Reports Archives - Page 3 of 62 - Foreign Policy In Focus

The U.S. and Afghan Tragedy

by Khushal Arsala, Emily Schwartz Greco, Stephen Zunes | Feb 18, 2009

One of the first difficult foreign policy decisions of the Obama administration will be what the United States should do about Afghanistan. Escalating the war, as National Security Advisor Jim Jones has been encouraging, will likely make matters worse. At the same time, simply abandoning the country — as the United States did after the overthrow of Afghanistan’s Communist government soon after the Soviet withdrawal 20 years ago — would lead to another set of serious problems.

Executive Summary for ‘A Unified Security Budget for the United States’

by John Feffer, Miriam Pemberton | Sep 22, 2008

At a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in July, Eric Edelman, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, said: “We all agree that a militarized foreign policy is not in our interests.” He’s right. Since 2004, the annual Unified Security Budget report has outlined and promoted a rebalancing of resources funding offense (military forces), defense (homeland security), and prevention (non-military international engagement, including diplomacy, nonproliferation, foreign aid, peacekeeping, and contributions to international organizations.)

A Unified Security Budget for the United States, FY 2009

by Lawrence Korb, Miriam Pemberton | Sep 22, 2008

In this fifth annual edition of the “Unified Security Budget,” as with the previous four editions, a non-partisan task force of military, homeland security, and foreign policy experts laid out the facts of the imbalance between military and non-military spending. The ratio of funding for military forces vs. non-military international engagement in the Bush administration’s proposed budget for the 2009 fiscal year has widened to 18:1 from 16:1 in the 2008 fiscal year, according to the report.

Russia’s Anti-Democratic Paradox

by Anna Arutunyan | Aug 15, 2008

With one hundred days in office and a war with Georgia under his belt, Dmitry Medvedev still has Western politicians confused. Who is really in charge – he or his mentor, Vladimir Putin? Is Medvedev really a liberal? But then why the “disproportionate” attack on Georgia?

Lebanon Intrusion

by Emily Schwartz Greco, Stephen Zunes | Jun 10, 2008

On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the first U.S. military intervention in Lebanon, and 25 years after a second U.S. military intervention which left hundreds of Americans and thousands of Lebanese dead, the U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a resolution by a huge bipartisan majority which may lay the groundwork for a third one. At a minimum, this move has crudely and unnecessarily inserted the United States into Lebanon’s complex political infighting.

China: Superpower or Basket Case?

by Samuel A. Bleicher, John Feffer | May 8, 2008

China as an “emerging superpower” makes for a compelling story line in the media. It is reinforced by the propaganda image that the current Chinese leadership would like us to accept. But the reality is quite different. Although recent events in Tibet and western China – and the central government’s response – appear to be generating pro-government patriotic feelings, they dramatically display the practical limits of the government’s power. Other sources of unhappiness with the regime, including income disparities and the inevitable collapse of unsustainable price controls on fuel and food, could breed both urban and rural discontent that has no ready outlet besides unlawful opposition to the government.

Democracy Promotion Doublespeak

by John Feffer, Patrick W. Quirk | Apr 4, 2008

The Other Guantanamo

by Miriam Pemberton, David Vine | Apr 3, 2008

On the small, remote island of Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean halfway between Africa and Indonesia, the United States has one of the most secretive military bases in the world. From its position almost 10,000 miles closer to the Persian Gulf than the east coast of the United States, this huge U.S. air and naval base has been a major, if little known, launch pad for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the past year, the Bush administration has made improvements that point toward its use in a possible attack on Iran. The administration recently admitted what it had long denied and what journalists, human rights investigators, and others had long suspected: The island has also been part of the CIA’s secret “rendition” program for captured terrorist suspects.

The Iraq War: The Costs to States

by Erik Leaver, Jenny Shin | Mar 17, 2008

Five years ago, the Bush administration launched what may become the greatest foreign policy disaster of this country’s over 200 years of history, and today we stand on the threshold of the 4,000th American killed, the 30,000th American tragically wounded, and the millionth Iraqi dead.

These latest fact sheets outline the costs of this war to all 50 states and the District of Columbia to help illustrate the local costs of the war. It is designed for duplication and popular education.

Iran in the Crosshairs

by Phyllis Bennis, Erik Leaver | Feb 28, 2008

(Editor’s note: This is the introduction to the new primer, Iran in the Crosshairs, published by the Institute for Policy Studies. The full report is available here. Print copies can be ordered by calling IPS.)