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.

Syria

The Turkish Role in Assad’s Downfall: By supporting the rebels who overthrew the Syrian leader has Ankara bitten off more than it can chew?

By Philip Balboni | ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – After tenaciously holding on to power for more than a decade of war, the government of Bashar al-Assad crumbled in two weeks of limited fighting. Overwhelmed by a surprise blitzkrieg assault, the Syrian army seemed to melt away in the face of a surprisingly […]

Israel/ Palestine

Will Washington pressure Ankara to reverse its anti-Israel actions? Turkey Turns Screws on Israel

Foreign Policy in Focus

By Philip Balboni ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – Since October 7, 2023, Turkey has occupied an awkward and uncertain role amid the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza and the cycles of escalatory violence that it has precipitated. A NATO member with long-standing military, economic, and diplomatic ties with the West, Turkey has been […]

Israel/ Palestine

Targeting UNRWA Could Harm Israel’s Own Interests

Foreign Policy in Focus

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 […]