FOREIGN POLICY POLICIES, ANALYSIS, AND RESOURCES
Latest Foreign Policy Posts
A History of the Trump Administration’s Sanctions
February 3rd, 2017: The Treasury Department imposed sanctions on 25 individuals and companies allegedly connected to either Iran’s ballistic missile program or the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quods Force. This move was in response to recent ballistic missile testing. January 4th, 2018: The Trump…
Department of Defense Issues National Defense Strategy
Last Friday, January 19th, the US Department of Defense published a summary of the 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS). The full document, which is classified, was written in conjunction with the National Security Strategy Report of last December. This is a result of the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act which…
State Department Suspends Aid to Pakistan
This past Thursday the State Department announced the cancellation of hundreds of millions of dollars in security aid for Pakistan. The point of contention is Pakistan’s continued alleged hesitance to cut ties to terrorist organizations such as The Taliban and The Haqqani network. Pakistan has been accused of providing a safe…
Trump Submits National Security Strategy Report
President Trump revealed the first National Security Strategy Report of his presidency on Monday, further displaying his ideological departure from previous presidents. Trump’s report takes a more grim perspective than past reports, painting a picture of a world overrun with jihadist terrorists, international crime organizations…
Trump Recognizes Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel
On December 6th, President Trump announced that the US formally recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and will begin the process of moving its embassy, which is currently based in Tel Aviv. The announcement was identified as a “new approach” for finding Trump’s promised “ultimate deal” for ending the Israeli-Palestinian…
Trump Holds Phone Call With Putin
On November 21st, President Trump announced that he had held a phone call with Putin lasting over an hour. The call reportedly focused on the Syrian civil war, the global fight against terrorism, the North Korea threat, and the Iran nuclear deal. Coming only a day after Putin was photographed embracing embattled Syrian President…
Trump Declares North Korea a State Sponsor of Terrorism
On November 20th, Trump returned North Korea to the list of state sponsors of terrorism. Originally added in 1988 after the bombing of South Korean flight 858 the year before, President Bush chose to remove them in 2008 after a U.S. report recognized their avoidance of state terrorism since the attack two decades earlier. This doesn’t…
Trump Concludes Asia Trip
President Trump returned this Tuesday night from a 12 day trip Asia, his third major international trip after visits to the Middle East and Europe earlier this year. Trump spoke to leaders in Japan, China, South Korea, Vietnam, and the Philippines, with a focus on reining in the North Korean threat and forming “free and reciprocal” trade…
Anti-Russian Influence Bill
During the last election and a plethora of time after it, many congressional lawmakers and experts have hypothesized that the Russians had some form of influence during our national election. A group of senators introduced a bill that would mandate online political advisers to provide information about their aids. This information…