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Robert “Bob” Beck served 30+ years in US embassies in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Bob is a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. Since retiring in 2020, Bob has taught, written about, and spoken on foreign policy across the scenic Monadnock region of southwestern New Hampshire.
Key Foreign Policy Challenges: The Global South
This is the fifth in a series of articles on key foreign policy challenges for the next U.S. president. The articles will continue between now and the general election on 5 November 2024. While much of the bandwidth of the foreign policy community is understandably focused on China and Russia – the “main threats” to
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Robert “Bob” Beck served 30+ years in US embassies in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Bob is a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. Since retiring in 2020, Bob has taught, written about, and spoken on foreign policy across the scenic Monadnock region of southwestern New Hampshire.
Key Challenges for the Next U.S. President – China
This is the fourth in a series of articles on key foreign policy challenges for the next U.S. president. The articles will continue between now and the general election on 5 November 2024. In a 2023 essay in the journal Foreign Affairs, Jake Sullivan, the U.S. National Security Advisor, described America’s current relationship with China
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Robert “Bob” Beck served 30+ years in US embassies in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Bob is a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. Since retiring in 2020, Bob has taught, written about, and spoken on foreign policy across the scenic Monadnock region of southwestern New Hampshire.
Beware Years Ending in Four
Fifty years ago this month Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace as President of the United States, before likely being impeached in the wake of the Watergate scandal. The corruption at the highest level of the American government contributed to a nascent loss of trust by a significant portion of the populace in their elected leaders,
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Robert “Bob” Beck served 30+ years in US embassies in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Bob is a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. Since retiring in 2020, Bob has taught, written about, and spoken on foreign policy across the scenic Monadnock region of southwestern New Hampshire.
Key Challenges for the Next U.S. President – The Return of History
This is the third article in a series on key foreign policy challenges for the next U.S. president. The series will continue between now and the elections on 5 November. In his influential 1992 work – The End of History and the Last Man, on the logical progression of social and governmental structures to the
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Robert “Bob” Beck served 30+ years in US embassies in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Bob is a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. Since retiring in 2020, Bob has taught, written about, and spoken on foreign policy across the scenic Monadnock region of southwestern New Hampshire.
Political Violence in Slovakia
Over the past eighteen months I have written four, long analytic pieces for the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI), a Philadelphia-based think tank. The articles all focus on the roller-coaster politics of Central Europe, an area of the world near and dear to me. The latest of the four articles, focusing on the recent assassination
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Robert “Bob” Beck served 30+ years in US embassies in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Bob is a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. Since retiring in 2020, Bob has taught, written about, and spoken on foreign policy across the scenic Monadnock region of southwestern New Hampshire.
The Globalization of Political Violence
With the shocking assassination attempt of a leading American public figure at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on 13 July, the United States joined a growing list of western democracies falling victim to the scourge of political violence. Just over two years ago, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated by a lone gunman
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Robert “Bob” Beck served 30+ years in US embassies in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Bob is a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. Since retiring in 2020, Bob has taught, written about, and spoken on foreign policy across the scenic Monadnock region of southwestern New Hampshire.
Viewpoint: Key Challenges – Managing Multipolarity
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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Robert “Bob” Beck served 30+ years in US embassies in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Bob is a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. Since retiring in 2020, Bob has taught, written about, and spoken on foreign policy across the scenic Monadnock region of southwestern New Hampshire.
Viewpoint: Key Foreign Policy Challenges – The Middle East
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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Robert “Bob” Beck served 30+ years in US embassies in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Bob is a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. Since retiring in 2020, Bob has taught, written about, and spoken on foreign policy across the scenic Monadnock region of southwestern New Hampshire.
Viewpoint: Disturbing Demographic Trends
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