Foreign Policy in Focus

Foreign Policy in Focus 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. It is a project of the Institute for Policy Studies. FPIF publishes timely commentaries on U.S. foreign policy, sharp analyses of global issues, and on-the-ground dispatches from around the world. We also are interested in pieces that explore the intersection of foreign policy and culture, and on dispatches from social movements involved in foreign policy.

Israel/ Palestine

Targeting UNRWA Could Harm Israel’s Own Interests

srael is strengthening the case of those who question its international legitimacy

Israel/ Palestine

Israel’s Wars and Occupation Today are not about Self Defense

Foreign Policy in Focus

By Stephen R. Shalom | ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – “Israel has the right to defend itself,” President Joseph Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and countless commentators have declared multiple times over the past year. But does Israel in fact have such a right? Even if there were an Israeli right to self-defense, […]

France

The Rift over Gaza between Israel and Western Allies Deepens: Macron v. Netanyahu

Foreign Policy in Focus

By Imran Khalid | – ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – It took nearly a year for French President Emmanuel Macron to confront the uncomfortable truth: the path to peace in Gaza cannot be paved with more weapons to Israel. His recent remarks, sharp and unapologetic, reflected the urgency of shifting away from military […]

Israel/ Palestine

How Netanyahu’s Ambitions in Lebanon undermine Biden’s Middle East Strategy

Foreign Policy in Focus

( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – The Biden administration’s approach to the Middle East crisis that erupted in the wake of October 7, 2023 is on the brink of collapse. Israel’s aggressive maneuvers, coupled with Iran’s growing involvement, are pushing the region toward a full-scale war, one that the Biden administration ostensibly hoped to […]

Climate Crisis

Is Climate Change Sucking the Caspian Sea Dry?

Foreign Policy in Focus

By Tarique Niazi ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – Azerbaijan is making the most of its hosting of the UN climate summit (COP29) in November this year. Its president, Ilham Aliyev, has been on a whirlwind tour of the world to court major nations for a climate finance pact that will feature Baku’s initiative […]

Afghanistan

The World’s Nod to Taliban Misogyny

Foreign Policy in Focus

By Tarique Niazi | – ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – The United Nations recently hosted a third round of talks on Afghanistan in Doha, Qatar, to weigh the prospects for the country’s return to the international system. The talks were attended by special envoys on Afghanistan from 30 world nations, including the United […]

Climate Crisis

Water Shortage: Was Iran’s late President Raisi a Martyr to Climate Change?

Foreign Policy in Focus

By Tarique Niazi | – ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi died on May 19 while returning from a ceremony to inaugurate a hydropower project in a remote corner of northwestern Iran. Why would a head of state brave the hazardous conditions of unseasonal blizzards in a mountainous region to […]

Iran

Why Iran’s Upcoming Presidential Elections Matter

Foreign Policy in Focus

By Abolghasem Bayyenat | – ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – Iran is set to hold extraordinary presidential elections in about two weeks following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in northwestern Iran last month. Out of a list of 80 presidential nominees, the Council of Guardians, which is in […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israel, Russia and International Law

Foreign Policy in Focus

By Lawrence S. Wittner | ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – International law―the recognized rules of behavior among nations based on customary practices and treaties, among them the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights―has been agreed upon by large and small nations alike. To implement this law, the nations of […]