Economic Statecraft

Connecting the Dots: Linking Principles to Priorities in the New National Security Strategy The Obama Administration has just released its 2015 National Security Strategy. The updated strategy concentrates on broad lines of effort that are crucial to American interests, ranging across the categories of security, prosperity, values, and international order. However, to have full effect, leadership is needed to transform the document’s intent into concrete priorities. Indeed, the document reads, “our resources will never be limitless. Policy tradeoffs and hard choices will need to be made.” In moving towards implementation, therefore, national security leaders have the opportunity to reassess their near-term policy priorities to make sure they are addressing long-term trends. In particular, priorities should better reflect the need to effectively deal with the security… Read More ›

Lethal Aid for Ukraine: Assessing Costs and Benefits As Russia’s support for separatist forces in Eastern Ukraine and direct involvement in the conflict there continues to escalate, French President François Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are in Moscow in an effort to negotiate a ceasefire and diplomatic solution with their Russian counterparts. Meanwhile, with Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry in Europe, there are reports that the United States is considering the provision of defensive arms to Ukraine should diplomacy not be immediately successful. Taking the step of providing arms to Ukraine has garnered increasing support from members of Congress and outside experts. While it is clear that the United States and Europe need to reinforce their response to Russia,… Read More ›

Obama Building U.S.-India Strategic Partnership for the 21st Century President Obama met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi this weekend, their second bilateral summit since September 2014, when the two leaders announced a “renewed U.S.-India partnership for the 21st century.” Now, the United States and India are following up on that commitment with additional action to strengthen the foundation of the strategic relationship. That effort is meeting significant success, with Prime Minister Modi announcing that “Our relationship stands at a new level today” following the unprecedented invitation and attendance of President Obama at India’s 66th Republic Day. Already, agreements have been reached on a wide range of mutual interests between the two nations, including trade and investment, security, nuclear energy, and climate change. While much work… Read More ›

Implementing Obama’s “Smarter Kind of American Leadership” Last night, President Obama in his State of the Union address touched on a host of national security issues of critical importance to the United States and international community. While his discussion of national security was broad, a key theme running through his address was the forward-looking need to reinforce America’s global position and security in the 21stcentury by emphasizing diplomatic and economic power. This “smarter kind of American leadership” applies to a number of issues, but the President’s comments on Asia, Iran, Cuba, trade strategy, and climate security in particular demonstrate the value of careful and relentless global engagement to producing results. Now armed with a clear agenda, the Administration and Congress need to work together to… Read More ›

January 6, 2015 | POTUS, The Morning Briefing with Tim Farley John Bradshaw discussing foreign policy challenges of 2015 – reaching a nuclear deal with Iran, authorizing use of military force against the Islamic State, closing the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, U.S.-Russian relations and Ukraine, and trade – with Tim Farley on the Morning Brief. To view the original posting, click here.  Read More ›

Top Five Foreign Policy Challenges for 2015 Tomorrow, the new Congress is set to begin its first session amid a flurry of near- and mid-term foreign policy challenges that it will have the ability to affect for better or worse. Issues looming large include negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program as conservatives once again consider new counterproductive sanctions, the war against the Islamic State as American forces are being exposed to increased risk, the fate of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility as the transfer of prisoners picks up pace, managing America’s security interest in sustained nonproliferation cooperation with Russia even as Moscow misbehaves in Eastern Europe, and potentially divisive trade agreements under negotiation. On all of these issues, an effective relationship between Congress and… Read More ›

U.S. Foreign Policy & National Security Priorities – Implications of the Midterm Elections NSN recently co-sponsored an event at Florida State University featuring Ambassador Nancy Soderberg. Ambassador Soderberg spoke about the recent midterm elections and their implications for National Security and Foreign Policy. She began by discussing President Obama’s recent immigration action and the outlook for the new Congress on issues ranging from the Iran nuclear negotiations to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. She went on to talk about the NATO response to Russian aggression, as well as prospects for U.S. cooperation on a range of issues with China. She also discussed the Obama administration’s current strategy for combating the Islamic State and expressed her belief that the Iraqi army will only be capable of… Read More ›

President Obama’s trip to Asia this week exceeded most expectations, producing several landmark deals with China to advance American economic and security interests both in the region and globally, including a historic climate change agreement, reductions on tariffs, and conflict-avoidance agreements to reduce the probability of accidental crises or escalation with Beijing. These victories are the diplomatic fruit of sustained U.S. attention to the Asia-Pacific under the auspices of strategic rebalancing and lay the foundation for more progress in the future. Perhaps above all, these events signal that while China is a rising great power with a complex relationship with the United States characterized by both cooperation and sharp competition, the United States and its partners are capable of keeping China invested in the liberal… Read More ›

Six National Security Challenges for the New Congress Yesterday’s midterm elections and the new Republican majority in the Senate will pose great challenges to finding progressive solutions to a number of critical national security issues. In the upcoming lame-duck session and when the newly elected members of Congress enter office in January, Congress will need to work to overcome conservative obstructionism or risk potential damage to America’s national security. The elections stand to affect issues ranging from nuclear negotiations with Iran to trade negotiations with Europe and Asia, and from oversight of intelligence agencies in the United States to oversight of the U.S. strategy to combat the Islamic State. Here are six key issues Congress must address in the coming months. Congress must refrain from… Read More ›

Five Challenges for the Next Congress on Defense Policy The results of tomorrow’s elections, of course, are uncertain – and the outcome of some races may not be known for months. But regardless of how the elections affect the balance of power between Republicans and Democrats, the next Congress will already face a host of defense policy challenges, although a conservative victory could hurt rather than help the chances of positive outcomes on a number of issues. The big picture item looming over the next class of legislators will be whether lawmakers try to increase Pentagon spending – which is already two to three times the size of the military budgets of potential adversaries combined, depending how it is calculated. The next Congress will also… Read More ›