International Relations

531 Items

President Joe Biden answers questions from members of the media

AP/Evan Vucci

Analysis & Opinions - Foreign Policy

The United States Couldn't Stop Being Stupid if It Wanted To

| Dec. 13, 2022

Stephen Walt analyzes why self-imposed restraint will always be a contradiction in terms for Washington. Ideology, power, bureaucratic momentum, and other states' desires to use U.S. power for their own ends combine to create a powerful predisposition to do something and a concomitant inability to set clear priorities and stick to them when temptation arises.

Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam (CG 54) is underway off the coast of Japan near Mt. Fuji.

Mass Communication Specialist Seaman David Flewellyn/U.S. Navy via AP

Analysis & Opinions - The National Interest

A Global America Can't Pivot to Asia

| Sep. 22, 2022

Grant Golub argues that the root cause of the so-called pivot to Asia's failure is Washington's continued belief that U.S. power and interests are global and universal. If U.S. decisionmakers truly seek to reorient U.S. strategic priorities, they need a clear hierarchy of the country's interests and obligations.

Announcement - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Grand Strategy, Security, and Statecraft Fellowship: Application Deadline is December 17, 2021

Nov. 15, 2021

The International Security Program at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Security Studies Program at MIT invite applications for a ONE-year, pre- or post-doctoral fellowship in Grand Strategy, Security, and Statecraft. The program is supported by a grant from the Charles Koch Foundation and is open to applicants from political science, history, and other relevant disciplines. It is intended to support research addressing fundamental issues of U.S. grand strategy, foreign policy, and America's role in the world: Projects that are likely to broaden the contemporary debate on these topics are of particular interest.

President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference at the COP26 U.N. Climate Summit

AP/Evan Vucci

Analysis & Opinions - Project Syndicate

American Democracy and Soft Power

| Nov. 02, 2021

Joseph Nye writes that as President Joe Biden meets with fellow leaders at COP26, many are asking just how badly U.S. soft power was damaged by Donald Trump's presidency. True, Trump trashed democratic norms that must be restored, but American culture retains great sources of resilience which pessimists often underestimated.