United States and Canada

United States can’t pivot away from Middle East

By Robert Kagan, Washington Post

From Robert Kagan, Washington Post:  No one was suggesting the United States could or ought to have all the answers, but among this gathering of Arab, North African, South Asian and European diplomats and international civil servants, the overwhelming consensus was that the superpower is AWOL. The only question was whether the absence is temporary […]

Fixing the Flaws in the Pivot to Asia

By Harlan Ullman

U.S. President Barack Obama is underscoring the administration’s “strategic pivot” to Asia with a trip to the Pacific. This column has criticized this pivot and the botched public diplomacy campaign that managed to irritate friends, allies and, of course, China.

US rejects claims it participated in hacking of French presidential staff

By Jamey Keaten, AP

From Jamey Keaten, AP:  The U.S. Embassy in Paris on Wednesday "categorically" denied claims in a French magazine report that the U.S. government was behind a hacking attack against computers in the French president’s palace earlier this year.

NATO Secretary General: Turkey has officially requested deployment of Patriot missiles

By Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO

From Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO:  Statement by the NATO Secretary General on Patriot Missile Deployment to Turkey

Libyan security chief assassinated in Benghazi

By Chris Stephen, Guardian

From Chris Stephen, Guardian:  The Libyan security chief who led an anti-militia crackdown in the wake of the killing of the country’s US ambassador has been assassinated in Benghazi, raising questions about the government’s ability to impose the rule of law. Colonel Farag al-Dersi, Benghazi’s chief of security, was shot dead by three gunmen in […]

French press accuse US of hacking computers in Presidential Palace

By Phil Muncaster, the Register

From Phil Muncaster, the Register:  US-sponsored snoopers hacked into the computers of the Élysée Palace earlier this year ahead of the French presidential election and lifted top secret information, using what appears to be the notorious Flame malware, a French newspaper has alleged. The attack, which occurred in May a few days before the second […]

Senior US diplomat reminds PM Ivanishvili ‘the world is watching’ Georgia’s democratic transition

By Philip H. Gordon, Department of State

From Philip H. Gordon, Department of State:  I noted how impressed we are with Georgia’s democratic development.

Lavrov: Clinton says US committed to finding ‘compromise agreement on missile defense’

By RT

The Future of Conservative Foreign Policy

By James Joyner

According to both the exit polls and the pre-election polling, President Obama was widely considered better on foreign policy than his Republican opponent. The last time that happened was 1964, when Lyndon Johnson carried 44 states, in part on the message that electing Barry Goldwater would lead to nuclear holocaust.