Philippine officials are in Washington this week to negotiate an expanded U.S. military presence in the country. The talks, first reported by the Washington Post, are part of what the Obama administration calls a strategic …
![U.S. and Philippine Marines \](https://world.time.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2012/01/a2012-01-26t182827z_44585564.jpg?w=480&h=320&crop=1 "U.S. and Philippine Marines \")
Foreign Policy
Must Reads from Around the World: Jan. 27, 2012
Geopolitics – Foreign Policy takes an astute look at how Iran – contrary to its own initial hopes and others’ fears – has failed to benefit from the Arab Spring. “In fact, Iran’s regional position has taken a big hit,” Colin H. …
Must Reads from Around the World: Jan. 25, 2012
Daring Raid — U.S. Special Forces swooped into Somalia on Wednesday, and rescued two hostages, including an American woman, who had been kidnapped by pirates. The New York Times pieces together the details, noting that it …
Global Briefing, Jan. 24, 2012: POTUS, Problems and Progressive Politics
POTUS Probs — Hot on the heels of Fareed Zakaria’s TIME cover analysis of the U.S. president’s international agenda, Foreign Policy‘s Rosa Brooks delves into whether there’s an emerging Obama doctrine. The conclusion: “President …
Obama in Indonesia: Will the President Speak Out on Human Rights?
Obama loves Indonesia. He lived there as a boy and returned, last year, as president of the United States. In his homecoming speech at the University of Indonesia he reminisced about the Jakarta of his youth, conjuring scenes of rice paddies and kites drifting on the breeze. “Indonesia is a part of me,” he mused, lauding the young …
Global Briefing, June 1, 2011: The Thrill is Gone
Nuclear Fallout — In an essay for Dawn.com Rafia Zakaria mulls the meaning of ‘the bomb’ in Pakistan’s collective consciousness. “The bomb that was supposed to deter and defeat has been unable to frighten anyone into leaving us alone,” she writes. “It has revealed, instead, the flimsy remains of our national pride and a confused, …
New Wikileaks Cables Reveal India Foreign Policy Tensions
The Indian newspaper The Hindu has published an absorbing, multi-story Wikileaks package today about 5,100 diplomatic cables covering everything from India-Pakistan relations after the November 2008 terror attacks to the end of the Sri Lankan civil war and influence-peddling in Nepal. There are also some revealing behind-the-scenes …
Global Briefing, Mar. 9, 2011: Imperialism, ‘Experts’ and Insect Plagues
Cheer Up, Mate —Foreign Policy responds to Fareed Zakaria’s cover story on American decline with an essay by Joseph Nye (of ‘soft power’ fame). Nye calls Zakaria’s account “gloomy” and argues that America still has lots to cheer about.
Imperial Expertise — In the National, historian Manan Ahmed argues that an army of overpaid …
Sarkozy’s Cabinet Shuffle: Will Anything Change?
Though hastily organized in appearance, the cabinet shuffle announced by French President Nicolas Sarkozy Sunday night was in fact designed to do something that had long become inevitable: dump scandal-plagued Foreign Affairs Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie. But while Sarkozy justified the shake-up as necessary to get France’s sidelined …
How America Overestimates China’s Rise
Here are my quick two cents from a trip back to the U.S. from China. Two years ago when I was last here, I felt like the smart, educated people I talked to underestimated China’s rise. Yes, the Olympics had shown the world that Beijing was a big city full of modern buildings and amazingly talented athletes. But there was still this …