Russia
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One hundred days is traditionally viewed as an appropriate timeline in the United States for an initial analysis of the relative successes and failures of an incipient presidential administration. Given that April 30th represents the end of the embryonic stage of Trump 2.0, an evaluation of the primary foci of the president’s foreign policy is
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Poor man wanna be rich Rich man wanna be King And a King ain’t satisfied ‘till he rules everything. While these lyrics from Bruce Springsteen’s 1978 hit Badlands were not penned as an overt political statement, they resonate loudly today with the growing number of entrenched autocrats across the globe. From the shores of the
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For those interested in Central European political drama, I am including a link to a long article of mine that was published earlier today by the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI), a Philadelphia-based think tank for which I’ve contributed analytic pieces for the past two years. In recognition of my work on Central Europe, FPRI
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The late February dustup in the oval office between team Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky was certainly entertaining political drama. Strip away the vituperative rancor, however, and the exchange also offered a fascinating exhibition of some of the key elements that influence a nation’s ability to successfully operate in the international arena. Let’s start with
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Praise in public, criticize in private has been a core precept of good management practices for years. Based on the scene in the White House Oval Office on 28 February, it is clear that neither President Trump nor Vice President Vance subscribe to that theory. Instead, they metaphorically body slammed — a la World Wrestling
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An incoming U.S. presidential administration is traditionally afforded one hundred days to plot the trajectory of its policies. With Trump 2.0, that conventional timeline has been shattered. In his first three weeks in office, the new president has careened from crisis to crisis like an energy drink-addled adolescent in a turbo-charged bumper car, stopping only
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While much of President Trump’s attention since his return to power has been focused on perceived threats in this hemisphere, the Russia/Ukraine war grinds on in a bloody dance of incremental yet inexorable Russian advances in the east and persistent drone and missile attacks by both sides. Many believe that the combatant countries may be
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Listening to the recent comments of Donald Trump, one could assume that America’s most pressing foreign policy challenges reside in our geographic neighborhood. Canada as our 51st state, the “Gulf of America”, taking over Greenland, and China’s designs on the Panama Canal have been repeatedly highlighted by the incoming commander in chief. While the president-elect
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The South Korean president, frustrated by an obstreperous, opposition-led legislature, declares martial law in an almost keystone-cops like attempt at dictatorial rule. The attempt falls apart immediately, resulting in nationwide demonstrations and the impeachment of the would-be tyrant. Meanwhile, in Romania, a key member of both the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European
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While some of you probably will not find this of interest, the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a Philadelphia-based foreign policy think tank, has published another article of mine on the Czech Republic. The quick summary is that as parliamentary elections await in the second half of 2025 the country runs the risk of joining Hungary
Bob Beck's Foreign Policy Blog 