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U.S. Foreign Policy
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U.S. Diplomacy in the Middle East: "Can't Anybody Here Play This Game?"U.S. diplomacy in the Middle East seems unaware of how U.S. power should be deployed to decrease the chances of war and to support U.S. allies.
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The United States and the Venezuelan ElectionEvery sign suggests that Venezuela's presidential election on July 28 will be stolen. Will the Biden administration then acknowledge that its policy toward Venezuela has failed--and change it?
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At the Community of Democracies Meeting, the Biden Administration Downgraded Its Support for DemocracyBy sending an acting deputy assistant secretary of state to represent the United States at the recent Community of Democracies meeting that the United States chaired, the Biden administration showed a lack of commitment to democracy.
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CFR Fellows’ Book Launch Series: The End of Ambition: America’s Past, Present, and Future in the Middle East by Steven CookIn The End of Ambition, Steven A. Cook boldly claims that despite setbacks and moral costs, the United States has had a record of success in the Middle East. Yet, beginning in the 1990s, those achievements bred ambitious policies to remake the region that ended in failure and regional instability. While making the case that retrenchment is not the answer to America’s problems in the Middle East, Cook highlights how America’s interests in the region have begun to change and examines alternative approaches to U.S.-Middle East policy. The John B. Hurford Memorial Lecture was inaugurated in 2002 in memory of CFR member John B. Hurford, and features individuals who represent critical new thinking in international affairs and foreign policy.
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Sea Power: The U.S. Navy and Foreign PolicyThe U.S. Navy’s dominance of the world’s oceans has made it an indispensable foreign policy tool and a guarantor of global trade, but a mix of challenges is raising difficult questions about its future.
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The Changing Role of Foreign Policy at the U.S. National ConventionsThe quadrennial U.S. presidential nominating conventions often focus on domestic themes. But they have at times been flavored by global economic concerns and national security threats, offering competing Democratic and Republican visions about the United States’ role in the world. In the 2024 race, Democratic incumbent Joe Biden and his challenger, Republican Donald Trump, are projecting starkly different worldviews.
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How the United States Can Effectively Pivot to AsiaAfter the rise of Chinese power during the 2010s and failed U.S. policies in the Indo-Pacific, the United States should renew the Pivot to Asia and place the region at the center of its grand strategy.*
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Lost Decade
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Robert D. Blackwill and Richard Fontaine evaluate the limitations of the Pivot to Asia and offer a compelling vision for the future of U.S. foreign policy in the Indo-Pacific. -
U.S. Policy in the Middle East, With Steven A. CookSteven A. Cook, the Eni Enrico Mattei Senior Fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies at CFR, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the United States’ past, present, and future policy in the Middle East.
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The End of Ambition
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A clear-headed vision for the United States' role in the Middle East that highlights the changing nature of U.S. national interests and the challenges of grand strategizing at a time of profound change in the international order. -
Will the United States Boost Maduro in Venezuela’s Election?A forced sale of CITGO oil company just days before Venezuela's July 28 presidential election would be a propaganda bonanza for the Maduro regime, and should be delayed by the United States government.
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Washington’s Ill-Fated Mideast AmbitionsU.S. administrations have backed sweeping efforts for societal change in the Middle East in recent decades, with poor results. But Washington can still achieve more modest, essential goals in the region.*
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A Puzzling Attempted Coup in the DRCA clumsy coup d’état attempt in the Democratic Republic of Congo reveals the underlying fragility of U.S.-DRC relations.
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2024 International Affairs Fellowship Conference: A Conversation With Philip GordonDr. Phil Gordon was the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs (2009–2011) and Special Assistant to the President and White House Coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf Region (2013–2015). He is currently the National Security Advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris. For more information about the International Affairs Fellowship (IAF), please visit CFR’s Fellowship Affairs Page.
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A Preview of Kenya’s State VisitDuring Kenya’s state visit, the United States should work toward building a more resilient model of U.S.-Africa partnerships.
