Foreign Policy
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This is the second in a series of Viewpoint articles focused on key foreign policy challenges for the next U.S. President. The articles will run between now and the general election on 5 November. In an interview with NBC News in 1998, then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called the United States “the indispensable nation.” The…
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This is the first in a series of Viewpoint articles focused on key foreign policy challenges for the next U.S. President. The articles will run between now and the general election on 5 November. Over the past half century, the best intentions of U.S. foreign policy have invariably foundered on the rocks of the Middle…
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According to a recently-released report by the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC), the fertility rate in America in 2023 fell to 1.62 births per woman, the lowest rate since 1979. The dearth of fecundity in this country is well below the replacement rate of 2.1 births per woman, the level required to maintain a…
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Imagine a scenario in which the major powers of Europe and North America had come together in a political-military alliance in the early 1930s, pooling their diplomatic, economic, and defense resources to counter the rising menace of Nazi Germany. Under this storyline, it is highly unlikely that Hitler’s utopian plans for world domination would have…
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Two years ago Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the largest military conflict in Europe since the end of World War II. Unleashing the Red Army from three directions – the north (Belarus), south (Crimea), and east (Russia proper), Russia sought to quickly occupy Ukraine and incorporate it into a Soviet Union 2.0. The initial reactions…
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It is a truism in the international affairs community that all major foreign policy actions create unintended consequences. One need look no further than the current tensions in the Red Sea to see the wisdom of that axiom. With the launch of its retaliatory war against Hamas, Israel certainly did not intend to negatively affect…
Bob Beck's Foreign Policy Blog 