Foreign Policy in Focus

Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF) is a “think tank without walls” connecting the research and action of more than 600 scholars, advocates, and activists seeking to make the United States a more responsible global partner.

FPIF provides timely analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international affairs and recommends policy alternatives. We believe U.S. security and world stability are best advanced through a commitment to peace, justice, and environmental protection, as well as economic, political, and social rights. We advocate that diplomatic solutions, global cooperation, and grassroots participation guide foreign policy.

FPIF aims to amplify the voice of progressives and to build links with social movements in the U.S. and around the world. Through these connections, we advance and influence debate and discussion among academics, activists, policy-makers, and the general public.

Latest Work

Competitive Suffering

As we focus on a particularly appalling human rights problem within its own context, we must remember the old labor slogan that ‘an injury to one is an injury to all.’

Burma President’s Dangerous Refusal to Condemn Buddhists for Violence Against Rakhine Muslims

By defending Buddhists who attack Muslims Thein Sein is pouring oil on the fire.

Poison Gas and Arabian Tales

Allegations of sarin use by the Syrian government are bedeviled by chain-of-custody issues.

Egypt Speaks, Again

Since the military coup that toppled the country’s elected Muslim Brotherhood government, the message of the many Egyptians we met last year resonates with even greater power.

Emphasis Added: the Week in Pieces (7/5)

From Edward Snowden to the Taliban-go-Miami Beach.

Celebrations and Dangers for Egypt’s Revolutions

The removal from office of President Mohammed Morsi portends great excitement but even greater threats to democracy.

The Roots of Social Rebellion? Social Movements.

The lesson from the streets of Brazil, Turkey, and the Arab world is to avoid underestimating social movements still in their infancy.

Two Cheers for the Serbian Government

Residual anti-communist beliefs that current state structures are only cosmetically altered versions of the old system have had to be overcome.

When American Universities Expand to China, Does Academic Freedom Suffer?

The case of activist Chen Guangcheng sheds light on how dependent American universities are becoming on tuition from Chinese students.

What Immigration Reform Means for Women

Your guide to how the U.S. immigration system affects women differently from men–and how the Senate bill will change it.

The Meaning of Rouhani

Hassan Rouhani’s win in Iran’s presidential election suggests that neither reformists nor conservatives are pleased with the country’s status quo.

Emphasis Added: the Week in Pieces (7/1)

Which is more useless? Missile defense or total surveillance?

When America Met Mandela

Mandela’s first visit to the U.S. in 1990s revealed how much America had yet to learn about the anti-apartheid leader who had captured the nation’s imagination.

What Drove Michael Hastings to His Death?

Fear? A simple need for speed? Or something else?

President Obama’s Anti-Nuke Sentiments a Cover for Plans to Secure Their Existence in Perpetuity

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s new Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan is as grandiose as it is unconscionable.

Algeria’s Trappist Monk Massacre: The Case That Won’t Go Away

It regained prominence with the release of the 2011 film “Of Gods and Men.”

Human Rights from the Ground Up: Women and the Egyptian Revolution

To support women’s rights in Egypt, the international community must condemn state violence, support civil society, and work for economic justice.

U.S. Tactical Nuclear Weapons More an Irritant Than Deterrent

Is Pakistan a country that might, as opposed to the United States, actually find tactical nuclear weapons useful?

Tunisia Must Not Fail

Tunisia’s stagnant economy could also stagnate its democracy–the good news is Washington can actually help.

Germans Shocked That Obama Allowed NSA Free Rein

The former East Germany’s Stasi used similar justifications as the U.S. for total surveillance.