Journal of International Studies

Yesterday marked the 94th anniversary of one of the most significant turning points in American foreign policy history: the  Senate’s vote to reject the Treaty of Versailles . By coincidence, yesterday also saw  World Politics Review publish a piece I wrote entitled “ Backseat Driving: The Role of Congress in American Diplomacy .” Here is an excerpt to give you a flavor of the argument: Diplomacy in the American political system is frequently described as the exclusive province of presidents. Thomas Jefferson, America’s first secretary of state,  wrote in 1790 , “The transaction of business with foreign nations is executive altogether. . . . Exceptions are to be strictly construed.” A decade later, John Marshall, who would go on to become the most influential chief justice in U.S. history,  declared on the floor of the House of Representatives , “The president is the sole organ of the nation in its external relations, and its sole representative with foreign nat...

China’s reliance on coal has serious environmental consequences, but is keeping U.S. companies in business.

The strategic triangle from the Cold War is returning. Only this time, Russia is the prize.

On Monday, John Kerry declared that “the era of the Monroe Doctrine is over.” Don’t believe him.

To combat mutual suspicion, the U.S. and China are ramping up their joint humanitarian and disaster relief exercises

Increasing global power demand—coupled with high natural gas prices in Asia and Europe for electricity generation, and the alarmist climate change narrative—make the right energy generation balance a national priority for developed and developing countries. France and Russia—the current market leaders in nuclear-power-plant construction—are taking full advantage of this market demand. France is another global leader in nuclear power generation. The world’s largest nuclear power operator, EDF Energy, together with Areva, provide great competitive leverage. The extent of Areva’s involvement worldwide is unprecedented; the company has participated in construction and maintenance of 360 reactors out of the total 440 globally. High security and safety standards and highly educated experts are the hallmark of French projects, but the prices are higher than Russia’s. Most recently, EDF and Areva signed  an agreement  to build two reactors in the UK totaling $26-billion, the fi...

Israeli-American relations are in free fall.  Why?  On the face of it the key issue is the terms of the draft deal with Iran that Secretary of State John Kerry was reportedly ready to sign in Geneva, week before last.  Yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated yet again that it is “ a bad deal .”  And last week Israel’s intelligence minister, Yuval Steinitz, claimed the concessions to Tehran that the United States is contemplating will funnel between $20 and $40 billion to Iran’s coffers.  The State Department’s spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, dismissed Steinitz as a fabulist. “ Without going into specifics about what we’re considering, that number, I can assure you, is inaccurate, exaggerated, and not based in reality ,” she said. The disagreement over the deal is significant; there can be no doubt.  But the debate over its terms diverts attention from another factor of great significance—namely, Netanyahu’s growing distrust, in general, of the...

Whether we Americans like it or not, there is a profound struggle for control over our nation’s foreign policy in the Middle East. Push has finally come to shove, with the unseemly sight of Israeli government officials and AIPAC lobbyists  fanning out on Capitol Hill  to actively discredit the Obama’s administration’s attempt to craft a deal with Iran to bring the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program back under comprehensive international safeguards. After being supported for decades by tens of billions in American taxpayer dollars, free defense equipment, and unquestioning and limitless political support on countless occasions, Israel has shown its gratitude by biting the hand of its principal benefactor. All Americans both in and out of government would do well to consider an abiding truth in the standoff with Iran over its nuclear program: there is no military solution to this problem. Iran has the money, technical capability, and the infrastructure to build a nuc...

It almost looks as if they did it on purpose. Immediately after the Third Plenum of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, a terse statement was released about wannabe reforms. Western corporate media screamed their dissatisfaction (actually concealing great satisfaction that stereotypes about China were about to stay safe and sound). Then the suggestion that more reform plans would follow in a week put a bug in  laowai  (foreigners') ears, and finally a comprehensive roadmap for radical change was published.  At the beginning of the weekend, foreign media in China rushed to write about the abolition of forced labor camps ( laojiao ), lands given to the peasants, the end of the one-child policy, the birth of a private banking system, the reduction of crimes punishable by death, reform of the residence system ( hukou ) and more.  The meaning of such momentous and diverse reforms can be summarized in one particular way: China is pushing...

BEIJING - After the Plenum that concentrated powers in the hands of China's top leadership and especially President Xi Jinping, the big questions concern how effective these powers will be how much power will go to the central leadership group tasked with designing and implementing reforms and how effective the National Security Council, in charge of external and internal security matters, will be.  Most of the opposition is likely to come from localities, which have the most to lose in this program of concentration of power in Beijing. For this reason, the new role of the judiciary, which according to the Plenum communique will be "authoritative" ( quanwei ), is significant.  This does not mean that the judiciary will be independent from the top leadership of the Party. The Party will give freer rein to judges and prosecutors at the provincial level in going after cases of corruption, which so far have mostly concentrated on the unhealthy ties between local a...

By Bakyt Asanov and Farangis Najibullah 

Recent news reports underscore the need for progress on transparency if reforms are to really succeed.

Last week The Gambia decided to cut ties with Taiwan. The implications could be significant. Image Credit: flickr/alveaux An air of uncertainty descended upon Taipei on November 14 when he tricolor Gambian flag was pulled down at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, hours after rumors had emerged that Banjul had unilaterally severed ties with Taiwan. By day’s end, it was confirmed that Gambian President Yahya Jammeh had made the move to end nearly eighteen years of diplomatic relations. Taiwan  reciprocated  on November 18, leaving it with only three allies on the African continent, and 22 worldwide. The setback — this was Taipei’s first loss of a diplomatic ally since Malawi cut ties in January 2008 and established relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) — immediately gave rise to speculation in Taipei as to whether the so-called  “diplomatic truce”  established between presidents Ma Ying-jeou of Taiwan and Hu Jintao in China had come to an...