Foreign Policy in Focus

On June 15, 1998, diplomats from around the world will assemble in Rome to finalize a treaty that will establish an International Criminal Court (ICC).

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s the U.S. has been a principal force in imposing Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) on most countries of the South.

Small and relatively unknown, Macedonia (officially called the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, or FYROM) is the key to stability in the southern Balkans.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is the central agency for enforcing the Bretton Woods Articles of Agreement, whose terms serve as its charter.

With South Korea facing serious economic problems and North Korea nearing political collapse, the Korean peninsula is entering a period of turbulence and change.

Tax policy becomes foreign policy when companies operate outside their headquarters country and are subjected to tax laws of multiple jurisdictions.

The 20-year-old U.S. moratorium on sales of advanced military equipment to Latin America was successful in preventing a high-tech arms race in the region.

Though Washington viewed the country as a mere sideshow to U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, U.S. actions in Cambodia were decisive in leading to the destabilization of the neutral government under Prince Norodom Sihanouk and triggering a slow slide into more than two decades of violence.

Although violence is often blamed on the drug trade, the roots of violence run much deeper. A multiplicity of actors create a veritable kaleidoscope of violence.

The foundation of Peruvian democracy was crumbling when political neophyte Alberto Fujimori, a former university professor of Japanese descent, was elected president in 1990.

The U.S. strategy toward Iraq since Desert Storm has failed, and it has no long-term potential.

During the course of the cold war, U.S. policy toward Latin America was shaped by the steadfast belief that the region’s militaries were our strongest and most dependable allies.

Advocacy by human rights groups, repeated media exposure, and reaction to legislative proposals advanced to ban products made by child labor have led to widespread acknowledgment that child labor is a serious problem in the world.

Eritrea’s independence from Ethiopia became official in May 1993, through a United Nations-monitored referendum in which 99.8% of the voters opted for sovereignty.

A nonaligned, economically autarkic, one-party state under harsh military rule since 1962, Burma has metamorphosed into a test case for action on several fronts: human rights in Southeast Asia, international trade relations and the World Trade Organization (WTO), the growing worldwide heroin epidemic, and the role of foreign investors in supporting dictatorships.

Investment funds, established to provide capital for private enterprises and sponsored by government agencies and multinational institutions, are increasing in number every year.

The USIA performs the public diplomacy function of U.S. foreign policy through its USIS posts, exchange activities, information programs, and international broadcasting.

Sudan’s size, strategic location, and as-yet-unexploited oil reserves made it a cold war target of superpower intervention.

The strident anti-Americanism of Iran’s Islamic regime is a direct consequence of past U.S. interference in Iranian internal affairs.

Mobutu’s departure has raised Congolese hopes for a better future, but many are concerned about reported rebel human rights abuses and an ambiguous commitment to democracy.