELL, ABRAHAM NEWMAN | FEBRUARY 26, 2010

How Genocide Became a National Security Threat

And what Barack Obama should do about it.

BY MICHAEL ABRAMOWITZ, LAWRENCE WOOCHER | FEBRUARY 26, 2010

Sucking up to Dictators Is Harder Than It Looks

Inside the failed attempt to turn Central Asia's most insular regime.

BY SIMON SHUSTER | FEBRUARY 9, 2010

How to Read the QDR

What the Pentagon’s most highly anticipated planning document says about the gap between its aspirations and reality.

BY TRAVIS SHARP | FEBRUARY 2, 2010

Remarks on the Future of European Security

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks at France's L'Ecole Militaire on Jan. 29, 2010.

FEBRUARY 1, 2010

Internet Freedom

The prepared text of U.S. of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's speech, delivered at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

JANUARY 21, 2010

'Langley Won't Tell Us'

How I fought the intelligence turf wars -- and lost.

BY RON CAPPS | JANUARY 11, 2010

Losing Cairo?

Since Barack Obama's speech six months ago, the Muslim world has begun to lose hope in the United States. But it's not too late ... yet.

BY ANDREW ALBERTSON | DECEMBER 24, 2009

How We Invaded Afghanistan

Thirty years ago this month, Soviet airborne troops parachuted into Kabul and began a fateful occupation that became Mikhail Gorbachev’s Vietnam. Here’s the inside story of how it happened, as told by the KGB general who planned it.

BY OLEG KALUGIN | DECEMBER 11, 2009

No More Representatives, Please

The last thing we need is a new big shot envoy in Kabul.

BY NICK HORNE | DECEMBER 11, 2009

America's IED Nightmare

It's a problem that was supposed to be solved by now. But these deadly little devices are only growing more lethal as the costs of combating them mounts.

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | DECEMBER 4, 2009

Democracy Loses the Honduran Election

It's an abomination that Sunday's presidential vote came without consequence for the country's coup-makers.

BY KEVIN CASAS-ZAMORA | DECEMBER 1, 2009

Addicted to Contractors

The United States is hooked on privatized warfare in Afghanistan. And it's more costly than you think.

BY ALLISON STANGER | DECEMBER 1, 2009

Boring Summits Are Better for Everyone

Why Barack Obama and Manmohan Singh should say as little as possible when they meet in Washington next week.

BY JOHN LEE | NOVEMBER 20, 2009

Think Again: Africom

U.S. Africa Command was launched to controversy and has been met with skepticism ever since. Behind two years of mixed messages, a coherent mission might finally be emerging. Here's what you need to know about the world's next U.S. military hub.

BY ELIZABETH DICKINSON | NOVEMBER 17, 2009

Interview: U.N. Undersecretary-General John Holmes

The top humanitarian official for the United Nations tells FP how to do aid in a time of war. Here’s a hint: it’s not pretty.

BY ELIZABETH DICKINSON | NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Rendered Guilty

What the Milan conviction of 23 U.S. officials means for those on trial and the future of diplomatic immunity.

BY JEFF STEIN | NOVEMBER 4, 2009

Call in the Civilians

Counterinsurgency is at least 50 percent civilian. So where have all the Foreign Service officers gone?

BY RON CAPPS | OCTOBER 26, 2009

Sudan Score Card

The Obama administration's policy review on Sudan is now complete. Is it any good?

BY JOHN NORRIS | OCTOBER 19, 2009