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

Review: Drone Warfare

CODEPINK’s Medea Benjamin explodes the many myths of drone warfare.

Recent Arms Purchases by Azerbaijan a Hedge Against Armenia, Not Iran

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan bonds with Israel over their mutual regional isolation.

U.S. Hand in Honduran Massacre

Why was the State Department involved in a shooting of Mosquito Coast villagers in Honduras?

My Non-intervention Problem

How did a positive concept like intervention become a dirty word?

Review: Tahrir 2011

A new documentary takes three different looks at the Egyptian uprising.

Syria, the United States, and the El Salvador Option (Part One)

The United States, NATO, and Israel have long sought the destabilization of Syria.

Blogging the Rio+20 Earth Summit for the Rest of Us: The Eurozone Crisis

There’s actually not such a great distance between what’s happening in Greece and the “green economy” agenda that the EU is pushing here.

Big Meetings

I’d much rather that representatives of the world’s nations gather on a regular basis to bore themselves to death in a conference rather than beat themselves to death in a war. Make resolutions, not war is the bumper sticker of the future.

Taliban Vaccination Ban: Paranoia or Based in Fact?

Is the Taliban have justified in denying Afghan children the polio vaccine?

Playing the Spoiler in Colombia

The United States must stop supporting the perverse Colombian status quo that lies at the heart of the country’s prolonged civil war.

U.S. in No Position to Condemn Alleged Russian Transfer of Helicopter Gunships to Syrian Regime

It’s the height of hypocrisy for the United States to criticize arms transfers to governments for use on innocent civilians.

Congress Attempts to Legislate Away Containment of Iran and Replace It With War

As always, the United States stands ready to attack weaker states while at a stand-off with stronger states.

Blogging the Rio+20 Earth Summit for the Rest of Us: What’s at Stake with the Green Economy

Simply obtaining measures to implement the commitments made 20 years ago would be better than creating any new corporate-driven initiatives or issuing yet more empty promises.

Multinationals Use International Tribunals to Overpower Nation-States

Multinational corporations often override domestic laws.

Spanish Austerity Savage to the Point of Sadism

The Spanish bailout is yet another witches brew of cutbacks, layoffs, and austerity.

Afghanistan Dominates Latest U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue

The Indo-U.S. friendship is on the line.

The Pitfalls of Presidential Priestliness

When it comes to decisions that take lives on behalf of the American people, “moral rectitude” is no substitute for transparency in the Obama administration.

Algeria and the Arab Spring

This article examines the hopes and prospects for democratization in Algeria.

Mexico’s G20 Summit: In the Eye of the Storm

Laura Carlsen examines the political and economic climate looming before the G20 summit in Mexico.