Female Activism Brought Emergency Contraception Shortly after the news that emergency contraception was to be allowed in public health services, a predicted cry of opposition arose from one of the most influential entities in Mexico: the Catholic Church. As the government and church battled over the issue, however, women, the group directly affected by the … Read more
Newt Gingrich calls it “a fantasy” which “cannot be serious.” Ed Koch considers it “a foul whiff of Munich and appeasement.” According to Zbigniew Brzezinski, it is a “truly ambitious effort to redefine the United States’ view of the world.” They’re all talking about President Obama’s foreign policy. For most of the first hundred years … Read more
Non-interventionism makes a comeback “I will not talk of non-intervention,” Lord Palmerston once said, “for it is not an English word.” What applied to Britain 150 years ago might well apply to America today. Two decades after the end of the Cold War, the United States maintains troops in over 150 countries around the world … Read more
Leveraging Obama’s popularity abroad In the wake of President Obama’s 2008 election, approval of the United States in the rest of the world shot through the roof. Americans and foreigners alike hailed the beginning of a new era for the United States on the international stage. Yet, two years later, while Obama himself remains popular … Read more
The United States and Latin America need more high-level engagement In early October of last year, thousands of Brazilians who were gathered at the Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro suddenly erupted, cheering, hugging, and waving flags. International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge had read the result of the Committee’s final vote and named Rio the … Read more
The tone of America’s national security policy has changed, but the substance is similar In the 2004 Supreme Court decision Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor wrote for the plurality: “A state of war is not a blank check for the president when it comes to the rights of the nation’s citizens.” Justice O’Connor’s … Read more
The improbability of comprehensive peace between Israel and Palestine For decades peace between Israel and the Palestinians has been an elusive goal of American foreign policy. Every president since Truman has pledged resolution of the conflict, and all have failed. At his inauguration, President Obama proclaimed his hope to “usher in a new era of … Read more
Paying off creditors the right way “Blessed are the young,” Herbert Hoover quipped, “for they shall inherit the national debt.” With the national debt approaching $14 trillion, however, policymakers are looking to deal with the debt sooner rather than later. As the global economy recovers, they may decide to depreciate the dollar in order to … Read more
Fighting U.S.-China trade imbalance demands long-term strategy In September, one of the world’s most important bilateral trade relationships was on the verge of crisis. In retaliation for American support of Japanese claims to the Senkaku Islands, the People’s Republic of China launched a boycott of rare earth metals, prompting fears of a new economic conflict. … Read more
Two years of “da” to a new partnership From the establishment of the Soviet Union until the last decade of the twentieth century, world politics pivoted on a complex bilateral rivalry that effectively dominated international relations. With the fall of the Soviet Union, however, the extent to which the U.S.-Russia relationship had to remain a … Read more