U.S. Policy
Tuesday, April 28, 2015 - 06:56
oordination between American officials in Afghanistan is so rare that in one instance, according to a U.S. watchdog, a senior official from the embassy in Kabul didn’t know about a $39.6 million business project until Afghan officials thanked the ambassador for supporting it.
Thursday, April 16, 2015 - 21:02
A career fighter pilot replaces the former base commander who was suddenly removed from the job amid a still unresolved investigation into the death of a civilian commissary worker on the remote base.
Thursday, April 16, 2015 - 07:24
President Barack Obama’s recent decision to end the halt on sending military equipment to Egypt, resulting in the release of aircraft, missiles and tank kits, took many by surprise. The recent court decision in Egypt that led to a life sentence for Egyptian-American citizen Mohamad Soltan on charges of funding a pro-Mohammed Morsi sit-in and "spreading false information" — charges criticized by Amnesty International — reinforced doubt about the American-Egyptian funding relationship. But the military funding issue is somewhat more complicated than that — and may need to be investigated further, for both American and Egyptian interests, going forward.
Thursday, April 16, 2015 - 07:10
The Obama administration is banking on Abadi to cut through the sectarian-tinged political miasma that for years has surrounded Baghdad, as the only way to defeat the Islamic State. But in his candid remarks Wednesday — perhaps underscoring the urgency of the threat — Abadi sounded far more focused on the battlegrounds in the hinterlands.
Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - 06:36
“There has never been a consistent U.S. foreign policy in Central Asia,” Sarah Kendzior, an independent Central Asia expert, told FP. “Not only is it hard to maintain meaningful relationships with the region’s autocratic regimes, but American inconsistency gives the impression to local governments that Washington doesn’t care about Central Asia on its own, only as a means to an end.”
Wednesday, April 8, 2015 - 07:37
A White House official said Tuesday that Venezuela was not a threat to the national security of the United States, backing off language in an executive order that had inflamed relations with the South American nation and drawn criticism from other countries in the region.
Tuesday, April 7, 2015 - 07:26
USS Gary (FFG 51), her embarked Helicopter Squadron and U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment successfully intercepted a suspected narcotic-trafficking vessel in international waters off the coast of Central America in early March.
Monday, March 23, 2015 - 06:40
In the eyes of American officials, Mr. Ghani has also proved willing to take on the role of wartime leader, unlike Mr. Karzai, who sought to limit raids and airstrikes by foreign forces, and even by the Afghan Army. That difference underscores what American officials say is the main purpose of Mr. Ghani’s visit: to establish a new and productive relationship between the governments of the two countries after more than a decade of fitful ties.
Thursday, March 19, 2015 - 07:00
The policy of strenuous inaction of helping Ukraine to prevent collapse but insufficiently strongly to avoid challenging Russia runs the risk of allowing events on the ground to run away from the United States and opens up Obama to considerable domestic and international criticism, but it may leave the United States in a much stronger position vis-à-vis Russia later on – even at the cost of death and destruction in Ukraine and the precipitous decline of bilateral relations.
Thursday, March 19, 2015 - 05:10
President Barack Obama says if he could start his presidency over, he would have closed the Guantanamo Bay prison his first day.