Politics & Diplomacy

Obama’s Europe Pivot

By John Vinocur, the International Herald Tribune

Romney’s Not Obama Doctrine

By Julian Lindley-French

All American presidents like to establish a doctrine; a coherent set of foreign and security policy goals that underpin US leadership in the world. What does Mitt Romney’s recent foreign tour say about a future President Romney’s foreign and security policy? Can the beginnings of a Romney Doctrine be discerned?

America and Europe’s Pacific Partnership

By Patryk Pawlak and Eleni Ekmektsioglou, the Diplomat

From Patryk Pawlak and Eleni Ekmektsioglou, the Diplomat:  The joint statement touches upon several important issues for the region’s stability: North Korea’s denuclearization, democratization in Burma, territorial claims in the South China Sea, and human rights.

U.S.-EU Statement on the Asia-Pacific Region

By the Department of State

From the Department of State:  Secretary Clinton and High Representative Ashton noted that interdependence between Asia, the United States and the European Union has reached unprecedented levels.

Teddy bear feud escalates: Belarus expels all Swedish diplomats

By Camille Bas-Wohlert, AFP

From Camille Bas-Wohlert, AFP:  Sweden’s ties with Belarus soured further Wednesday as Minsk expelled all Swedish diplomats and closed its mission in Stockholm, five days after the ex-Soviet state expelled the Swedish ambassador.

Italy’s Prime Minister warns of ‘a front line between North and South’ in Europe

By Mario Monti, Spiegel

From Mario Monti, Spiegel:  I can only welcome the ECB’s statement that the market for sovereign bonds in the euro zone is undergoing a period of "severe malfunctioning."

European defense cooperation dependent on success of Franco-British security relationship

By Julian Lindley-French, the New Atlanticist

From Julian Lindley-French, the New Atlanticist:  [T]he London-Paris axis is Europe’s only true strategic defense relationship and thus critical to the future defense of Europe.

Mitt Romney Flunks His Foreign Policy Tryout

By R. Nicholas Burns

Governor Mitt Romney had a chance to demonstrate on his trip to Great Britain, Israel, and Poland that he is ready to take on the duties of America’s top diplomat and commander in chief — among the presidency’s most vital responsibilities. Yet for reasons that are hard to understand, Romney undermined himself through surprising lapses […]

Britain Adrift

By Fran Burwell

The country most at risk in the eurozone economic crisis is not Spain, Italy, or even Greece, but Britain. While attention has focused on countries that seem perpetually on the brink of sovereign default or banking collapses, the British government has embarked on a path that could lead it out of Europe, with profound consequences […]

Transatlantic free trade agreement could be worth two to three percent in GDP gains to EU and US

By Peter Westmacott, British Embassy

From Peter Westmacott, British Embassy: A deep, comprehensive, state of the art free trade and investment agreement between the European Union and the United States is, in my view, both the greatest challenge and the biggest prize on the trade policy market today. It is a chance for us to set the standard for 21st […]