Diplomacy and International Politics

While veteran diplomat Nick Burns calls the president's order an 'overreach,' Republican consultant Scott Jennings says he's making strides internationally.

"What happens when, after another dozen major attacks, the chain of their barbarism outpaces the chain of our human solidarity? When is the permissible moment to start asking if we can muster as much wisdom and realism to fight terror as we do to harness emotions of solidarity? The recent increasing pace and widening geographic scope of terror suggest we are dealing with a qualitatively new kinds of terrorists — but the policy responses of governments and the emotional responses of entire societies suggest we have no idea how to respond to quell this monster."

In the global revulsion at the recent terror attacks in four Muslim countries, the United States and its allies have a new opportunity to build a unified command against the Islamic State and other extremists. FDP Senior Fellow David Ignatius examines the diplomatic relationships needed to create an effective counterterrorism strategy.

Trump's polarizing rhetoric on this issue may be the best thing the Islamic State has going for it, according to some leading U.S. and foreign counterterrorism experts. The group's self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq is imploding. Its Syrian capital of Raqqah is surrounded and besieged; the gap in the Turkish-Syrian border that allowed the free flow of foreign fighters is finally being closed; Sunni tribal sheikhs who until recently had cooperated with the Islamic State are switching sides. The group's narrative is collapsing -- with one exception. David Ignatius, Senior Fellow at the Future of Diplomacy Project examines how the Presidential candidate is already effecting US foreign policy.

"What do we learn when we actually listen to Arab citizens? Zogby Research Services, headed by the experienced Arab-American political activist James Zogby, just surveyed over 7,400 adults in six Arab countries (Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE), Turkey, and Iran, for an annual gathering hosted by the United Arab Emirates government..."

New York Times columnist and former Fisher Family Fellow with the Future of Diplomacy Project, Roger Cohen, reveals his thoughts on the recent string of ISIS-affiliated attacks from Paris to San Bernadino and reflects on what these events will mean for U.S. strategy in the Middle East.

Future of Diplomacy Project and Middle East Initiative Faculty Director R. Nicholas Burns spoke with Doug Gavel at Harvard Kennedy School about the Syrian refugee crisis and the recent House of Representatives' vote.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates -- Do Western nations think that Muslim lives matter less? Most of us would resist any such characterization of callousness. But Western outrage about the carnage in Paris, coupled with near-indifference to similar killings in the Arab world, suggests to many Muslims that a double standard exists -- and they find it deeply upsetting.

An audio recording from Stephen M. Walt, Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School.

On April 29, 2015 at MEI, Prof. Stephen Walt assessed U.S. policy and interests in the Middle East, arguing that scaled back involvement might yield better results for the U.S. and the region.

“We are at a turning point of how we think about our relationships across the world” according to US Special Representative to Muslim Communities, Farah Pandith. A Boston-native Pandith is currently traveling the world to deliver on the Obama administration’s goal to build trust with Muslim communities around the globe.